Raw is Sharpton

So I'm sitting watching television the other night, and I flip by the USA Network and I see a promo for their WWE Monday Night Raw program, and it says “Hosted by Al Sharpton.” Whu-whu-whu- what? Are you kidding me?

Let me back a bit. Pro wrestling is not what it once was. The current audience is not the audience it had during the reign of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Wrestling has always been the red-headed stepchild of professional sports. I'm not saying people don't watch it or enjoy it, but it's not mainstream and it's not water cooler talk. ESPN never covered Stone Cold giving people the stunner and then dumping beer on their face. I used to watch wrestling when I was a toddler, I thought it was fun and entertaining. Then I stopped, and then I picked it up around 1998, when they had Wrestlemania in Boston. I was a pretty fervent devotee for about 6 good years after that - I thought it was awesome and great drama. I knew of no one else who watched it like I did, and I knew there was a reason for that, but nonetheless, I enjoyed what I saw.

So what happened was, Stone Cold Steve Austin got sick of his company, and his injuries, and called it a day. He was the quintessential good guy with a bad attitude, anti-establishment. He didn't like his boss and he liked to drink beer and whoop ass. Who wouldn't like that? And then The Rock came along - Dwayne Johnson to you “The Mummy Returns” fans. The Rock was brash and knew how to deliver a promo like no one else. He wouldn't just say, “Your mom is fat.” He would say “ Your mom is fat, she's so fat, The Rock is going to come to your house, The Rock is going to knock on your door, if the door doesn't open The Rock will knock your door down, The Rock will come inside your living room, The Rock will have have a beer with your dad, The Rock will flirt with your sister, and then The Rock will find your fat ass mother, take off his size 15 boot, turn that sumbitch sideways and shove it straight up her candy-ass!” Or something to that extent. But The Rock also decided to call it a day and went Hollywood, and so went the ratings for the WWE.

And that brings us to today. Recently, WWE decided that they would have guest hosts for their flagship program – Monday Night Raw, in what can only be a desperate move to garner ratings. I understand that it might be seen as a good way to have celebrity tie-ins to events and promote through word of mouth. If you haven't been watching wrestling before, though, you're not going to start because Carrot Top is standing in the ring. Unless you want to him get hit with a metal chair, that's different.

They've had Jeremy Piven, Shaquille O'Neal, and I think K-Fed so far. That's fine, they're all entertainers (sort of) and they can do what they want. The problem I have with Al Sharpton hosting is that, well, he's The Reverend Al Sharpton. Tonight he was billed as “the controversial and outspoken reverend.” Great, so are Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter. And Glenn Beck, minus the reverend part. Should they all guest host the show (again, yes if there are steel chairs involved).

Back to Reverend Al. He is a supposed 'civil rights' leader, a leader of urban renewal and social change. And yet, anytime a TV camera turns on, anywhere, he goes out of his way to be in front of it. Even Jesse Jackson knows not to do that. He got more publicity and public viewing out of Michael Jackson's death than most of the Jackson family. If he wants to promote education and empowering children with Newt Gingrich, great, do that, just don't do it on a wrestling program. There are certain proper outlets for promoting causes and implementing social change. Monday Night Raw is not one of those programs.

Red Carpet Capitalism

Not all red carpet events are created equal. Some are great big, large, fancy events with bright lights and fancy stars. Others are events with bright lights. And so goes the premiere of "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore's newest project and indictment of the U.S. Financial system. Held at the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, this particular event did not garner quite the hype that an actual Hollywood film or blockbuster might, and understandably so, but you never know. No big press check-in line, no long wait to get credentials, not even a scrum for a position on a the carpet. While this sounds all well in good for those of us eager to get a good soundbite or three, it also tends to translate into no big names showing up for a premiere. The stars who did show up, Chef Mario Batali, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and Michael Moore himself, made themselves available for sound bites. There was a Wallace Shawn sighting, yes, Wallace Shawn of the Princess Bride fame. I'm sure he's been in other things, but he will always be the guy from the Princess Bride. Hey Wallace, can we get a quick "Inconceivable?"

First up was Mario Batali, chef extra-ordinaire, and his orange crocs. Yes, that's right, he wears orange crocs. Nothing wrong with that, they are perfectly comfortable shoes, it's just amusing to see anyone on the red carpet wearing crocs, unless its fashion week - and then still amusing but understandable. But that's okay, let him wear his funny orange shoes, he's Mario Batali and he makes an amazing lasagna (so I hear). Next was Morgan Spurlock. Well, that's not entirely true, Wallace Shawn walked by - but Wallace Shawn did not seem in the best of moods, and we let him on his merry way (didn't really have anything to ask him, anyway). So Morgan "I like McDonald's" Spurlock was up next. He's a fellow documentary filmmaker, and one of those guys who likes to get dirty with his work, or at the very least eat crappy food for 30 days and see what happens. I want him to do a similar "Supersize Me" but with alcohol, I don't know what he'd do, except drink a lot and have a camera recording it. Maybe he would be obscene and profane and puke a lot, although that would make him Andy Dick. I'm just saying, it would be entertaining to me. Similar to that one episode of Kenny vs. Spenny on Comedy Central where they have a drinking contest but one of them gets non-alcoholic beer. Ha. Back to Morgan, the guy next to me asked him what he'd like to focus on next, and he said porn.

After Morgan there was a lull, and by lull I mean no one else was there. Michael Moore showed up early, but of course he has to give 30 minute sound bites to any and all reporters. Nice of him, but there are others waiting and we can't all be CBS Newswire, can we? So we waited, and we waited, and then I saw Christopher Meloni of Law and Order fame, and I think he was about to walk down the carpet, but he saw Michael Moore hogging the attention and he went inside. So we waited again, and Mr. Moore sloooowly made his way to the rest of us media peons, i.e. the radio and websites that don't have national acclaim yet. He finished talking to Yahoo! News and then was hurried away, but not before I got to ask him my very well thought out, educated, concise, inspiring, congenial question. I asked if he would run for public office. He chuckled, and said no. Fortunately I ran into him again at the after-party and got a more thoughtful answer, and his pick for the World Series.

So, on behalf of Michael Moore, go check out "Capitalism: A Love Story" in theaters this week.

Emmy versus Jerry

Sometimes in life, you have to choose between an awards show that you're not interested in and a football game you don't care about. The Emmy Awards are cool, you get to see your favorite television stars win awards and make silly acceptance speeches, some more entertaining than others. Sometimes the host even does a good job, sometimes. And then there is a football game, between one team you don't like and another team you don't care about, but it's being played in the world's largest stadium, deep in the heart... of Texas - and you don't want to miss that.

Jerry Jones built a colossal stadium for his football team, so f'n big one has to wonder if Mr. Jones is making up for some insecurity, be it physical or mental (I'm sure he can ask his friend Bob about Enyzte). This is one HUGE stadium, the standing room plaza can hold the population of Vermont, which is both unnecessary and silly since most Vermonters aren't huge football fans.

So there's this gigantic stadium with this colossal hi-definition television hanging over the field that is placed just in the right spot so it becomes an obstacle course for punters. The stadium is so big that John Madden can sit in the luxury suites and the building doesn't begin to tilt. What I'm saying is, it's a big stadium. So if you're me, and you like a big stadium and fancy cheerleaders on pseudo-stripper poles, you say, "sure, i'll watch them cowboys against them giants and hope for the best."

Or maybe you want to watch Doogie "Neil Patrick Harris" Howser and his attempt at hosting an awards show. Truth be toldm, NPH did a good job, and I think awards show producers are figuring out that you don't necessarily need or want a comedian to host everything. Ellen Degeneres has hosted the Emmys, and let's just say her own batch of humor is good for her show, but not necessarily other shows. Chris Rock hosted the Oscars once, and while he is a funny motherf*cker, the audience isn't really looking for jokes or brash racial humor, they're looking for awards and winners and good musical numbers.

So Neil, like his Oscar counterpart, Hugh Jackman, put in a strong showing and kept the energy focused on the awards, and not lame jokes or weird introductions. He was even allowed to poke fun at the winners and losers, like when Jon Cryer won for '2 and a half men' and they did a short bit of 'bitterness' schtick. Not hilarious, but a good break from "it was an honor to be nominated and i share this with my fellow nominees" There is no sharing in Hollywood, unless you are Charlie Sheen or one of his hookers.

CBS even went so far as to preview the upcoming presenters with a chyron, similar to the "New at 11" graphic you often see at the end of 10pm shows - a clever way to keep things going. Ultimately, they had enough funny presenters and winners who know how to entertain the audience and make the show not boring. Ricky Gervais did his bit about why he seems like an attractive man in the Emmy crowd, as opposed to the glitz and glamour of the Oscars - and he has point, albeit a drunken one.

On the comedy side of things, the one that really matters - to me at least, 30 Rock and The Daily Show were the big winners. They seem to be the awards show stalwarts, i.e. if there is a category with either show in it - that show will win. I was hoping, although I knew it wouldn't happen, that The Family Guy would win something, anything. It's a tremendously offensively funny show that never got to go mainstream - and I would love to hear a Seth McFarland acceptance speech.

Oh yeah, and the Giants beat the Cowboys 33-31 in the final minute. A closer game than I thought, but when your team is down and looking for a comeback, don't go to Tony Romo - he's busy removing his " I Heart Jessica" tattoo.

North By Kanye West

So this isn't quite as topical because it occurred 4 days ago, but it still rears its ugly head from time to time, especially now that Mr. West's tour with Lady Gaga appears to be in question. You see, Kanye seems to have jumped his own shark in this instance. It used to be that awards shows needed that 'gimme' moment, that 'oh my god did you see that?" Something unscripted, unexpected, and surprising. Whether it be from a performer, presenter, or audience members - awards shows have always lived off spontaneity, or wanted to, for fear of coming off as boring.

The MTV Awards are no different, in fact, viewers might say MTV needs something like that of Kanye West's antics to keep interest in its network alive. MTV hasn't shown music in quite some time - sure they have a music countdown in the morning, but that's really it. The rest of MTV is bad reality shows - Real World Cancun, are you listening?

So the awards come around this year, and people are hoping for the best. It's difficult to keep something fresh that no one really cares about, but it's worth a shot. So they line up Russell Brand, that wiry, irreverent, somewhat obscene British comedian. He's more profane than Chris Rock, but fortunately for the censors nobody can understand any of his off-color comments, so he's safe. They bring in Janet Jackson, for another tribute to her deceased brother - although I did enjoy her dancing with Michael on the screen, and it was a touching moment, regardless of how you feel about the Jackson family. Even Joe Jackson put down his belt and bottle of Cristal to applaud his daughter. And to top it off, they bring in Kanye West to - well, okay, they didn't really bring him in for anything, except to possibly accept an award.

And here comes the Kanye train, ready to steamroll through any and all award show recipients. I almost expect him to show up at the Kennedy Center Honors in December and explain why Eddie Murphy deserves the honor over Mel Brooks.

The category was best female video. The nominees were Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift, and a few others. The winner, deservedly or not, was Taylor Swift, who I would like to say has been brought to us by the people at American Idol - but she hasn't, so I can't. Taylor won, she hopped up on stage, and then unbeknownst to most everyone watching, so did Kanye West - who promptly grabbed the mic and made his announcement. Here is the kicker - it wasn't even his category. The only thing more tired than interrupting an award recipient in a category that you lost is doing it in a category that you weren't in. It's basically beyond lame, rude, and childish - which coincidentally was Kanye's Facebook status after the show.

This isn't the first time Kanye has pulled this act, so what are we to blame it on? Should we blame it on the a-a-a-a-lcohol? (his publicist thinks so). Kanye, in his Tonight- sorry, sorry, in his Jay Leno Show apology seemed to blame the act on his mother's death, even though she was alive the last 5 times he's jumped onstage.

Should we say, to coin a phrase, he's got a really big ha ha ha ha ha... tendency to embarass himself?

Shaq Versus

There once was a 7-1, 330 pound man named Shaq. He rapped, he danced, he acted, he policed, and occasionally he played basketball. He won 4 NBA titles: 3 with the Lakers, 1 with the Heat. He feuded with teammates, coaches, and his wife. And then, he had enough.

Well, that's not entirely true, but he did have enough of competing with people close to his own size, and he said 'Screw this, I'm playing volleyball, or football, or baseball, or boxing, or swimming.” And he did. Sort of.

This summer, Shaquille O'Neal brought us 'Shaq Vs.” The show is him competing against the top athletes in other sports, including Misty May Trainor and Kerri Walsh, Oscar de la Hoya, Ben Roethlisburger, Albert Pujols, and Michael Phelps. If he wanted a truly entertaining show he would have gone for tennis and hockey. He may have hurt himself in the process, but don't tell me it wouldn't be fun to watch. You root for the Cavs, I root for the big man stumbling around a rink wearing skates.

Nevertheless, Shaq Versus works because, well it's Shaq. He is a large and talented athlete, but he is charismatic and he is a goofball. He does nothing that would make you take him seriously, except for his dunking and winning of championships, and his work as a sheriff in the Orlando area. He was in 'Kazaam,' he rapped with Fu Schnickens, and now he has decided to prove his worth against his fellow elite athletes. The three sports that come to mind where Shaq would have success are volleyball, boxing, and football. Volleyball because he's tall and mobile; football because he is large, tall, and fast; and boxing because he's big and quick (their new album hits stores this month).

To date, the two most intriguing installments of this program have been Shaq versus Oscar de la Hoya and Shaq versus Michael Phelps. The boxing matchup, or mismatch as it were, proved to be the ultimate display in boxing technique. We were all waiting for Mr. O'Neal to take his size advantage and wallop Oscar de la Hoya. It never happened. They bumped and weaved and faded and ducked, and in the end, de la Hoya proved the be the winner. There was no knockout, THAT would have been great – but there is a reason de la Hoya is one the greatest boxers of all time.

Shaq versus Michael Phelps. Let's just say that no one has ever looked at him and accused the big man of being a competent swimmer. But being up to the challenge, he even went the distance and fit his extra large frame into one of those special speedo suits – not laugh out loud funny, but a sight to see nonetheless. Because Mr. Phelps is a 13-time Olympic Gold medalist, Shaq was given the handicap of using 3 assistant swimmers to help him compete, just to level the playing field a bit. It was sort of level, but not level enough to matter to the Baltimore Bullet, and he beat all four of his opponents in a come from behind victory. And then he did a cannonball off the diving board, all 7-feet, 300 pounds.

Next up can we have Shaq Versus Tony Hawk, please?

In Hall of Michael Jordan

I used to hate Michael Jordan. When I was growing up, he was public enemy number one. I'm not quite old enough to recall in great clarity the great Celtics and Lakers battles of the 1980's - I know they were great, but I don't remember sitting in front of a television watching them. I do remember however, when Michael Jordan would come to town. This was around '89 - '90, after he had been in the league a few years and was gaining momentum as a truly great player. This was also around the same time that the Big Three, and more specifically, one Larry Legend, were losing their momentum. They had won their 3 championships and dominated the front lines of the NBA, but they were slowly getting old - Larry with his bad and ankles and Kevin Mchale with his ankles and knees. There was now a new force to be reckoned with, and his name was Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

Jordan had scored 63 points against the Celtics in a playoff series in 1986, still the playoff record for single game scoring. He was seemingly unstoppable, and very difficult to beat, and that is why whenever he came to town, people showed up to watch him. I remember sitting in my living room with my dad, watching Celtics games, and specifically Celtics vs. Bulls games. My dad would guffah everytime MJ scored, or stole the ball, or did whatever he did - usually scoring. My mother, because she doesn't know any better - would sit and say 'boy, is he good." This irritated the hell out of me, and I would ask her to be quiet on more than one occasion. The rule is: if he's not wearing green, you can't say he's good - it's just that simple.

I remember that morning in 1993, when I was getting up for school, and my dad yelled up the stairs ' guess who retired, and it's not one of the Celtics." I was sort of stuck in a mental lapse, someone retired, not on the Celtics? I couldn't think of anyone currently in the NBA whose retirement would be a major announcement. I paused - and then I said "who?" "Michael Jordan" was the bellowing response from the kitchen. I paused again, wow, Michael Jordan, this is a great day for the Celtics, I thought to myself. Meanwhile, when I got to school, that was all the buzz. My friend Ziv, a life long Bulls fans - he's from Israel so really he shouldn't be a Bulls fan, I don't know why he's a Bulls fan, it doesn't make sense that he's a Bulls fan, but, alas... he's a Bulls fan. Let's just say that Ziv and I spent many a homeroom, social studies, science, math, geography, recess, debating the merits of MJ versus Larry Bird. We never tired of it, even if our teachers did, as a matter of fact more often than not we deliberately debated this topic to piss them off, sort of like showing off in front of your parents because you think you know something - or maybe not.

Mr. Jordan preceded to retire, only to comeback to the Bulls in 1996, win a few more championships, retire again, then return to basketball with his team the Wizards, but this time with no championships, more of a slow fade into retirement, without all the fanfare and winning. Let's just say Brett Favre would have more Facebook friends if he had taken a page out of Michael Jordan's retirement plan, instead of improvising with his own sordid maniacal excuse for one.

So this all brings us to today, the second Friday in September, when Michael Jeffrey Jordan has entered the Basketball Hall of Fame. Being a tad bit more mature than I was in 1993, I can respect his achievements in the game of basketball even if I will never put them above one Larry Joe Bird of French Lick, Indiana, 3-time NBA Champion and League MVP, the man who famously hit his head on the floor in the playoffs against the Pacers, only to come roaring back out of the tunnel ala Willis Reed, and win the game. Oh right - back to Michael Jordan. He was inducted this evening by David Thompson, the pre-Michael Jordan at North Carolina, and I have to say, he is a smart and funny guy. He thanked all those who had challenged him, told him he wasn't good enough, didn't let him play when he wanted to, even thanked the Hall of Fame for charging $200 bucks a seat. He personally thanked the man who made the high school basketball team instead of him, explaining how that snub pushed MJ to prove that a mistake had been made. He even thanked Bryon Russell, formerly of the Utah Jazz, and also the man whom MJ faked out to hit the last second shot against the Jazz in the 1998 Finals, his last championship. He thanked him for saying that he could guard Mr. Jordan. "Remember that" he asked John Stockton, his fellow Hall enshrinee, and also the other Utah guard on the floor at the time of Michael's shot. Stockton begrudingly recalled that moment. Talk about being competitive.

Hellooooo Mr. Wilson

Last night as President Obama was delivering his major speech on healthcare reform to joint houses of Congress, including members of the South Carolina legislature. One of these fine young gentleman, Representative Joe Wilson, well let's just say he came down with a case of political touretts, being the condition where you yell out things during a presidential address while he is standing 50 feet in front of you.

President Obama was speaking about a clause in the health care bill that some have taken as saying that the bill will provide health insurace to illegal aliens, or 'the illegals' as some of us refer to them. This has been proven to be not true, but you know those hasty conservatives, they love to jump on false information and spread it like - well, false information. So, let's just say, to be fair, that the bill Obama is proposing may or may not offer health insurance to illegal aliens. Let's just give that one to the Republicans for now, the new question is - is it appropriate in any form to interrupt a President's address to the union.

I am sort of on the fence about this one. In the grand realm of things, yes, it is good manners to not interrupt a public offical, be it the president giving a speech or Paula Abdul explaining why she isn't voting you to Hollywood (when the meds wear off she will make sense, I promise.) While in the Senate chamber, while disagreements are allowed, most members of Congress know how to sit still and be silent or maybe clap while the President reads his remarks. Democrats were able to do this for all 8 years, that's right folks, 8 whole years of stupid W. speeches, anecdotes, confusing answers to questions, smirks, winks, giggles, looks of confusion. They behaved themselves that whole time, not one outburst - I think the only recorded Democratic outburst took place after Hurricane Katrina when Cheney went down to New Orleans to speak with reporters and some passerby told him to go fuck himself - and for all we know it could have been Chris Brown talking to Rihanna.

The point being, I don't feel that absolute decorum is as necessary in the chamber of politics as everyone else does. If you have ever seen the British House of Commons - occasionally playing on C-SPAN, you will see all types of interruptions, hecklings, boos, and what have you -and it's great TV! The Prime Minister gets up to his lecturn, and begins discussing the issues of the day, and then people in the opposing party yell and scream at him to shut up - and it's his job to talk over his opposition until they shut up or quiet down, whichever comes first. But it's politics at it's best, and it's a free for all. Most importantly, there are no physical altercations (that I know of), it's not in Japan where yelling leads to screaming leads to fistfights leads to caning, it's good old-fashioned yelling and screaming and telling your buddy across the aisle that he's a moron and he's unAmerican - sort of like Fox News here in the states.

But I digress. This whole 'heckling' of the President made me think about something. Wouldn't it have been nice, during any point of George W. Bush's presidency, if during any one speech, a member of the Democratic Party would have stood up or just yelled - "You Lie.?" I'm not saying it's appropriate or in conscious with good manners, but in this case, if someone had yelled that - they would have been right.

The Return of Jay Leno

Jay Leno returns to NBC this coming Monday with The Jay Leno Show: buyer beware.

A quick disclaimer: I am a total Dave loyalist, always have been, probably always will be even though Jay Leno and I share a hometown (Boston) and a school (Emerson).

Regardless, it is more or less agreed among comedy enthusiasts that through and through, Jay Leno isn't funny. He's amusing, he's cute, he'll get a chuckle out of the audience, but he's not 'funny.' See, as I learned from the Letterman taping, the audience has to cheer and be excited for absolutely EVERYTHING: a sneeze, a cough, it really doesn't matter, one moment of excitement lapse and you are outta there. So, the same thing applies for Jay Leno's show. Jay Leno goes through his dialogue, usually not that funny, and then does a series of segments that are, well, easy humor. 'Jay Walking' is Mr. Leno going around with pictures of famous people and asking passerby's who they are. Colin Powell? no idea, Michelle Obama, couldn't tell you? Joe Biden, who? Oh, wait that's Ryan Seacrest, definitely Ryan Seacrest... hilaaaarious! I honestly feel like any chump off the street could go around with pictures and make a funny or snide remark about the general lack of knowledge in America, it doesn't take a $30 million contract with NBC.

The issue with Jay will be, can he attract a younger comedy audience to the 10pm slot, usually reserved for dramas. The answer, I think, is no. He will certainly get the 60 and over crowd, which is usually reserved for 60 minutes, and no comedy shows. He won't get the younger crowd, the crowd that usually starts watching television at 11, and probably starts with The Daily Show and then maybe heads to Conan or Letterman. I just don't see him bringing in a huge audience. He's not edgy, he's never has been, never will be. In this day and age, you have to be an edgy comedian to succeed, unless you're hilarious without being edgy, which some people are - like Zach Galifiankiasksksk (sp?), but usually not. The reason Dave has succeeded all this time is that he likes to stir things up, be it with Rush Limbaugh, Madonna, Bill O'Reilly, or Sarah Palin. Dave likes that combativeness that he can get out of guests - he likes a duel if you will. Jay Leno would never pick a fight with anyone, which is fine, but in comedy, sometimes fights are good. Dave is happy to tell someone to go fuck off if he things they get too much airtime for their stupidity, Jay just sits back and giggles nervously.

I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher last night, and Jay Leno was a guest, which is a rarity. Bill Maher is a fairly serious, edgy comedian, he is far edgier than most - and it shows on his program. Bill tried to ingratiate Jay on the show, making a reference to Governor Mark Sanford and his Argentina affair, and Jay attempted to take that off and running, saying 'it's great, you tell your wife you're going for a walk, and you go to Argen-Teena, Argen-Teena...' and then he did his high-pitched laugh... and the audience groaned. Oh well, nice try, see you at 10pm.

Boston Comedy Festival

This past week I had the opportunity to attend two nights of the Boston Comedy Festival with WCBS Radio's Brandi Thompson, one of the judges. Since I don't normally attend comedy festival's under the 'VIP' status label, this was a fun event to be part of. Taking place at The Hard Rock Cafe, under the guidance of Jim McCue, the 10th running of the festival appeared to be a good place for rising comedians to work their stuff and see if anyone notices. According to Jim (a fine TV show, FYI), the comedians we saw were 1/3 of those who submitted material. Needless to say, those who made it through really had to show their stuff.

As someone who might label himself a student of comedy, or knowing what makes someone funny and someone not - I sort of have this test for individuals to see if they really know what they are talking about - or at the very least, have the chops to do it. The test is - if you get up on stage and have a list of material you want to use, if someone or something takes you away from that list, can you still entertain the audience? Call it improvisation, extemporaneous-ness ( is that a word)?, or whatever - but if you are up there telling jokes and then a heckler steps in, can your sense of humor and stage presence let you take that person down without ruining your act and/or your train of thought. The most famous recent example of this - a comedian going totally off-script and being hilarious, is by Billy Burr in Philadelphia. Long story short, Mr. Burr had a routine all ready, but when the drunken, riotious Eagles fans stepped in, he went off his act and ripped into them for 10 minutes - it was hilarous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S4nSzE4N-o

So what does that have to do with anything? Well, the two comedians that stuck out the most to me, and obviously advanced to the next round, were Alvin David and Harrison Greenbaum. First, we'll start off with Alvin David. He has a dark spiked hair, he's Italian, and he's really funny. I would hate to start re-telling his jokes and screwing them up, so I won't. But as he said 'I've had a ton of women, okay that's not true, I've had two, but they were both really heavy.' But aside from that, he has that good comic energy, the energy where you just keep going, you don't really wait for the audience to get the punchline, and eventually the rhythm of your act keeps the audience laughing and wanting more. There are some comics that give you a good laugh, and then some that get you slapping your knees, clapping, and if you're me - fidgeting in your seat because your body is contorted from laughing so hard. Alvin David is that comic.

Now for Harrison Greenbaum. Harrison is a skinny kid, Harvard-educated, and bases a lot of his material on being an effeminate heterosexual, and that he has a Harvard degree and now he does comedy for a living - his parents are proud. But aside from that, let's just say that when he starts with his magic routine, all hell breaks lose. It's pretty straightforward, but it's really funny.
Or maybe it's the yelling and the screaming that follow that make for the laughs. It's difficult to say, but after he does a pretty impressive trick, and the audience looks at him look warmly, his 'are you fucking kidding me? I went to Harvard and now I do this for a living! this is what I do, do you know how fucking awesome that trick is? you should be standing me and thanking me for doing it!" That's to paraphrase, not an exact quote so I'm not stealing his material - but needless to say, Harrison is a funny guy who almost made me spit out my Sam Adams - and I don't easily spit out a $7.50 Sam Adams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF8Tan_6pL8

Good luck to all the comedians - hope to see you at a comedy club in the near future.