Archive for the 'Live Acts' Category
September 14th, 2009, 12:18 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
 For a guy who doesn’t believe in religion, Bill Maher certainly has a faithful flock, and on Sunday at the Grove of Anaheim they turned out to laugh and cheer as the comedian riffed on all his favorite topics: politics and pot, Republicans and racism, health care and horny hypocrites.
Walking on stage in black jeans and a blue T-shirt, Maher got his first standing ovation simply for being there.
“Boy, I thought ovations like that went out with white presidents,” he quipped.
It was a diverse crowd — young, old and multi-hued — and, we feel safe in saying, one that probably wouldn’t turn up at a Larry the Cable Guy show. Because regardless of where your house stands, Maher’s fans are blue-staters: progressives, independents, Democrats.
Which makes it an audience perfect for all manner of current-events comedy. And in a show that lasted nearly two hours, Maher touched all of his base’s bases.
On Real Time, his HBO series, Maher takes a good number of shots at President Barack Obama, even after eight years bemoaning the existence of President George W. Bush. And live, he takes his shots, too, though like the girl who puts down the guy she really crushes on, it’s pretty obvious Maher’s still digging Obama despite any disappointments.
“You can like him or not,” he said of Obama early in the show, “but it’s been a long time since the coolest guy in the country also was the president.”
People who like Obama are in a better mood now, Maher said, partly because every time they turn on their TV, there’s their president.
“He’s on television a lot. I mean, I like my bong, but I take it out of my mouth every once in a while. For eight years it was like we were stuck on a rerun of Hee Haw. No wonder we were in a bad mood, the president was like the cowboy from Toy Story.”
A few minutes later, he returned to that theme:
“I liked what Obama said recently: ‘We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the necessary.’ Which is actually a quote from Voltaire. A president who quotes Voltaire? I felt like a hockey mom at the state fair when the fireworks go off and Jesus appears in the cotton candy. Bush thought Voltaire was a character in Harry Potter. ”
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Posted in: Comedy • Concert Reviews • Live Acts • 50 Cent • Bill Maher • Keith Richards • Larry the Cable Guy • Michael Jackson • Stevie Wonder | 5 Comments »
May 25th, 2009, 12:32 pm by PETER LARSEN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
 The lights went down and in the pre-show darkness at the Greek Theatre on Sunday you could just make out the Flight of the Conchords, two silvery shapes with large square heads, moving into position on stage.
Lights up, crowd roars and there they are: Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, “New Zealand’s fourth-most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk comedy folk duo,” as the (self) mythology has it.
Dressed, as fans might guess, in shiny track jackets with robot heads made of cardboard boxes covered in tinfoil and red Dixie cups for ears. Singing, surprisingly, not “Robot Song,” the tune that first caught the attention of many fans, but “Too Many D***s (On The Dance Floor)”, a little techno-rap ditty about saving the world from a male-female imbalance down at the disco.
If it’s possible to be an overnight sensation after working on your act for decade or so, then the Conchords are just that: Thanks to their self-titled HBO series, they broke out in a big, or maybe biggish, way in the United States in 2007.
If it’s possible to be huge cult stars, then they’re that too: Their show at the Greek Theatre sold out quickly, and you could sense how excited everyone was to be there.
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Posted in: Comedy • Concert Reviews • Live Acts • Set Lists • Flight of the Conchords • greek theatre | 2 Comments »
February 12th, 2009, 12:48 pm by Kelli Skye Fadroski
 What better way to spend a late-night Valentine’s Day than with a rock band, comedians and adult film stars? Former Saigon Kick and Skid Row drummer Phil Varone (pictured) hosts his comedy variety show Sex, Stand-up & Rock ‘n’ Roll at the Irvine Improv at 11 p.m. on Feb. 14.
The 41-year-old Los Angeles resident started working on his stand-up act after leaving the music business in 2004. Coming up and performing in numerous clubs and deciding that regular stand-up can often just be boring – one person on stage with a mic – he created the Sex, Stand-up & Rock ‘n’ Roll show.
“I have a live house band that plays called Just the Tip and it’s set up more variety show-style,” Varone says. “I have all kinds of different national comics performing and we do contests to give away gift bags so it’s a lot of audience participation.”
The infamous gift bags are where the “sex” part of the show comes in. Varone is sponsored by Hustler Video, Sextoy.com and other adult establishments. They provide him with lots of goodies to give away including T-shirts, panties and various adult toys.
“People see the word ‘sex’ in the title and it might scare them off but it’s not a blue type of show at all,” Varone says. “It’s not a show that’s all about sex and there’s no nudity or anything weird like that. You could possibly win a (sex toy) at the show, but that’s what makes it a different kind of comedy show. That’s why our slogan is ‘Rockstars, Porn Stars, Comedians … Oh My!’.”
In 2007, Varone was the main subject in the documentary “Waking Up Dead.” The film, directed by Fabio Jafet, follows Varone into the underbelly of the music industry. Between a nasty cocaine habit, lack of funds and a whole lot of mistakes, Varone allowed his darkest hours to be caught on tape. Now sober, Varone says he has days where he wonders why he would subject himself to the scrutiny.
“There are days when I sit back and go ‘Oh, God why did I do this,’ but then I get an e-mail from someone that says something like, ‘I saw the film and decided to get sober,’ and that’s what makes it worth it to me,” Varone says. “I went through a lot of crazy stuff and I’m not ashamed of it. I know a lot of really great people who are recovering addicts and we’re not monsters or bad people.”
This show is 21 and older only. Tickets are $25 and available at irvineimprov.com. In case you miss it, Sex, Stand-up & Rock ‘n’ Roll will return to the Irvine Improv on March 14.
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Posted in: Comedy • Interviews • Live Acts • Comedy • Irvine Improv • Phil Varone • stand-up | Post a Comment »
December 15th, 2008, 12:45 pm by Kelli Skye Fadroski
 Steve Byrne –- This high-energy comic is starting to break into the mainstream. His brand of observational and physical comedy has landed him appearances on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He’s also been a part of a few national comedy tours, including the Jameson Comedy Tour, Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour and the MySpace Comedy Tour.
Byrne appeared in The Real Wedding Crashers, a hidden-camera show featuring real-life couples about to be married. The couples would always be in on the joke, but unsuspecting family members and guests were not. Now, in his first major movie role, Byrne can be seen in the Reese Witherspoon / Vince Vaughn holiday comedy, Four Christmases.
Show times are 8:30 p.m. Dec. 18 … 8 & 10 p.m. Dec. 19 … 7 & 9 p.m. Dec. 20 … and 7 p.m. Dec. 21. Tickets are $17 and available at breaimprov.com.
Also coming to town: At the Brea Improv: Stand-up & Rock with Mark Eddie, 8 p.m. Dec. 16, $12; and Playboy Comedy, 8:30 p.m. Dec. 17, $15. … At the Irvine Improv: Cedric the Entertainer (The Original Kings of Comedy), 7 & 9 p.m. Dec. 15, $40; Comedy Juice featuring Owen Benjamin and Brad Williams, 10 p.m. Dec. 16, $15; Tony Rock (The Tony Rock Project), 8:30 p.m. Dec. 17 & 18, 8 & 10 p.m. Dec. 19, 7 & 9 p.m. Dec. 20 and 7 p.m. Dec. 21, $20. … And at the Grove of Anaheim: Sinbad (A Different World, The Sinbad Show), 8 p.m. Dec. 19, $25-$40.
Next week: Jon Lovitz, Dec. 26-28 at the Irvine Improv … Michael Loftus, Dec. 26-28 at the Brea Improv.
Posted in: Comedy • Live Acts • News • Brea Improv • Cedric the Entertainer • Comedy • Irvine Improv • Jon Lovitz • Steve Byrne • Tony Rock • week in laughs | 1 Comment »
December 11th, 2008, 12:31 pm by Kelli Skye Fadroski
 Lisa Lampanelli, the loveable Queen of Mean, will see her first HBO hour-long special, Long Live the Queen, air at 10 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Jan. 31. The special was taped before a live audience on Nov. 21 at the Wells Fargo Center of the Arts in Santa Rosa.
As every comic knows, a gig on HBO is the Holy Grail of comedy specials — it’s like a musician winning 10 Grammys in a single night. Lampanelli (looking much like the evil queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in this pic) joins the ranks of veterans like Chris Rock, George Carlin, Lewis Black, George Lopez, Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Seinfeld and more.
Prior to taping, Lampanelli was hard at work touring the country and testing out new material for the special. She even stopped by the Brea Improv for five nights in August to try out some bits (read my interview with her from that show here).
Although she still has a busy touring schedule, she’s also working with actor Jim Carrey on a comedy series for HBO. The series revolves around a woman who inherits a comedy club in Los Angeles.
Her first book, The World According to Lisa: The Queen of Mean’s Guide to the Universe, in which she shares her views on everything from relationships and parenting to religion and race, is also due in 2009.
Posted in: Comedy • Live Acts • News • Stand-Up Specials • Comedy • HBO Specials • Lisa Lampanelli | 1 Comment »
December 9th, 2008, 6:44 pm by Kelli Skye Fadroski
 Comedian-actor Cedric Kyles (better known as Cedric the Entertainer) has the ability to sell out theaters with thousands of seats.
Yet this week he’s about to perform at the 300- capacity Irvine Improv.
The 44-year-old comic, who arrives at the venue Dec. 15, broke into the scene in the early ’90s via appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and BET’s ComicView (in ‘94 the network gave him its Richard Pryor Comic of the Year award).
Cedric then landed a role on his friend Steve Harvey’s sitcom (The Steve Harvey Show) in 1996 and picked up four consecutive NAACP Image Awards for outstanding actor in a comedy series during his time on the show. But his career really skyrocketed with the success of the Original Kings of Comedy tour, featuring Harvey along with D.L. Hughley and the late Bernie Mac.
The tours ended in 2000, when it was commemorated with Spike Lee’s popular film capturing the comics in action, after which Cedric went on to star in numerous movies, including both installments of Barbershop, The Honeymooners and Codename: The Cleaner.
He can currently be seen starring alongside Adrien Brody, Mos Def and Beyonce Knowles in Cadillac Records, chronicling the rise of Chess Records and some of its key recording artists: Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Etta James.
Show times are 7 & 9 p.m. Tickets, $40 for either show, are available at irvineimprov.com.
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Posted in: Comedy • Live Acts • News • Stand-Up Specials • Cedric the Entertainer • Comedy • Irvine Improv • stand-up • Upcoming Shows | Post a Comment »
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