A few weeks ago the Delocated blog announced there would NOT be a fourth season of what (in my opinion) is one of the funniest shows on television. There will be a series finale airing on Adult Swim next month, but after that…no more bone zone, no more FRRT, no more brevs, no more bad vodka jokes. Alas, in e-mailing the teaser video for the series finale to some friends, I learned about an incredible Delocated-related comedy show happening here in Los Angeles. And that event was just last night. At Largo. And, oh the humor. It was…humorous.
Billed as “Delocated Live!” the evening was hosted/MC’d by “Jon” from Delocated (Jon Glaser) and featured performances by Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifanakis, Tim Heidecker, Jerry Minor, Kristen Schaal, Brett Gelman, and Reggie Watts. It was without a doubt the most powerful comedy lineup I’ve ever seen in person. Then again, I don’t see a lot of live comedy. I’ve frequented the Paul F. Tompkins show at Largo a handful of times and always enjoy it. When I first moved to LA in ’07 I regularly attended the Tomorrow Show at the Steve Allen Theater. Other than that, you know, I’ve been to two of Tom’s Emerson Mafia events and that’s really the extent of my comedy club-going experience. I don’t know why I don’t see more live comedy. I like to laugh. I think I like to laugh. It’s right up there with crying, binging, and purging on the list my favorite hobbies.
So…yeah, to see all these incredible performers on the same stage on the same night made for a memorable night. “Jon” opened the show (complete with ski mask and voice modifier, of course) and shared with the crowd some highlights of a new book he wrote. In the tradition of Kim Catrall’s book on sex, “Jon” wrote his own book that mimics/mirrors the Sex In The City actress’ take on “the art of the orgasm.” Complete with beautiful charcoal drawings of a loving couple finger-blasting and engaging in anal sex. Classy!
By the way, I’ve never…you know…reviewed a comedy show before. Sorry if this sucks.
Sarah Silverman took the stage and worked on some new (I imagine?) material. Personally my favorite bit involved a recent study published by the University Of North Carolina. As the joke is probably a work in progress, I’ll not spoil the punchline(s). Let’s just say it involves a touchy subject and a very beautiful, very hands-on sex act. Sarah’s attempt to one-up “Jon”‘s high-concept comedy (ie. telling bad jokes but using a voice modulator to garner laughs) was a pre-recorded bit on her iPhone where her vagina tells a joke.
Zach Galifanakis had one of the best-received sets of the night. I’m sure you’ve all seen enough videos of him online to understand his brand of observational humor. I don’t know exactly why, but a joke about being stoned and thinking a random woman walking two dogs “must be REALLY blind” stuck with me. So simple, yet so brilliant. His set, I think, was the longest of the show. Whether or not those texts and phone calls he kept receiving telling him his time was up were a joke, we may never know. But it definitely added to the performance.
Brett Gelman was the comic I was most excited to see other than Jon Glaser last night. I’m such a huge fan of his work on Funny Or Die (the “Subtext” video has to be one of the best FoD productions ever), his podcast, and his work on “Eagleheart”. I wanted to know what he’d do on a stage by his lonesome, and the performance — I think — left most of us speechless. Even “Jon” when he returned to the stage could only muster a stunned “Wow” in response to what I’ll simply describe as Brett Gelman’s psychotic meltdown and dance party. Truly unbelievable and so, so funny.
Jerry Minor (who you might know from Mr. Show, Lucky Louie, or his character Mighty Joe Jon The Black Blonde on Delocated) gave the surprise performance of the night. After “Jon” introduced him as “Michael Winslow, the black guy who does all the voices in the Police Academy movies), Minor (in character as Winslow) took the stage and attempted to tell two very serious, very emotional stories — about a Matthew-Shepard-esque annecdote and the recent murder of two innocent civilians by Christopher Dorner — were punctuated by Winslow-style sound affects that elicited much laughter from the audience. When the laughter got too loud, Winslow freaked out and stormed off the stage, unable to finish either of his heartfelt, sincere stories.
The last time I saw Tim Heidecker perform stand-up was at the Tomorrow Show, maybe four years ago? I was probably drunk or high at the time but I remember him bumbling around the stage pretending to be a novice comedian whose material wasn’t quite stage-ready. Last night he came out in a similar fashion, but ratcheted up about 500%. He spent the first five minutes of the set trying to set up his microphone. He wound up demolishing the mic stand and giving himself a pretty nasty gash on his hand in the process. Never breaking character, he preceded to absolutely KILL IT with his horrible timing and joke-less jokes. At one point he switched gears and transformed into a gimmick comic trying to make a new catch phrase happen. In his attempt to work the crowd, he asked one audience member what he had done that day, when the guy responded, “I watched Tim Heidecker make an audience feel really uncomfortable,” Heidecker flung his microphone across the stage and stormed out of the room.
I like Kristen Schaal on the Daily Show and on Bob’s Burgers, but I didn’t know anything about her stand-up material until last night. She was excellent, and her rendition of two “Taint Monologues” in the style of the Vagina Monologues were brilliant. Outside of that Mr. Show sketch, there’s but a minuscule amount of Taint-related comedy out there for fans of the genre to enjoy. It’s a sadly unheralded GOLDMINE of material. I mean…considering its size, it might actually have the highest comedic value relative to its size. Oh, and thanks to Kristen Schaal, the number of references I make to eating Thanksgiving dinner off a girl’s taint is about to increase tenfold. Fiftyfold. A hundredfold? Sure, why not.
Oh, Reggie Watts. Up on stage with his Line6 DL-4 (I’ve got one of those!) making some killer MOIST BEATS for the crowd, was the perfect comic to close the show. His persona shifted from proper English gentleman telling an arcane story to promote a specific pair of hiking boots into two musical improvisations, which were both fantastic. I’m not a Comedy Bang Bang listener/viewer but according to friends Watts is a major part of why the podcast/show is so successful. I’ll just say the deftness with which he utilizes that effects pedal makes me looping guitar drones for hours at a time seem like the least-interesting thing you could possibly do with the DL-4. I’m not a big podcast listener (I have a hard enough time keeping up with The Best Show on WFMU, and became so overwhelmed after missing two episodes of the Paul F. Tompkast I had to delete it from my iTunes — have I mentioned I’m overwhelming by the most menial things imaginable?), but if his set last night was indicative of what I’d hear on Comedy Bang Bang, I might have to tune in soon.
After the show we sat down and had some beers next door, I got to shake Jon Glaser’s hand and tell him what a huge Delocated fan I am. That was enough for me. I’m a man of few (spoken) words so I don’t really possess the proper elocution to converse with people whose work I admire. A simple “Thanks for doing what you do!” is about the most I can muster. I should work on that.
All in all, Delocated Live provided me with an evening of memories that will not soon be forgotten. Seeing stellar performances from some of the biggest names in comedy in the perfect setting isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, so I’m grateful I had the opportunity to attend the event. And, you know, even though there won’t be a fourth season of Delocated there’s still one more new episode to eagerly anticipate. After that, I’ll just keep preaching the gospel “Jon” to (hopefully) new converts for as long as the show remains available via Internet streaming and/or DVD.
Klaus Schulze – Windy Times [MP3]
