comedy

Jim Breuer Live Review

Published

8 years ago

August 17, 2016

Ron

Jim Breuer

RamsHead stage Annapolis MD

8/11/2016

This was my first time at the RamsHead venue in Annapolis. Heading to a comedy show was a change from the metal craziness of the last few shows I had been to. The opening comedian Brian McKenna, who hails from N.Y.C. joked that everyone in Baltimore seemed friendly because he was used to being around N.Y.C. people. McKenna’s set lasted about 30 minutes & he had good material and was really funny.

Then it was time for the man that we all came to see, Mr. Jim Breuer. Jim came out on stage and looked how he has always looked through his career, complete with his rock ‘n’ roll attitude, mixed in with his heavy-lidded, “I smoked too much reefer coolness.” He came right out of the gate making us laugh. As soon as he came onto the stage, there was a woman upfront who was blatantly texting. Breuer used this as immediate improv fodder, he said “Hey the show just started let me text!” Then he proceeded to mock her messing with her phone. Another lady was filming his routine and Breuer says, “I hope you got all that” and blows her a kiss. The best joke pertaining to the crowd was when a man was talking loudly and Breuer says, “I got this, that’s my drunk uncle, he’s always trying to help me out, I’m a professional I got this.” From there, Breuer moved onto some Baltimore inspired jokes. He mentioned that he had never had, “swamp ass,” until he came to Baltimore.

Breuer also talked about the Olympics and how you never hear anyone back in April say, “when it comes to August don’t bother me when the Olympics are on” and “I need to watch Michael Phelps.” One of the highlights of the night was when he talked about how he doesn’t like politics. He said, “Politics reminds him of professional wrestling.” Breuer started talking about his kids, in which he said, “The hardest job ever is raising teenage girls.” The anecdotes he told about his daughters were hilarious.

Breuer talked about getting old and what his funeral would be like. My favorite part of his routine, was when he talked about what he wants to happen when he dies. Breuer said, “I want to be stuffed into a cannon at a party while AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock” gets played and when it comes to the part in the song when ‘FIRE’ is screamed, BLAM out of the cannon I go!”

He ended with a story about how he went to dinner with his wife and AC/DC‘s lead singer Brian Johnson. His commentary about the experience was so funny that everyone in the crowd was crying from laughing so hard.

Of course what would a comedy show be without some heckling from the crowd. The first heckle was a request of, “Hey do Goat Boy,” which is referring to one of the many characters Breuer made famous during his stint on “Saturday Night Live.” Breuer responded to the heckle by saying, “No requests, maybe I’ll do it later.”

Breuer’s set was hilarious and his comedy is something that anyone over the age of thirty-five can understand and relate to.

The laughs didn’t stop on the stage, after the show, he was selling some merchandise. He was taking photos with everyone and he said, “I have to take the selfies because you suck at it.”

Breuer also mentioned the rock album he just finished called, Songs From the Garage, which is pure rock comedy. To sum up the night, Breuer put on an amazing comedy show. It was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to see him again.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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comedy

Chris Hardwick ID10T tour 2016

Published

8 years ago

June 26, 2016

JJ Ulizio

Chris Hardwick ID10IT tour 2016

Empire does Comedy w/Chris Hardwick

by JJ ULizio:

On 06/10/16 the Nerdist himself Chris Hardwick came to the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead in Pittsburgh, PA. I typically try to avoid using terms and clichés like “the voice of a generation” but with his own brand of Nerd styled humor he is exactly that. Speaking to a social media generation, both those enthralled by it and those who use it out of necessity but aren’t so enthused by it.

Subject matters of the set encompassed a variety of topics. He even included a quite brief bit of political commentary. He commented how the election this year will be tuning things into “Fury Road”. He offered up stories involving writing things in the condensation of hotel bathroom mirrors, jokes and stories about his fiancé (actress, model, and heiress to the Hearst publishing fortune, Lydia Hearst), and of course addressing the white elephant in the room, the season 6 finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

@MIDNIGHT --Chris Hardwick Host, "@midnight" photo credit: Robyn Von Swank

Chris Hardwick photo credit: Robyn Von Swank

While I feel that his entire set was hilarious, were Chris truly excelled was in his interactions with the audience. Coming up with quips and commentaries on the fly or “riffing” with people is where he let his true comedic genius shine. He had two segments that involved audience participation. The first of which involved asking various audience members about where they were from and what they do for employment. Cell phone forensics, pre-school teacher, and a lab tech all seemed to give him ripe jumping off points which to riff from.

Later he then began a segment of taking questions from the audience. At this time a fan came up and brought him a box of gourmet donuts from a local shop, which he shared with the crowd. Each time someone asked a “good” question they got to grab a donut. This plan eventually led to him throwing donuts up to the balcony for fans on the second level. One fan didn’t even had a question for him and just wanted to thank him for helping him discover the sci-fi TV show Doctor Who.

He ended his segment with a bit he entitled Bane Jovi in which he sang his own rendition of the 1987 Bon Jovi hit “Wanted Dead or Alive” in the voice of the Tom Hardy character Bane from the 2012 Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight Rises. Before which he commented that it was included in his previous special but wasn’t able to be released due to licensing issues. (fan filmed version below).

Chris Hardwick

After the show you could easily see his generosity and appreciation to his fans. After mentioning that they had to drive directly from Pittsburgh to Columbus Ohio to make a flight back to Los Angeles he and his fiancé Lydia both still took the time to talk to and take pictures with various fans waiting for him outside of the venue.

If you consider yourself a nerd or can just appreciate good comedy, then catching Chris Hardwick on his ID10T tour is a must. There are still dates left on the tour with promises for more to be added soon. You can find Chris Hardwick on all the usual social networking sites as @Hardwick , on your usual podcasting outlets on The Nerdist Podcast (I also highly recommend), Through the self-described many headed beast at Nerdist. The comedy game show @Midnight on Comedy Central, and finally you can see him, in season, as the host of the AMC fandom talk show The Talking Dead. Damn, when you type that all out you see how busy he really is, I definitely hope his tour swings back to or near Pittsburgh again, because I will definitely be there.

About Author

JJ Ulizio

JJ has been a contributing writer and huge asset to Empire and Empire Extreme since the very begining. He is always digging for new bands and has a true heart and desire to see the bands grow and succeed.

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