Rob the Concert Guy

I wasn’t planning to review a comedy show, but figured I might as well. Explicit language ahead.

Man, did I love Last Comic Standing back in the day! I used to dabble in comedy, so I really loved this show. When Josh Blue won back in 2006, I definitely watched every episode over the course of however many weeks it aired. So, imagine my excitement when he rolled into Westerly, RI on October 2nd at the United Theater. Let’s just say, I live close so I wasn’t going to miss it.

The first 15 minutes or so had us in tears. I don’t need to give you his whole bio, but you can read it here. All you need to know is that he has cerebral palsy and he’s funny as hell.

During the first dude’s set, Tyler Hittner, a woman kept yelling random stuff at him. He eventually got her to shut up and finished his act. His act was very funny and he made a great warm up for Josh Blue. But I feared this obnoxious person was setting the tone for the night. Nick Giasullo, who travels with Josh quite a bit from my understanding, was next. He didn’t have as much yelling, but had to deal with some.

When it got to Josh Blue, like I said, we were in tears the first 15 minutes from laughing. He’s quick, funny, uses his cerebral palsy to his advantage, creates a funny discomfort with the crowed, etc. He really had us going…then the yelling started. Random, “I love you Josh!” at first, but it got worse. As it continued, the non-yellers were getting annoyed and he was too. But as a professional comedian, he tried to have fun with it. “Whoever is with that lady, please put her muzzle back on.” Then a drunk douche in front of us, “Do new stuff!” Josh replied that everything he does is new. He doesn’t write stuff down and script it, he tries to just be off the cuff to some degree. “Try not to fall!” “Take off your shirt!” “Don’t take off your shirt!” “Yeah Blue!” “Hey Josh!” started to pop up everywhere. This turned into him, and others in the crowd, going in the “shut the fuck up!” direction.

Eventually he just stopped trying to do his act and said, “Fuck it. Since you all want to talk, let’s just do Q&A.” Silence for a minute. “Do you know what Q and A is?” So, then people started asking questions. This then turned into “Fuck Q&A! Do your act!” to which he responded, “I think we’re past that” or something close. Some random lady then yelled, “everyone shut the fuck up! I paid good money to hear him talk, not you!” He responded to that and tried to take control again, but the pace was gone.

Now going back to the beginning of his set, he did let the crowd know that after the show he’d be in the lobby selling some merch, doing a meet n greet, signing stuff, taking pictures, whatever. But as he started to get the momentum going again, some other moron started yelling about how he’s been following Josh Blue for years. Josh pretty much told him to read the room. “No one else is yelling. Look around!” but the dude just kept trying to have a conversation. Josh was like, “oh. I see you’re just not going to listen” and this dumbass just keeps going on stating he wanted to take a picture with him and his wife, and Josh said, “yeah! And we can do that after the show!” The guy still didn’t shut up and was like, “man, I’m here because of you!” and Josh said, “Yeah! So are all these other people! Look at the ticket! My name is literally on the ticket!”

He eventually get back into a rhythm and finished, but what an obnoxious crowd. Everyone thinks they’re part of the damn show these days. I don’t want to “blame” anyone, but people are so oblivious to other forms of comedy these days besides what they see online. And what’s online? Matt Rife and other wannabes whose style of comedy is all about the crowd work. He, and many others, do their whole act around people shouting stuff, reacting to it, roasting them, having a convo, inviting them up for pictures, etc. That’s what they do and it works for them. But this isn’t how all comedians work. Comedy is a performance art. Let the comedian perform, so you can enjoy their art! If you want to be part of the act, start your own damn act. If you do decide to yell, and the comedians themselves, as well as the whole crowd, is telling you to “Shut the fuck up!” maybe you should listen.

You disappointed me Westerly crowd. You did Josh Blue dirty.