This wkend, Dave Attell rolled around, and a friend and myself snagged tickets to the late night show on Saturday. I was introduced to Dave's work with the arrival of Insomniac which allowed me to create a solid framework of what I wanted my college experience to entail. Being up all night in the name of drinking was paramount, and Attell was leading the dream life of any boozed-up hooligan with a pension for encountering all types of weirdness. As soon as Insomniac sucked me in, I found myself even more in love with his stand-up. He demanded attention, offended with charisma, and took me places I didn't know I was going.
I'd never seen Dave live before this wkend. Suffice it to say, I was excited. Then, I got a call from another college friend wanting to join. No prob, I said. Come along.
We met up at CW before the show, and our friend was reasonably buzzed, and a sentence she said that briefly slipped through my consciousness that later would prove to be a fatal error on my part. The sentence was "Oh yeah, I didn't really eat. I drank my dinner tonight." Twas the premature ejaculation of more word vomit to come....
We got there early. Early enough to get seated in the second row. I'm usually not a close sitter. I like to find a corner where I can write and feel a bit creepy and outsiderish, but hey, this was Dave. Why the fuck not get in on the action?
Chuck Roy emceed that mother like it was his job. Probably because it is, but he was all A-game on Saturday night. He really killed it, prob the best show I've seen him do. Attell brought along Amy Schumer as his opener, and she was fucking phenomenal. She was the kind of female comedian where the female part doesn't take anything away from the equation. Not annoying. Not typical. She carried her own style and owned the stage. Instant favorite.
And then it was all about Attell. And unfortunately, it was all booze-ridden word-slurrage from my buddy who shall remain nameless. Being that we were three chicks sitting amongst the date night couples in the front row, Dave inevitably picked on us. "Where the men at?" "What are you out celebrating?" Typical crowd interaction and we were ripe for the picking. My friend starting saying some weird things pretty loudly and I cautioned that she should probably shut the fuck up...about a million times throughout the course of the show, but in the initial "Shut the fuck up", I looked into her eyes and saw the cold, dead look of black-out and I knew it was going to be a long show.
Her heckling got all three of us cut off within the first ten minutes of Dave's set. Which was the epitome of sad for me because another margarita and I think I would have not been so horrified and more able to actually enjoy the awesomeness of the show. It was awesome. Between all three sets, I laughed harder at this show than I've laughed in a long time. Dave was actually recording the first two nights in Denver, which I had also known prior, which additionally made the heckling situation ten times worse for me. And you could tell that it was a little beyond what was acceptable for a late show and a drunk crowd on a Saturday night.
The situation did not get better, as a black-out is typically a black-out until sleep finds the perpetrator, and sleep was nowhere in sight for my drunk buddy, who was by now twenty knots deep into a solid shitface. It led to an eventual really awkward picture with her and Dave who was obviously hating, me trying to profusely apologize, and feeling like a complete moron for sitting up close. Who learned her lesson? I did.
And the saddest part of me about the whole deal was that I felt like I missed alot as I tried to bottle the action sitting next to me. In a stroke of luck, I found out that Chuck Roy is as equally nice as he is funny, and he hooked me up with two tix for me and my orig. friend to come see the show the next night. How do you turn down that offer? In short, ya dont.
The next night turned out to be a hell of a show. The line-up was stocked with Denver Talent. Chuck Roy emceeing. Hippieman. Andrew Orvedahl. Troy Baxley. And Ben Roy. All leading up to Dave Attell once more.
Out of all the openers, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy really came to play. Holy shit. I hadn't seen Ben Roy except in a news bit he did back in the December Los Comicos deal which was a little weird...but his stand-up blew me away. It's easy to see why this kid is tops in Denver, he was brilliantly funny with a serious edge and a sharply-tuned set. The crowd absorbed the height of his energy and gave it right back to him. It was awesome to watch, I really cant wait to see him again.
And Attell's performance this night was more laid-back, more comfortable. He was obviously out of recording mode and able to feed off the crowd and do what he wanted. He was really in his element in this show. I'm glad I got to catch it.
I also got the chance to catch up with Dave for a minute after the show. He was incredibly gracious, looked really tired, and made the effort to connect with his fans.
It was an interesting understanding, meeting Dave after the show. Dave had talked about his issues with his kidneys for a hot second in the show, he definitely didn't look like he was at full-speed, and he had mentioned that his drinking had come to a halt. After years of being the king of the party, up till dawn, and being some strange nearly-fictional character of all that was hilarious in my mind, I was brought back to a very human reality. The tangibility of comedy. I'll leave that thought there.
Who wants to meet Jude Law anyway?
I like Dave too, but that ain't the point. The point is that I think we should all aspire to "offend with charisma" and be "20 knots deep into a solid shitface." Well put. Those lines will be coming with me.
ReplyDelete