Show Review: Jim Breuer (previously entitled "Laughing is Fun")

It is, isn't it? I just got back from Jim Breuer about 20 minutes ago, and I can say that the show was definitely worth the 4 dollars I paid for my ticket. The show got off to a rough start because some guys on one side of the auditorium were chanting, "Jim! Jim! Jim! Jim!" and then a couple people came out to thank us all for showing up, and they got the crap booed out of them. After that, the opening comic, Paul Bond, came on and did some decent material. He needs to lay off the masturbation jokes a little, but other than that, it was good. His funniest joke made the PC types in the audience uncomfortable, but being a Republican, I thought it was great. Want to know what it was? Okay: "You know, when I was a kid, I was Asian, but then I got disoriented." He also invented a word for stupid people who aren't quite at the retarded level. He called them "pretards." I don't care how PC you are, that's funny. He ended with some song parodies, including one called "That's Why I Always Use My Hand (what did I say about the masturbation stuff?)," sung to the tune of John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland." That was a bit awkward, but it was hilarious nonetheless. After that, without even a brief delay, he brought out the half-baked goat, Jim Breuer. This guy is really good. The applause was great, and he had a lot of energy. Now, if you've never seen Jim Breuer perform, you may not realize that he has a slightly different style than other comics. Instead of preparing a routine and telling the same jokes every night, he lets the audience decide which jokes they hear. For example, some guy in the audience yelled "METALLICA!" and Jim did his impression of James Hetfield returning something to a store ("Do you have a receipt?" "YEAAAHHH!!!!"). And then, of course, somebody yelled "Goat Boy!" and Jim ended up telling us the origin of the character and doing a lot of baah-ing. He actually didn't do a lot of new material, but it was great seeing all this stuff live after watching him on TV for so many years. One new bit that was really funny was his story about when he got a job at SNL. He described his thoughts at the time as, "I'm gonna buy a kangaroo!" After that, he hopped around the stage for a while as the audience laughed their a-holes off (is that physically possible?). Another new story was about Dave Chappelle getting his car stolen. The story was pretty funny, but the best part was the visual aid. Jim pointed out that Dave Chappelle is really skinny, and then he just picked up the microphone stand and set it up at the front of the stage. He didn't have to say anything, because we all cracked up at this point. Get it? Microphone stand, skinny black guy? It's hilarious! Oh, yeah. He also talked about how the two of them were planning on doing a spinoff of "Home Improvement." According to Breuer, "He's black, I'm white. He eats chicken, I carry a briefcase (don't get offended; he said it sarcastically)." That was great. He also told a story involving his Joe Pesci impression, and even though I had seen it on TV, it was funnier live. For those familiar with Jim Breuer, he did the "are you gonna thank me for giving you a career" story. He ended the show with a routine that some girls in the audience requested (they even made a sign). This, of course, was the "stomach party" routine. This is where he talks about drinking being like a party, where more and more strangers come in until tequila ruins everything and the stomach says, "everybody, get out!" We gave him a standing ovation at the end of the show, and he brought out an old guy whom he identified as his dad, but we'll never know for sure. In all, it was a great night. I would go there again. I don't really have anything else to blog about today. Unless I think of something else, that's all for today's edition of SIT. I have a long weekend coming up with no football game, so I'll probably be asleep until Tuesday morning. Also, I have two papers due next Wednesday, which means I'll probably get my best ideas for things to post about on Tuesday afternoon. I'm usually the most creative when I've got a lot of homework to do. Remember, laughter is the best medicine. Just don't tell that to a guy with emphysema. Goodnight.