| Laughing Liberally: This Ain't No Tea Party |
| Written by Kayla O'Connell | |||
| Tuesday, 21 June 2011 12:56 | |||
 Starring: Scott Blakeman, Lee Camp, Jim David, Brian Dykstra, Will Durst, Negin Farsad, John Fugelsang, Julie Goldman, Katie Halper, Jamie Jackson, Myq Kaplan, Jamie Kilstein, Dean Obeidallah, Baratunde Thurston, Harry Terjanian, Elon James White Directed by: Justin Krebs Through Sept. 1st. 163 W46th St. New York, NY In a time when being a pundit is a necessary career step for any self-respecting comedian, Laughing Liberally gives some lesser known comedians a chance to flex their politically relevant muscles. Starting off with uber left wing clips from "The Full Ginsberg" and "The Partisans", among others, Laughing Liberally has you wondering whether you're about to experience the underground, left-leaning, polar opposite of the much-ridiculed Tea Party. Luckily, many of the comedians have varying views, similar to the audience, and while you many not agree with everything each comic has to say (let's be honest, you won't), it will make you laugh before it makes you change your party affiliation. The line up of comics on Laughing Liberally changes nightly and tonight Scott Blakeman opened the show. While being the opening comic in any situation has to be stomach churning and fear-inducing (and this was not an easy crowd), Blakeman still seemed a bit off. His jokes, while poignant and relevant, were a bit general and therefore not quite as hard hitting and thought provoking as some of the comics that followed. For example, Rick Crom (Chappelle Show, NEWSical) followed Blakeman with a more well-rounded set, though he admittedly seemed a bit unprepared. His songs on the piano included "It's Beginning to Look Like New York", which discussed Crom's delight at the reemergence of street walkers and drug dealers popping up throughout the city, and a song in which Crom admits he's quite happy that Osama Bin Laden is dead, though he knows that goes against his liberal values. His set was surprising and he definitely served to get the ball rolling. Lastly, completing the first act was Dean Obeidallah. Obeidallah's set was a bit more challenging to the audience than the previous two, which gave many of his jokes that extra edge. He used his half-arab, half-white descent to set up a series of racially inspired jokes that rang true with the audience and caused a few moments of (hilarious) self-reflection. After intermission the audience was treated to what came across as more of a one man skit than a stand up comedian. Jamie Jackson hilariously cross-dresses as a british woman who comes to America to join in their "tea parties". Through her mis-guided attendance she learns many lessons about America, including President Obama's Kenyan heritage "I mean, look at his face", she sings, and his desire to kill old people. The juxtaposition of this tall, manly figure playing such a dainty english woman is hilarious in a basic "Three Stooges" way; layered with her ingenuous attitude towards her new found friend "Tank", Jamie Jackson creates a hilarious bit that may have missed some people in tonight's tepid audience, but cracked up those that "got" it.
Following Jackson was Costaki Economopoulos. Economopoulos got the audience rolling with a series of relevant one liners centered around the latest in the run of republican candidacy. His jokes were specific and well though out, but again seemed unprepared as he read from his notes. Rounding out the evening was Lee Camp, the youngest of all of the comedians and perhaps the most modern in his style. Camp told his jokes in that hard-hitting, fast talking kind of way that moves on quickly from those jokes that don't get any laughs and doesn't linger too long in those that do. Camp was angrier than his fellow comedians and the audience seemed to respond well to his inconsolable frustrations. His set was a strong way to end the show, leaving the audience a bit riled up and unified.
Laughing Liberally is much less a show and much more a series of stand up comedians cracking jokes about the same issues from the same political bent. The set is a simple black box theatre with tables and chairs and a few cocktail waitress'. Beware, the sign on your table will say "2 item minimum per person", however this is not the case and woe is the person who spends $50 on microwaved food when they didn't need to. Setting aside, Laughing Liberally provides a good amount of laughs about relevant subjects. Political humor isn't always easy and requires a degree of research and intelligence. Most of these comics met the mark and made the evening enjoyable for those who agreed with them, however, if you're a card carrying Republican, you might want to keep walking.
|
