On The Sly

Last June my son Erik bought me a ticket for Brian Regan, who was appearing at the Palace Theatre in Albany on my birthday. It was another show where you almost laugh your way out of your seat.

How funny can this guy be? How many times can he tell a story and make me laugh? We arrived in time to mingle in the lobby and that's where I saw Andy Finney of Finney's Sports. He was seeing Regan for the first time, and I warned him that he better be ready to laugh.

Those front row seats that Tony had scored were great. We were sitting where you want someone to notice you. So, for the twenty minutes while we waited, I kept turning around, hoping to hear someone say, "Hey, look at Foxy in the front row!" It never happened.

The audience, a packed theatre, was a mixture of ages, teenagers, college guys in those black tuques, pregnant ladies, and a few old men in ponytails.

The opening act was a comdian named Tom Ryan. When I heard that, I wondered if the big ex-Saranac Central basketball player that I know had found a new part-time job. But this Ryan is from Philadelphia. He was sort of in the Seinfeld mold, a comedian who makes simple observations about life and finds humor attached.

Like those new funny light bulbs that Mayor Kasprzak made sure we all got recently. Ryan noted how these energy efficient light bulbs come wrapped in about eight pounds of non-recyclable plastic!

Ryan also made reference to one of my blogs! Well, indirectly. Back in October I titled an "On the Sly" blog, "Am I a Dude or Not?" Ryan talked about how when he was growing up in the Sixties we were all men, like "What's up, man?" or "Oh, man, that girl is cool!"

But, through the years, "man" gave way to "dude," and it's the young people who used that word, as in "What's up, Dude?" And then along came "Bro" as in "Hey, Bro, your girl is hot!" But now, Ryan concluded, the new word is "Dog." Listen to young people and they are calling each other "dog."

Said Ryan, "We started out as men and we've ended up as dogs, and we did it all to ourselves."

After Ryan's thirty-minute routine, it was time for Brian Regan. We were ready! Regan uses a lot of facial expressions as part of his act. Sitting in the front row, just about fifteen feet away from him, made the show all the more enjoyable. Regan is just amazing.

For an hour he kept the audience laughing, and, at times, I was rocking forward, almost out of my seat, trying to catch my breath. The thing I like most about Regan is that he can entertain for an hour and not use one bad word. In over four hours of concert time with Brian Regan, I have not heard him utter one bad word!

Amidst the laughter and craziness, Regan pointed out something very poignant. "If we had more hands, we'd have more bad habits," he stated. As a friend of mine would say, "Think about it!"

I noticed that both comedians wore what must be the current attire for standups -- the casual look, with sneakers, jeans, a tee-shirt and a dress shirt not tucked in. I could easily look like a standup comic the next time I head out on the town.

In my book Brian Regan is at the top of the current crop of standup comics. I know there are others more famous, but Chris Rock can't make you laugh with out cursing and Larry the Cable Guy can't make you laugh without referring to body parts and body functions. That's how he "gets 'er done."

Brian Regan, plain and simple, makes you laugh. Laugh until you hurt. Laugh until you almost cry. He would have been a great one for the "Ed Sullivan Show."