There is no greater joy in my life than to be running late to a comedy show, only to walk into the venue as the lights dim and the show is underway. This happened Tuesday night, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang! tour made a stop at the Highline Ballroom in the Meatpacking District on Tuesday night, with venerable comic actors Kurt Braunholer, Scott Aukerman, Tim Heidecker, Bobby Moynihan, and James Adomian taking the stage.
The show opened with Kurt Braunohler. I personally know Kurt as Kristen Schaal’s sidekick in the endurance comedy sketch ‘Kristen Schaal is horse,’ and had not yet seen him live onstage. Braunohler brings his comedic nerdiness to the stage and is a good fit for Aukerman’s less nerdy and more audience based humor. Braunohler hosts ‘Bunk’ also on IFC – which appears to be slowly stealing the title of ‘comedy channel’ from Comedy Central.
Braunohler made way for Scott Aukerman, who selected a rather heavyset gentleman from the first row to join him in an audition to be the venue’s Fire Captain. This process involved many tasks, including role playing, make-up wearing, and undressing. There is no greater sight in the world of physical comedy than a fat guy taking off his shirt while playing a cow on all fours in front of 500 people.
Next up was the delightful and bumbling comedy of Tim Heidecker. Tim is one half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric, and his uncomfortable character is reminiscent of Mr Bean combined with any other comedian on stage for the first time. Heidecker doesn’t have to say all that much for it to be funny. His humor is dry, his persona is confused, and he takes great pleasure on knocking over the mic stand into the audience at every chance he gets.
The show closed out with a round table (sans table) podcast featuring Auckerman, Bobby Moynihan as Forvil (Feivel from An American Tale), James Adomian as Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, and Kurt Braunohler. The personal highlight for this writer was seeing someone do a spot on impression of Jesse Ventura. I’d rather listen to Adomian’s Jesse Ventura than Ventura himself.
The season finale of Comedy Bang! Bang! is this Friday at 10pm on IFC. Check your local listings or head to www.comedybangbang.com
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