Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Robbery of Ricky Paugh

I just got back from the DC Improv and seeing my college buddy, and old roommate Ricky Paugh, perform as a part of the DC Comedy Showcase. The Comedy Showcase was a contest between 8 up and coming comedians, wherein the best comedian (as determined by three borderline professional comedians...or for the purposes of this blog entry, assholes) would win a chance to perform with a big act and compete in an even larger competition towards the dead end job known as stand-up comedy.

Anywho, we get to the Improv nice and early and my buddy Kupe has secured us the front and center seats for this joyous occassion. There's eight of us in our group and as my first captain and coke goes down and the lights dim, we come to the realization that this is a very Pro-Rick crowd. Home field advantage...I don't blame him for stocking the audience.

The show begins with the MC doing his bit. He's OK and has some decent pops, before introducing the first act. To call the first act a train wreck would be an understatement. The guy was a 6'8" black man who had just gotten out of prison (no, I'm not a racist asshole who naturally assumes all 6'8" black men have just gotten out of prison) and he was high (no, I'm not a racist asshole, but all 6'8" black men who have just gotten out of prison are likely high). I don't quite remember much of his act, but I am just glad he didn't steal anything or pull out a gun. The only laughter was what I will term "nervous, please don't rape my girlfriend chuckles" and he was done.

The next few guys are a blur as the Capt. is flowing like water, and the comedians are very forgettable. One shmuck tried to pull a Mitch Hedberg rip-off set...what the fuck? And then, Ricky was up.

Ricky shot up there with some high intensity, and threw out some local, "this city is a pain to get around in" jokes. Solid performance and the crowd is with him. He's dancing around the stage like an ADD kid who needs his ridilin as his veins are shooting out his neck, and we're all lovin' it. I truly laughed out loud during two or three of his jokes, and he buttoned things up with the always popular suicide bomber joke. I know, but he made it work. He went off to a thunderous roar and all of us at the table are confident he's definitely the winner...at least the best thusfar, though there's still 4 guys to go.

More of the same bullshit, no talent ass clowns for the next hour, including a Carlton from Fresh Prince wannabe, a redneck, and Rick's toughest competition, a spastic joker with a disturbing habit of pointing and touching his own groin, even when talking about a woman's hot love oven.

They wrap things up with a special appearance by a "more popular" professional comedian, who was decent, while they tabulated the votes. All the comedians were then brought out onto the stage (except the 6'8" black man, who is mysteriously missing?), so that they could all make a final appearance as they read the top three:

#3...Carlton (SWEET!!!)
#2...Redneck (HOLY SHIT, RICK WON THIS THING???)
#1...SPASTIC GUY??!!

What the fuck?!!

I knew that 6'8" black guy was gonna steal something.

5 comments:

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Anonymous said...

I hope he didn't take his disappointment out on you like he used to...
DC

The J Man said...

Ha. He was actually in better spirits than most of us who watched him. Ty and Tonidandel even made the trip up from Charlotte to see this robbery.

Blogger said...

I had no idea until just now that Rick went to college with you. I thought you just randomly found him to live with you like the guy who brewed his own beer in your basement.

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