“What an incredibly huge group of white people,” Aziz Ansari quipped as he took the stage Friday night at Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. “If the race war goes down tonight, I’m f—-d.”
Ansari wasn’t kidding—at least about the first observation. For those who ever wondered how many stand-ups it takes (on the marquee) to fill an outdoor concert venue, the answer apparently is nine. Perfect Vodka was busting at the seams last Friday night thanks to the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, a “Funny or Die” presentation headlined by Ansari and Amy Schumer, and featuring seven other name comedians—including the “Roastmaster General,”Jeff Ross, who served as emcee.
The crowd was treated to abbreviated—and often hilarious—sets from the likes of Nikki Glaser, T.J. Miller, Anthony Jeselnik, Bridget Everett, Sebastian Maniscalco and Tim Minchin. Only Miller, who is co-starring on the HBO show “Silicon Valley,” left the crowd scratching its collective Caucasian head with disjointed, poorly crafted material that justified his claim that “in a recent review [of his performance], I just got question marks.”
Schumer—still riding a yearlong wave onto the A-list thanks to the success of her brilliant, Emmy-winning TV show on Comedy Central (“Inside Amy Schumer”) and the $109 million domestic haul from her debut movie, “Trainwreck”—treated fans to a practice run of the monologue she’ll use next week as host of “Saturday Night Live.” It’s hard to know how much of the material will make it onto the show, but let’s hope she keeps the bit about how no Kardashian should be a role model for young girls, especially when Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, et al, each took the face she was born with as “a light suggestion.”
Among the other highlights from a show that lasted nearly six hours, including some early warm-up acts:
Ansari on the South Florida heat: “This the first time I’ve ever used a towel at a concert. Usually, you only see that with overweight black comedians. Craig Robinson, I feel your pain!”
Schumer, after she was hacked, on what the computer technician who came to her house discovered that she Googled the most: “Can I drink on these antibiotics? And will my birth control still work if I do drink.”
Maniscalco, in his Italian cadence, on the staff at Whole Foods: “Everybody looks like they make their own clothes. They’re wearing burlap sacks and eating seeds.”
Maniscalco on his hard-ass father: “When I was like 5, I wanted a dog. My father goes, ‘You wanna dog? Two houses down. Go over there and pet it. And then come back home and cut the grass.’”
Jeselnik, in his typical dark style: “When I was a child, my mom and dad made me smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in one sitting just to teach me a lesson … about brand loyalty.”
Jeselnik: “There’s always one topic that’s just too sensitive to talk about. Right now, it’s transgender. You can’t even call these people chicks with d—- anymore. You have to call them men who talk too much.”
Jeselnik, after asking an Asian woman in the front row what she was studying to be in school: “An immigration attorney? Well, you’re halfway there.”
Ross: “Look at our stage manager. He looks like Sting—if he were stung by a bunch of bees.”
Glaser on why she hates the idea of a wedding: “I don’t ever want to slow dance with my father in front of 300 people. That’s something we do alone.”
(All photos courtesy of Ron Elkman, ronelkman.com. For more photos from Ron, visit the “Concert Photos” link under A&E at bocamag.com).
