ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Tuesday, December 4, 1984
Page 5
Comedy Company: For
those who want t
By Dov Cohen
THE COMEDY Company's Satur-
day night show at the Michigan Theater
was for people who will laugh at
anything.
Not for the people who guffaw at Bob
Ucher beer commercials. Not for those
who giggle incessantly while watching
Bugs Bunny cartoons, but instead for
the hard-core hysterics who laugh for
the sake of laughing-regardless of the
performance. That is the kind of
psychic sense of humor necessary in
order to appreciate the Comedy Com-
pany.
They opened the evening in a slow
way with the tremendously un-funny
skit, "Breaking In." The main charac-
ter in this skit was a pair of wild cowboy
boots that would buck and kick and
jump around the stage making the
*unlucky cowboy look as though his
boxer shorts had been adulterated with
a hot coal. Honestly, it wasn't even as
funny as it sounds. Perhaps they should
have merely described the skit to the
audience and left it at that.
Perhaps this would have illicited some
laughter.
From these humble beginnings, it
was all uphill for Saturday's perfor-
mance. Things got better-thank
God-but not much better.
The next two sketches, "Not Such A
Trivial Pursuit," about a rather
viscious game of trivia, and
"Promenade," about a high school
prom, looked like they could have been
ripped right out of any television sit-
com. And the last three sketches, "The
Large Nap," a spoof on circa 1940s
detective dramas, "The Un-
dergraduate," a spoof on guess what,
and "As You Will," a spoof on-well,
nobody was quite sure-looked like
mediocre sketches from "Saturday
Night Live."
By far the highlight of the first act
was "The Doctor Will See You Now," a
fast paced, good time sketch with all
the look, feel, and love of vaudeville.
Rick Lederman did an excellent job
wisecracking his way through the role
of the doctor concerned with everything
but his patient's health.
I've had thousands of patients, and
I've cured hundreds of people," says
Lederman to his patient who com-
plains, "Doctor, everytime I drop a
brick on my foot, it hurts,"
Bob Frank does a fine job as Leder-
man's straight man/patient.
"How often do you have sexual inter-
course," asks Lederman of his patient.
"With my wife, weekly," Frank
responds.
Lederman in a rage, "I asked you
how much, not how was it."
Trust me, it was hilarious.
o laugh
Throughout the show, Lederman
seemed to be the bright spot. This man
has comic potential.
Act II began with the mamby pamby
"As You Will-Part I." During the in-
termission, viewers were asked to vote
on whether or not one of the characters
should be shot. Pretty stupid except for
a great Rod Serling impression by
Peter Smith.
The next sketch was "Drugstore,"
where-you guessed it-some
adolescent goes in to his friendly phar-
macist to buy a pack of rubbers. I had
seen nearly every joke in this sketch
either in Summer of '42 or in Woody
Allen's Bananas. Some very old gags
carried off with a reasonable amount of
flair. Cute, but it's still funnier when
you see it happen for real.
Now we get to the good stuff. The first
one was "S&M-TV," an inspired little
sketch. Everything clicked in this one.
Jackie Purtan was great as everyone's
favorite airhead, Martha Quin. She fit
Quin's pea-brained mannerism to the T
(&A).
And whoever wrote this came up
with some really funsy ideas. Imagine
the doo-wapping trio of Marlon and the
mafioso singing "horsehead in the
bed," or concern information on the
Partridge Family reunion tour, or the
heavy mental Hannuka-eight days
and nights of headbanging Judaism.
("Imagine you can light the menorah
with meatloaf," said Purtan.)
The Comedy Company brings their unique humor style, which ranged from painfully un-funny to
hilarious, to the Michigan Theater on Saturday night.
Now that's what the entire night
should have been like. (No, not a
discussion about penis sizes). It should
have been a no hold's-barred, anar-
chistic night and outrageous comedly.
But it wasn't. Instead, it was a
watered-down mealy-mouthed
television sitcom.
We could have had "Animal House,"
but instead we got "The Brady Bunch."
.E......EE..
COMING SOON !r0*
0 UAC/ MUSKET
Winter '85
" will
present:
Replaceme
By Hobey Echlin
YOU'D NEVER guess Joe's Star
Lounge was closing in a month by
looking at the fantastic December line-
up of primo shows. Such as the case
Sunday night, as Joe's hosted a fan-
tastic and diverse rock 'n roll event
drawing from three different genres of
rock. The Replacements, in their
second gig at Joe's this year, headlined
this dynamic evening promoting their
new Let It Be L.P.
The Variables opened the show with a
strong set characterized by brash
guitar work and solid, rolling bass
lines. This young trio draw s heavily
from early Jam, as seen ire their fan-
tastic covers like "News of the World"
and their Rickenbacker guitars. They
embody the 70s pub sound the Jam per-
fected, and work with it wish a talent all
their own. A must-see band for all
Weller fans and Mods who can ap-
preciate the early sound. Look for the
record at Schoolkids' soon.
Map of the World opened second with
a set refreshingly different from the
thrashier Variables. This self-styled
band exemplify the neo-psychedelic
sound so prevalent in music today, but
in a manner surprisingly unlike that of
the already-cliche R.E.M. Aside from
an anti-charismatic lead vocalist, this
band has a certain likeability and
originality that reminds one of a cross
between early Talking Heads and Jef-
ferson Airplane.
Their soft but effect-laden guitar
nts present
playing off gliding, almost effort-less
bass lines to melancholy vocals and
harmonic choruses. Even in this wave
of neo-psychedelia and 60's
throwbacks, Map of the World manages
to avoid the cliches of the times and
maintain an authentic air about them.
The headlining Replacements came
on after a brief delay due to technical
difficulties. The delay only enhanced
the impact the Replacements had on
their audience; their set's sheer
dynamicity alone was worth the cover
charge. But on top of that, these guys
are talented. Catchy guitar riffs, thun-
Rock, Roll
dering bass lines, and gutteral vocals
all blend in front of simple yet solid
drumming in songs of various speeds,
but none lacking in intensity. Here is a
band so diverse that no moniker can
adequately describe them. Some songs
are country, other swinging jazz, some
standard rock, others heavy thrash.
Their sound touches on early Rod
Stewart and Bruce Springsteen, yet is
so modern as to employ guitar licks
characteristic of new bands like Husker
Du and the Effigies. They can play
ballads, Chuck Berry covers, coun-
try/western, slam dance punk, you
and more
name it. They play originals but can
still take audience requests. They are
professional about their music, but can
joke around on stage too. And it is
through their raw intensity that all
these elements are tied together into
such an appealing show of talent. Here
is a band as at home warming up for X
as it is in a small club playing with the
Allied or Black Flag. Maybe even
moreso in the small club, where the
packed dancefloor and cracked plaster
mirror theraw vibrance that is the
roots of this truly rock and roll band.
They rock, you roll, and everybody has
a good time. At least I did.
.i | n1
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x ,
THE HUMAN BODY
by Jonathan Miller, M.D.
Designed by David Pelham
Illustrated by Harry Willock
There's never been a book like this before!
Splendid full-color three-dimensional pop-up
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THE VIKING PRESS, $18.95
THE FACTS OF LIFE
Jonathan Miller, M. D.
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Illustrated by Harry Willock
This brilliant follow-up to the best-selling
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