ARTS the Michigan Daily Monday, October 7, 1985 Page 5 Eclectic humor showcased at Jam By Mike Fisch IF TICKET SALES and crowd reac- tions are any indication of merit rthen Ann Arbor's First Annual Comedy Jam was a smashing suc- cess. Unfortunately, for many enter- tainers mass appeal does not tran- slate into critical acclaim. Friday night's audience laughed at the great -W jokes, most of the not-so-great jokes, and some people, like the woman to+ my left, laughted when there was no one on stage. She paid $10.50 for her ticket and she was damn well going to get her money's worth. Detroit's Mike Binder, who perfor- med in and produced HBO's Detroit Comedy Jam, was the first to per-+ form. The first half of his act was very+ funny; a bit about test tube people; stood out as particularly witty. Said Binder: "...Being a test tube girl+ would probably be o.k., but if you were a guy you'd never live it down. Kids would always be saying 'Hey yo! Beaker Head. Your Mutha's a bunsen burner."' Yea, I know you had to beI there. The latter half of Binder's act was+ slow. His "Day at Disneyland" piece, in which he pretended to wait in line for a ride, seemed to last forever. The Disneyland idea was creative, it just' needed a little brevity. One of his more adventurous pieces, "The Electronic Comedian," was a brilliant idea, but the monotone voice and computer-like timing of the jokes lulled the audience. Judy Tenuta followed Binder. Her' stage persona seemed forced. Creating a character is an enter-+ taining prospect, but Tenuta's was simply unbelievable, and at times+ grating. Sometimes the maintenance of her weird character was more im- portant to Tenuta then the jokes she told. She made comments like "Your rays can't harm me, no, no, no" more than once as if to remind us that she was indeed a weirdo. Thankfully Rich Hall, from Satur- day Night Live, was the next comedian on stage. Hall strutted on stage wearing a David Byrne-style suit, which made him look nearly two- dimensional. After his hilarious parody of "Girlfriend is Better," Hall shed the square-shouldered white suit not to latch onto some unbelievable persona, but to be Rich Hall. It was a pleasure. A large part of Hall's act consisted of sniglets - words that describe peculiar things. Sniglets are an exten- sion of George Carlin-style humor, in which we take a closer look at things we do, but never talk about. Almost all of the sniglets worked. We weren't laughing at Hall, so much as we were laughing at ourselves, making the humor that much more tangible. Hall spoke as one of us, a person who does things like holding ju-jubees up to the light at a movie theatre to determine their color, or a person who screws up so badly when he's opening a milk carton that he has to open the wrong side, and wonders why waitresses wait until our mouths are stuffed with food to ask 'Everything O.K.?" Hall did more than just sniglets. His other material was also extremely funny. Hall didn't put anybody down, swear profusely, or talk about farting, and he was still funny. It is possible. Dave Coulier had the unenviable position of being the last performer, By the time he got on stage the crowd had seen an hour and a half of stand- up and they were beginning to tire. Coulier's act, despite waning audien- ce energy, was still fairly successful. His cartoon character imitations - Bullwinkle, Scooby Doo, Sherman, and Astro from the Jetson's - were flawless. Coulier did an imitation of a blind, black, blues musician in which he played some pretty mean harmonica. His imitation was right on target but it didn't seem like stand-up comedy material. The bit was not enough of a parody to provoke much laughter, although the audience was enter- tained. Unlike Rich Hall, Coulier did talk about farts, an easy laugh topic for stand up. And easy laughs he got. But Coulier wanted more than that - he worked to get some feedback from the audience so he could improvise. The listless crowd was content to sit back and watch. Was the show a success? Said Mike Binder after the show. "I do it for the people's faces. They're happy, man- you can see it." HIU5E THIS WEEK AT GUILD HOUSE 802 MONROE ANN ARDOR, MI 481 04 0l . Monday, October 7 8:00 p.m. GUILD HOUSE READING SERIES DEVELOPMENT OF THE KIBBUTZ CHAPTERS IN DANCE THERAPY Thurs., Oct. 10; 7:30 p.m. at Hillel Benny Schwartz of the Jewish Agency in Detroit will discuss the development of the Kibbutz from its infancy as a radical conception in group living to its present place in the highly charged dynamics of Israeli society. The structure of the Kib- butz will also be examined; how it responds to internal and external stress. Sponsored by USI & PZC. LONNIE HULL and DAVID SCHAAFSMA Reading from their works. Sniglets and gas-less humor made Rich Hall's performance one of the best at the Comedy Jam last Friday night at the Michigan Theater. October 9 6-8 p.m. October 11 Noon Forum RICE & BEANS NIGHT OTTO MADURO $2 requested author and activist "Latin American ProCeeds for material Liberation Theology: aid to Contemporary Perspectives" Central America. Lunch available for $1. The Blue Nile - A Walk Across the Rooftops (A&M) sThe time was, not too long ago, when it was hip to be depressed in an artsy, melodramatic way. Bands like Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, and Joy Division developed cult followings for standing out amidst the bright techno-pop of the early 80's. Now along comes The Blue Nile, a Scottish band making their American debut with their re-released 1983 recording, A Walk Across the Rooftops. And imake way for more angst. The Blue Nile's angst is not that hip kind worthy of cult followings or even very much excitement. It is difficult to categorize the abstract con- ' positions that make up their pieces, but suffice it to say that the melodies are somewhat nebulous arrangemen- ts that play with repetition as they try to draw the listener in. There are no flashy studio effects or rhythmicly strong arrangements; just plush, at- mospheric moody images that serve as the undercurrent to lead singer Paul Buchanan's moaning, wailing vocals. The pieces are extremely languid in feel, and the beat never picks up with the exception of "Stay" the closest thing to a commercial song on the album. All the tracks feature droning, anguished bocals which don't usually have very much to say, for the lyrics, too, are extremely redundant. The tempos are slow and deliberate, and somehow "mature" in feel. The material tends toward subtle images such as parades and rain; nothing blatant like suicide. But unfor- tunately, it ends up as "dilluted angst"; and except for the vocals, lacks any guts at all. Imagine a Win- dham Hill production with vocals. The sounds themselves are quite pretty and ethereal, with nice ad- ditions such as jungle noises, and the repetition does work well in places, but it lacks anything truly interesting or imaginative. Depression has grown up a bit and slowed down, too. With that, however, it has also lost most of what made it interesting. The Blue Nile's debut LP, in its attempt at art, has ended up washing out much of the feeling that was, perhaps, the original inspiration for its material. Though not entirely unpleasing, A Walk Across the Roof- tops is definitely not worthy of much acclaim. -Beth Fertig A STATE OF MIND... A spirit of teamwork ... a drive to achieve ... a talent for discovery. We thrive on meeting the tough energy demands of a changing world. 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