What do you get when you mix good music, a lively crowd and comedians that double as exotic male dancers? Give up? You get a Tuesday night to remember at UC’s Grand Palm Room, with the latest installment of The Board’s Comedy Club.
The show was a night full of live laugh-out-loud entertainment. Although the event didn’t start on time, it was well worth the wait. Free pizza and soda was served to the crowd of over 300 plus in attendance. The atmosphere was young, hip, and fresh with many of the underclassmen making fashionably late entrances. Local producer and FAU alum, DJ Scoobz, provided the sounds, spinning the latest hip-hop and club anthems.
The high energy music was a perfect segue for the first comic act of the night, “Billy the Kid,” who appeared to a ravenous ovation. Billy opened up his performance with a mixed bag of off centered humor, blending racial satire with gritty “Def Jam” delivery that brought in as many cheers as it did jeers.
Billy artfully introduced us to his family of 10, which included eight daughters – one openly gay daughter earns approval from dad for her taste in women.
Although mostly entertaining, the set ran long, and Billy lost some of the crowd with his an excess of physical humor that bordered on buffoonery. But, the seasoned comedian he is, Billy ended his slot with a colorful save that included a revealing strip tease, earning him some well deserved tip money from female members of the audience.
The grand finale was “Smokey,” a New York City native who has appeared on television shows such as Def Comedy Jam and BET’s Comic View. While his performance opened up with more of the same off-center racial satire, Smokey artfully weaved his way through a plethora of subject matter that kept the audience checking their sides for tears. His self deprecating punch lines mixed in well with his admitted pension for recreational drug use. Even the normally stoic football players in attendance couldn’t keep from laughing as Smokey constantly reminded us that he was “stupid.” “Smokey” displayed his comedic brilliance and ability to turn the most obscure subjects, like personal hygiene, into comic fodder.
At nights end the comics managed to conjure up some much needed laughs. Where else on campus are you going to find a stripper wearing a body suit and an inebriated man exclaiming that he is “stupid,” while the crowd eats it all out of his hand?
Check out the next installment of the Board’s Comedy Show on Tuesday, Nov. 7th, and the Owl Prowl Homecoming Comedy Show on Friday, Oct. 27, 2006. For more information visit www.myspace.com/fautheboard, or call 561-297-3735.
