The Spit Take – Professional Comedy Criticism

While Noah treads no new territory as a mimic, his unique history and outlook ensure his hour-long one-man show remains highly engaging.

He remained unmistakable: sporting a checkerboard suit, bow tie and his trademark pencil-thin mustache, commenting in his sardonic, understated way about a subculture of gay men who display explicit online photos of the results of anal fisting.

Moontower is already doing just about everything else right. Programming is varied, imaginative and occasionally inspired. Talent is both compensated and treated well, even if some headlining performances don’t quite draw as hoped.

Relying solely on huge names to fill large theaters may ensure efficient returns on title sponsors’ financial investments, but doing so won’t shine a spotlight on worthy local performers or build a solid reputation as a “cool” festival destination.

Audience members dropping in then moving on isn’t much of a problem at live-music events or even at comedy bar shows with ample standing room and doors situated far from the stage. In other setups, however, such ebb and flow can wreak havoc.

If the overriding mission is to introduce quality upcoming talent to casual comedy consumers—while keeping things financially sustainable in the process—they’re impressively ahead of the learning curve.

This was only LaughFest’s third year, but they’re poised to become the best comedy festival for fans in the country. They’ve cracked the code: Book great comics and get out of their way.

Cosby is as much a storyteller as he is a joke-teller, so he had no trouble holding the audience’s attention even when he wasn’t specifically being funny.

Norton and Attell are old pros with dedicated fan bases from their years on the road and various media projects, and they each played well to the appreciative crowd.

While Steve-O’s jokes focused on explicit descriptions of bodily functions and tales of his Jackass fame, Green’s material was often surreal and confrontational, though he too couldn’t resist indulging in a bit of nostalgia.

People who haven’t experienced a performance by an unprepared, talent-deficient improv group might not appreciate just how impressive the talents of Drew Carey’s repertory players are.