Tap Room Comedy

Andrew Olson

Reader Weekly

In January there are many reasons to not go out, luckily Tuesday night and four to six inches of snow are not among them.' That and other topics of the northland were ripped away on the stage at the Tap Room (Jan. 18).' Comics Jim Dandy (MC), Jerry Wolski (Opener), and Lawrence Evan Thomas (Headliner) filled an evening with laughter, a heckling showdown, and great jokes. First up was Jerry Wolski (www.cubbychubby.com) from Chicago and his Cubby Chubby brand of laughter.' He had lines like, "My girlfriend's cat committed suicide, there were even nine notes to prove it' the problem was that I misspelled Jasmine, the name of the cat..." As more people came in the owner, Andy, was quick to pull up more tables and chairs so everyone had a great seat.' No one had to stand but the venue was packed. The Tap Room has been having comics come to Duluth for some time now and is gaining a large local following.' After the show an audience member suggested to a comedian that the venue should start listing the comic's names in the advertisement. This way they could know when the comedians they like are back in town.'

The similarities of musicians and bands to comedians is one of the open road and a fight to get to the big time. Lawrence Evan Thomas talked with me after his performance.' He mentioned a resume that included a part of Comic Relief 3, a Showtime special appearance, twice on UPN's Eve as the Delivery Guy, and five times on The Best Damn Sports Show in various roles.' He also talked of the difficulty of being on the road away from a daughter in LA.' He came to comedy via Louisville, Kentucky and had the accent to prove it.' This father was quick with a joke about the weather and said, "It is so cold you people must feel like God said f$%k you people."' This brashness led to an encounter later. While on the stage there were a few drunk hecklers hiding behind some girls sitting on stools in the back.'

They laughed in a loud fake way and made fun of the comedian Lawrence, yelling out loudly, "nice hole in the back of your sweater."' They did a similar thing to the previous comic, but he ignored them and now they were much louder. Lawrence immediately sent a whirlwind of profanity and insults back at the hecklers about there not being any girls at their table and then one of them stood up angrily.' There was an exchange from the stage and a bouncer quietly escorted the angry drunk college-aged guys out. Lawrence quickly jumped back into his routine like an old pro who had handled this before. It's Tuesday, and there are still exciting things to do when the weather is below freezing.'

The audience (except for two drunk guys) was fully entertained, and laughing up a storm.' Sure it is Tuesday, but the comedians start at nine and are done by eleven.' Time enough to warm your chilled funny bone, and still get to bed early enough to shovel out again in the morning.