Thursday Rewind: Chris Rock and John West
All kinds of fun stuff was going down in Fresno and the Fresno area last night. My journeys led me to Tachi Palace to see Chris Rock and to 2039 Ultralounge to see John West. Here's my rundown, check it and leave yours.
Chris Rock
I'd never seen Chris Rock live before -- he was on my list of the top stand-up comics I'd yet to see, having been a fan since "Bring the Pain." I can't say that I walked out of Rock's show thinking "Oh my God, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen," but I liked the show and laughed through the entire thing.
Rock touched on all sorts of topics: relationships, race relations and the steroid scandal in baseball, and devoted the entire first chunk of the show to the presidential election. Some of it was super on-point, some seemed like he was testing material. Probably my biggest criticism is that the show was too short. Rock did about an hour and 15 minutes. It was, however, the first of two shows -- so that was probably due mostly to a time crunch. Anybody at the second show? Was it longer?
John West
Hitting the early show in Lemoore provided time to get back and check out John West's show in downtown Fresno. I was thoroughly impressed by West. He exuded star potential, most evident by all the females swooning over him. His steez is John Mayer meets Robin Thicke, and he looks a little bit like Orlando Bloom. Even with a Y chromosome, I know that's a good combo. The music was a chill and mellow soul/jazz/pop mix, with a definite coolness to it that was the perfect vibe for 2039. There's already word that West is coming back to Fresno, playing April 25 at 2039 with Method Echo and Elevaters.
Y tu?
Where did Thursday lead you? ArtHop? The Rogue? The Fair to Midland show at The Exit? Post ArtHop with Rademacher at Tokyo Garden? Something else? How was it?
Comments:
Mike (raises hand) g'mornin.
Got a question:
-How much were the tix going for to see Chris Rock?
-You mentioned the show was a wee bit short...
-How long do stand-ups usually perform for?
(I mean, the guy is a megastar an all, and nobody's going to perform like Springsteen 25 years ago did, fer like, 5 hours...)
I just don't have a really great point of reference in terms of bang for the buck, so to speak...
-I also sort of found his more recent stuff (method of delivery, choice of subjects, etc.) to be a bit different these days since his earlier work, like, he's kind of coming across a bit more filled out and put on a few pounds, (perhaps domestic life and a kid or two have been good for the man...)
Your thoughts on these things?
Posted by: wet towel at March 7, 2008 10:43 AM
- Tickets were $50, $75 and $125 (both shows sold out a week in advance).
- I think an hour and a half is a good time for a stand-up show. I know that's not much of a different. An hour and 15 minutes is still a good amount of time. It's not like he did 45 minutes and bounced. I guess it's good that I wanted more, right?
- I've seen comics go mega-long at shows. Nothing like Dave Chappelle and his 6+ hours (let's not acknowledge Dane Cook even exists, OK?). I saw Carlos Mencia do close to three hours on two separate occasions.
- As for Rock, yeah, he looked a little older and his material matched. He's a 43 year old family man, not Pookie from "New Jack City." He wasn't as in-your-face as some of his older material. He still made some very good jokes, and I'm glad I saw him and all -- I just wanted a little bit more.
Posted by: Mike Oz at March 7, 2008 10:52 AM
Yeha, tickets were a little too much (cheapass 4 life!) for me....but would of loved to see that guy. Sucks that it didn't make your shoulders touch but I guess he's is getting old.....and that means so am I. Damn.
Posted by: Brodiemash at March 7, 2008 11:20 AM
...cool, thanks.
I've always rather'd the 'leave em' wanting more,' sentiment than 'jeez, this guy is just NOT as funny,' and they loose the room.
(one of the reasons why I love the internet, if you get lucky, you can watch most of his stuff, interviews and TV blips with a click of a mouse... I spent the better part of one night recently just reviewing him, Murphy, Prior, Lenny Bruce, Cosby, and Kinneson... (stuff's addicting.)
I love that he 'goes there,' in terms of presenting material that is not just stereotype,
-but really thinking about the subjects at hand,
(which means often, dealing with stereotype...
I think Rock is to be praised for this, (his interview with Teri Gross (FreshAir) was really cool as well...)
oh well, off to work we go.
Posted by: wet towel at March 7, 2008 12:15 PM
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