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Comedian Klein sets off sparks in routine
Copyright 1984 Christina M. Guerrero, The Franklin, Franklin College
It seems natural that a former wrestler who considers himself a “tense guy” would have a
self-proclaimed “dirty comedy routine.”
“I feel good when I finally get in front of the microphone,” comedian Mark Klein said.
“My profession legitimizes some actions and behavior, so I can do just about what I
want. Some people might not like that, though, so I warn my audiences before I
begin.”
Klein, who performed in the Sycamore Room on Tuesday, adequately summed up his
pending performance by warning the standing room only crowd, “I talk dirty and I like
dirty, black humor, so if you think I’ll offend you, you better leave now.” This didn’t
reduce the crowd, so Klein began.
Klein’s sense of humor was coarse and racy, so portions of his routine are not appropriate
for reprint, at least not in The Franklin. In addition to his routine, he targeted several
unsuspecting people with blunt comments which drew laughs along with some embarrassment.
Klein alternated his wild humor with milder material. Upon reaching the microphone, he
noticed the dim lighting arrangement. “Franklin College went all out with the lights,”
Klein observed. “I feel like a French fry.”
He developed this subject by exposing his eating habits--he had a “McGerbil at
McDonald’s while driving here from his home in Louisville, Kentucky." He also
explained a trick he played on a Wendy’s restaurant--with the help of a ghetto blaster and
a high-powered microphone, he ordered a chocolate shake at full-blast. “Four days later,”
Klein said, “a very small voice answered, ‘Would you like cheese on that?’”
Klein also related an experience he "supposedly" had while on drugs. He said he was
driving on I-65 and noticed mushrooms on roller skates and blue lights flashing behind
his car. “The mushrooms and the roller skates went away,” he explained. But the lights
didn’t. It turned out that a cop was following Klein because he happened to be driving
two miles an hour in the left-hand lane.
Later on in his performance, Klein had a visitor -- “Mad Harry,” a wrestler, who possessed
an even coarser sense of humor than Klein. “Mad Harry” performed with Tom Armor, who just held the microphone but happened to be another unsuspecting victim
of biting humor.
“I’m a tense guy,” Klein repeated several times. He looked anything but tense and
appeared to be enjoying himself. Since he was receiving an outstanding share of laughs,
he should have been.
“Getting laughs is like a narcotic,” Klein said. “Sometimes it gets to the point where I
have to perform or I’ll go nuts.”
It isn’t always easy, though, Klein said. “When I wake up in the morning, I don’t know if
I’m going to be funny. Sometimes I don’t know until I’m behind the microphone and
hear that first laugh. Because of that, it helps to have self-confidence.”
[Mr. Klein is now a nationally-known corporate comedian. Visit his
website at www.corpjester.com].
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