At long last, I finally got to see Brad’s live show at the Irvine Improv. I got to the club much earlier than I needed to and got a table in the very front, dead center. Before the show started, Brad and Dave Bushnell (the guy with whom he was performing) had to do a sound check. I happened to be there early enough (along with a few other groups) that I got to watch them test and complain about their microphones. They had to use the annoying Britney Spears type of microphones rather than the ones that clip onto their shirts. Let me tell you, they weren’t happy about it. They complained about them throughout the entire show. Just the sound check was hilarious. Dave and Brad really seemed to play well off of each other. Brad said into his microphone, “Can you hear me in the back row? Oh wait, there’s nobody in the back row, the show doesn’t start for another hour and a half!” He asked me how my Caesar salad was, and as he was leaving the stage, he said to the guy next to me (who was looking over his menu), “You know, I hear the Caesar salad here is really good.” He left the stage, we finished our food, and the rest of the audience arrived...and therein lay the downfall of the evening. The audience was absolutely terrible, constantly yelling out obnoxious comments throughout the entire show. It really put a damper on the evening.
Jeff Jena opened the show with a stand up routine which basically consisted of making fun of the people in the front row. Naturally, I was very much included in this, just as I was at Wayne’s show. I suppose there’s something about me that just yells, “Pick on me! Rip me apart! Make me look like a complete idiot!” He brought out another stand up performer who talked about his divorce and how he had to live in his ex-wife’s garage. He also made fun of cheesy romance novels, which was pretty funny. He also talked about how proud he was to have achieved his goal of performing in Irvine on a Thursday. Anyone who knows anything about Irvine knows that he was being completely sarcastic. Jeff came back out again, he made fun of me some more, and then he brought out Brad and Dave. First, they complained about their microphones. Every time one of them breathed out, it made a loud sound, so they had to keep repositioning them. They started off with a Fill In The Blank type of game. They would carry out a conversation, and every time one of them raised their hand, an audience member would yell out what word would go in the blank. Brad warmed us up by saying, “Here’s an example: I went to the store today and I bought a ____.” Naturally, I shouted “new microphone.” Brad seemed to enjoy that. I don’t remember where the scene took place. All I remember was that I yelled out “spontaneously combusted” and “river danced” for two of the blanks. It went pretty well.
Next they played a game where they brought a married couple on stage and gave each person a bell and a horn. Brad and Dave acted out sort of a “day in the life” type of scene. Brad played the man, Dave played the woman, and they acted out a typical day at their household. Every time Brad said something that was accurate, the woman would ring the bell, and every time he said something that was far from the truth, she would honk the horn. The man did the same thing for Dave. It makes more sense if you see it. For example, Brad walked in and said, “Hi, honey, I just got back from my extremely high paying job!” and the woman honked the horn. They ended with Brad saying something about spending all day looking at porn magazines, and the woman furiously started ringing the bell. Brad teased that she had actually broken the bell in ringing it so hard.
Next they played a game that I wish they would do on Whose Line. They pulled out Erin, a physical therapist, from the table next to me. Dave conducted an interview and asked her questions about her job. Erin answered, and Brad acted out the questions and answers for the hearing impaired. He is so quick at this game! One of the best parts was when Dave asked what sort of things they do for children with physical problems, and she said, “Just use your imagination.” Brad started miming that he was beating the kids, swinging them around, and snapping off their necks.
Next they played Sound Effects. They really should know better than to choose a woman who is completely unwilling to go up on stage. That’s always a red flag for disaster if you ask me. They chose an extremely shy woman who didn’t make any sounds whatsoever. I felt so sorry for her. They asked for an occupation on which the scene could be based, and since the audience was absolutely terrible and had no innovative or helpful suggestions, they ended up as dairymen. Since the woman wouldn’t make any sounds, the table of drunks in the back of the room started making sounds for her. After the game was over, Brad had to tell the group several times to “Shut the f*ck up.” This went on for pretty much the entire show. Eventually, he even said to the whole audience, “Everyone raise your hands if you want them to shut the f*ck up!” and everyone raised their hands. But they didn’t let up! One woman yelled out, “You’re not funny!” Brad pressed his microphone to his mouth and said, “Maybe I would be if you would shut the f*ck up!” I wish someone in the club could have thrown these people out!
Next they played Quick Change. Brad handed out three little honking horns to some of the audience members and told them to honk the horn at any point during the scene, and he and Dave would have to come up with a different line for what they just said. Brad asked for the name of a fictional store. Since the audience was so very innovative and classy as I’ve mentioned (*sarcasm*), the store was something like celebrity cocaine. Towards the end, Brad started signaling to the audience when to honk the horns, just to give Dave a hard time.
Next they played a game that was sort of a mix between Interrogation, Good Cop Bad Cop, and Two Line Vocabulary. Certain mixes just don’t blend well together, and this was one of them. They sent Brad out of the room, and Dave asked for a crime that was committed, the place where it was committed, and the object that was used in committing this crime. The final result was that he has participated in midget gymnastics in Cancoun using a duck. Dave had to interrogate Brad using clues so that he could guess what he had done. But now for the twist: Dave pulled up a guy from the audience to play the Bad Cop. This Bad Cop could only say three lines: “Shut the f*ck up,” “Quit being an as*hole,” and “Would you like a doughnut?” Unfortunately, the extra Bad Cop didn’t add anything to the scene. Dave mentioned something like, “Hey, when you try out a new game, you never know what you’re going to get!” Eventually, Brad was able to guess all of the clues.
They played Moving People. Now we must raise the crucial question: Is it possible for Elyse to go to the Irvine Improv and *not* get chosen for Moving People? In this case, the answer is no. The scene set in a bar in Ireland. I had to move Brad, and let me tell you, it was a workout. This was the most tiring game I’ve ever played. Being short as I am, I had a really hard time reaching Brad’s head to turn it. I never realized just how tall he was. I think it went relatively well, but then again, it’s hard to tell.
Next they played a rap game. Brad pulled out a guy from the audience named Dan. He sang a rap song to him. It was very impressive. I don’t know how he does it.
That was the end of the show. Rather than saying, “Thanks, you guys have been a great audience,” Brad said, “Well, we got through it!” On the whole, I really enjoyed the show, and couldn’t wait to go back on a night where the audience was partially sober.