Reggie Watts: Disinformation at the Public Theater

No question, Reggie Watts—he of the shaggy head; still, handsome face; stunningly flexible vocal chords—is a smart, creative, dynamic and often quite funny performer with a lot on his mind... the way we communicate, for instance, and language in general, and technology worship, and identity, corporate/authoritarian doublespeak (whether delivered by lackeys from the fictional conglomerate Carnaidesai—"There's not much future left, but we're using all of it..."—or a Star Wars-inspired "Dark Lord"), and the seemingly imminent destruction of our planet, and self-righteous bullshit of all kinds.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to snag a seat at Watts's almost-one- man-show Disinformation (he was joined by some dancers for what I thought to be the night's weakest moments), directed (and co-written?) by Tommy Smith, playing at the Public Theater as part of their annual Under the Radar Festival. Given the breadth and depth of Watts's concerns, and the energy and spark with which he conveys his many themes, I was surprised that I found the whole thing a bit repetitive, and was much more engaged—and laughed a lot more frequently—during the hour-long show's first half.

That said, Watts is a compelling stage presence, who excels at, for example, delivering empty phrases with such conviction that you're tempted, for a second, to ascribe them with meaning (he explains that a piece of sound equipment on stage "does everything it's been engineered to do by the people who created it"); mangling words for comic (deeper?) effect (in one bit, he tells of taking his "grainfather" to "Sweatserland" and pushing him off the "bal-CONE-y"); and telling shaggy dog stories that somehow remain interesting even as they spiral out of control with ever-more ridiculously unimportant details.

Best of all, Watts is a superb human beat box, creating on-the-spot, multi-layered looping rhythms and melodies with a delayer, and then overlaying the mix with often hilarious rap/soul-ified improvised lyrics. My favorite: the insanely intricate, rapid-fire description of his camouflage suit.

Disinformation's Under the Radar run ended yesterday, but you should definitely try to catch this man's stage show the next time he comes around, no matter what he's doing. Until then, there are lots of Reggie Watts videos online. Here's one of the best.

Friday Night at Comedy Cellar

I forget about live comedy as an entertainment option... and when it does come to mind, I usually dismiss it before the thought could even be categorized as "fleeting." For whatever reason, going to a stand-up show seems somehow too touristy. Or cheesy. Or like it's exclusively for drunk office-buddies-on-the-town. The thing is, it's not like that at all. In fact, I've had an excellent time at four of the five comedy shows I've seen in the past two-plus years, including a couple of Fridays ago, when Debbie and I laughed our butts off at the Comedy Cellar.

We showed up with no reservations probably 15 minutes before the 8:00 show and got great seats, but the place definitely got pretty full. And they pack 'em in here—squeezing in eight people at a table better suited for six (or four)—so don't go expecting a lot of elbow room. Our server was friendly and efficient, and though several people at our table had food (wings, burgers, hummus platters... that sort of thing), Debbie and I just sipped a couple of Diet Cokes.

Anyway, the show: we had no idea who was performing when we arrived, but really, all five of these guys (and they were all guys) were very funny, especially Lucky Louie CK and this other guy whose name escapes me but had dark hair and deep blue eyes and is pictured above and did a great bit about his Panamanian wife. Two other performers whom we had never heard of were also pretty good, and though the most famous comedian of the night, Colin Quinn, made us laugh the least, even he wasn't bad. The show lasted almost two hours, and with the two-menu-item minimum, cost us about $25 each... a little more than a movie and a soda, true, but I definitely laughed far more and a lot harder than I did while watching, say, Borat.

The Comedy Cellar is on MacDougal Street between West 3rd and Minetta Lane. For showtimes and such, click here.

andy borowitz at mo's

on monday dglass and i were invited out to see some comedy... specifically: the andy borowitz show, upstairs at mo pitkin's (on avenue a and i think 2nd street). we didn't know what to expect--neither one of us was familiar with the guy--but our friends were fans, and it was only $6, and i was curious about the shows at mo's, so why not, right?

so, yeah, it was totally, totally hilarious. it's so rare that we go to comedy shows--the concept always seems kind of cheesy to me, or something--so i forget how much fun it can be. when borowitz came out i sort of recognized him (i guess he's cnn's official political humorist, and he's got this website where you sign up for a daily "news" e-column), but either way, he cracked us up. and his three guest-comedians were great, too, especially the two men. each did a stand-up routine for about 5 - 10 minutes or so, with borowitz emceeing, and all of us laughed a lot.

the place seats 60 (it was totally packed for borowitz, but you can buy tickets online), it's reasonably comfy, there's drinks and food, and, like i said, it was only six bucks (and a can of dr. brown's black cherry? only $2!). the borowitz show returns on feb 27.