Laughter echoed through the massive auditorium of the Palace Theater Friday night as the Bad Boys of Comedy practiced their politically incorrect art to a packed house. Hosted by The Wolf of local radio station PYX 106, the show featured Richard Vos, Eric Schwarz, Jim Florentine, Jim Norton, and Bobby Slayton (“The Pit-Bull of Comedy”).
Florentine, best known for playing Special Ed on Comedy Central’s “Crank Yankers,” was the most popular act for that very reason. Even after he had stopped telling jokes about his television role and moved on to other topics, the odd “Yayyy!” could be heard from yuksters in the audience. Florentine also drew laughs by talking about his hobby of torturing telemarketers by keeping them on the phone.
One especially funny example was when Florentine counted pennies for 45 minutes to determine if he had enough money to buy a $350 product.
However, the best act of the night was the self-deprecating Norton. When not insulting his appearance or his sex appeal, Norton made excellent use of a running gag to expertly tie together a wide range of comedic material.
Norton covered subjects such as why a guy is not allowed to tell another guy to slow down when driving, the astonishing speed of military plane landings, and the awesome athletic spectacle that is a pornographic movie.
Schwarz provided some lighter humor with his intentionally perverted songs. What made the act especially funny was the presence of a female sign language interpreter who translated everything Schwarz said. Taking full advantage of this, Schwarz performed his biggest hit, “Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis and Your Bible Off My Balls,” occasionally repeating certain words just for the sheer adolescent humor of watching the translator make the respective motions.
Slayton closed the evening with a 40 minute tirade against sappiness and feelings in general, in particular emphasizing that the point of marriage is sex. Although the subject grew somewhat monotonous, it was nevertheless extremely funny. Slayton also addressed how creating names for problems, such as “learning disorder” for kids that simply aren’t intelligent, does not solve the problem.
The Palace Theater itself was an impressive venue, seating hundreds of comedy show-goers without breaking a sweat. The ceiling is impressively decorated in a classical style, with elaborate gold trim and a fake sky. But the most impressive aspect of the Palace is the external sign, which uses 5000 light bulbs and a full color marquee to light up the night sky of the state’s capital.
But the “Bad Boys of Comedy” outshined even the theater’s sign, making an excellent showing and keeping the audience in stitches.
