Guess Who?
Not sure if anyone is watching Last Comic Standing this season, but on Saturday I went to the Comedy Catch in Chattanooga to see Jeff Dye perform.
He was funny, but not the sweet-natured guy he tries to come off as on the show. Like most comics, he was bitter, cynical, and a little bit mean. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. A quote: "I'm a badass. I'll flip off a baby. I don't care."
It was painfully clear he was wondering what a Last Comic Standing finalist was doing playing a 2 shows a night weekend gig in Chattanooga. He joked, "I told my agent I wanted to play somewhere BIG. He suggested New York, and I told him, NO! He said 'How about about LA?', and I told him he was thinking small. Then I just started shouting out syllables. Flee-na-hoo-ba! He said that wasn't a real place. A-bee-ja-ba-ra-goo! Didn't exist. Cha-tta-noo-ga! Hey, that's a real place. Well, book me there, dammit!"
Also, he pointed out (accurately) that the audience reaction was noticably different when he did bits that he had done on the show. It was uncomfortable and interesting watching him struggle between doing enough stuff people were already familiar with to keep fans of the show happy, but not doing so much that people feel like they wasted their money to buy a ticket to see him live. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
Bonus: On the way out the door, as I walked by the booth where Jeff was signing copies of his DVD, I overheard him say: "You did? Thanks! I'm tired of hearing people say 'I voted for you AND Iliza'".
He was funny, but not the sweet-natured guy he tries to come off as on the show. Like most comics, he was bitter, cynical, and a little bit mean. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. A quote: "I'm a badass. I'll flip off a baby. I don't care."
It was painfully clear he was wondering what a Last Comic Standing finalist was doing playing a 2 shows a night weekend gig in Chattanooga. He joked, "I told my agent I wanted to play somewhere BIG. He suggested New York, and I told him, NO! He said 'How about about LA?', and I told him he was thinking small. Then I just started shouting out syllables. Flee-na-hoo-ba! He said that wasn't a real place. A-bee-ja-ba-ra-goo! Didn't exist. Cha-tta-noo-ga! Hey, that's a real place. Well, book me there, dammit!"
Also, he pointed out (accurately) that the audience reaction was noticably different when he did bits that he had done on the show. It was uncomfortable and interesting watching him struggle between doing enough stuff people were already familiar with to keep fans of the show happy, but not doing so much that people feel like they wasted their money to buy a ticket to see him live. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
Bonus: On the way out the door, as I walked by the booth where Jeff was signing copies of his DVD, I overheard him say: "You did? Thanks! I'm tired of hearing people say 'I voted for you AND Iliza'".