VH1 BEST WEEK ever LiVE

Last night Mother Hen and I schlepped over to Frank Guaracini, Jr. Fine & Performing Arts Center at Cumberland County College to check out the live tour of Best Week Ever. We had a blast. Although the whoever runs the promotions department could have done a better job of getting the word out that a comedy show was going to be happening. The auditorium, which can hold about 500 or so people, only sat about 100. That’s tough when you are a comedian and have to use the crowd’s energy to move from topic to topic, sculpting a moment in order to make people laugh. Still in all, from our seats, which were excellent by the way; Mike Britt, Melissa Rauch, and Sherrod Small delivered.

Mike Britt played master of ceremonies and, after his opening set, introduced the other two. He had a good set and established the tempo in the sparsely populated theater. Melissa Rauch was next. She was funny but affected by the size of the crowd. She is used to performing to packed college theaters full of kids either high on life or some other type(s) of chemical(s). When confronted with an empty theater and a crowd that had to be worked a bit to get in the mood of the evening, it was tough. Still she was funny. Next was Sherrod Small. He killed. Mother Hen and I were laughing from the moment he started his set which put us into the “Top 2%” of the crowd. He had a funny observation concerning “Dumb Friends and Hot Pockets” that has already made its way into my everyday lexicon. He brought the funny.

Next up is my big regret of the evening. It was the part of their show where a member of the audience is invited onstage to sit down with the other three comedians and comment on pop culture figures that are projected onto a screen. When they asked for volunteers only two people put their hands up – I watched them do it. I could feel Mother Hen’s eyes looking squarely in my direction. Before I had time to process the data I heard Sherrod say, “You – in the striped shirt!” Striped Shirt’s hand was in the air. Striped Shirt made his way to the stage and joined the cast for the pop culture review. “He who hesitates is lost.” Well, Gentle Reader, Evil Chicken hesitated. Let this precautionary tale be a lesson to you. Don’t hesitate – just do it. As Striped Shirt made his comments I had that strangest craving for Hot Pockets.

Such is life.

After this segment people from the audience were invited to come on stage and explain just why they were having the best week ever. The crowd votes by applause. Mike Britt requested that there should be no lame reasons before the people got onstage, but they got through anyway. The winner got a check in the mail from an insurance company.

Such is life.

Mother Hen and I had a blast. If you get the chance or if it is at all publicized in an area near you, do yourself a favor and check the live show out.