Last night, Lovey and I attended the South Beach Comedy Festival to see Stephen Lynch. I've wanted to see him live ever since I was introduced to his special brand of comedy probably 5 or so years ago. I'm sure he's not for everyone, but I loved him to death. He's cute in his own sorta way, down with the brown, and probably partakes a bit because where else would he come up with this stuff? We had seats in the very front row, center stage. At first, Lovey was a bit miffed about that as he thought we'd get singled out but that's not the way Stephen's show goes.
As per the norm in Miami, the show didn't start on time because no one here can seem to get ANYWHERE on time. It was slated to start at 8 but I'm sure it was at least 20 after by the time they got it going. It was well worth the wait. I was happy to sing along with the songs that I knew. The rest of the time was spent trying to catch my breath from laughing so ridiculously hard.
I can't, of course, remember the entire set as it went on for a good 90 minutes, but I wanted to share some of what I felt were the highlights of the show (with links where possible).
The show opened with a tune I hadn't previously heard. He dedicated it to the recent story in the news regarding Mr. Bounty Hunter, first name: Dog The. If you just saw the title, Vanilla Ice Cream, you'd never guess where this song was going, but since you've got that link, you can see exactly where it's going. Quite possibly the best line ever: "If you're a cracker, you'd better get blacker." Already, you may see why I love this guy.
He debuted several songs so I've no links for them but don't worry, they were also highly amusing. One was a running bit with diary entries (Anne Frank, Christopher Reeve, a couple others – un-PC and hilarious). Dr. Stephen has always been one of my favorites but a new ditty has taken the number one spot. Be warned that this may piss you off. I'm going to paraphrase him and say that if you're easily offended…get the fuck out.
This song, Craig, is the little known story of Joseph and Mary's other son and the perils of growing up in the shadows of the big JC. I may have hyperventilated a little during this one.
Stephen also had two of his friends do some songs with him, David Josefsberg and unfortunately I don't remember the other guy's name but they kept calling him Jeff Daniels due to the similarities. At any rate, if you have the time and the Google skills, I'm sure you'd be able to find him too. If you don't know what a Dirty Sanchez is, they'll explain it to you in song.
I must say that overall, the show was fantastic. It was more than I was expecting and more than I ever could have asked for, minus maybe a trip backstage. If you have the opportunity and a demented sense of humor, I say go see Stephen, buy and/or download his stuff. Shyne – out.