Today's New Activity: Comedy Show at the Grand Dell Saloon
Upon first observation, The Grand Dell Saloon does not exactly look like a place where great times are had. From the looks of the flesh colored, windowless rectangular exterior at the end of a small, industrial street, it seems more likely a place to get murdered or to smoke crack. Or both. And for an idea of how long the joint's been around, just look at what I found in the bathroom:
Who can remember *belted* feminine napkins, first of all, and when was the last time you were able to buy anything of worth or utility for 10 cents?!
Anyway, the place was obviously a dive, and not the kind that hipsters visit to be ironic. A true, true, kind of sad dive. 3 out of the 5 comedians made jokes about the geriatric demographic (though it was teeming with young folks tonight, solely because of the show). But anyway, the show itself was hilarious. I was very surprised. When I thought about a free (no less!) comedy show featuring all local acts, I thought for sure it'd be a somewhat uncomfortable, laugh to be polite type of thing.
Turns out San Jose is full of funny folks. Well, to be accurate, ONE of the guys was from San Francisco, and one of the girls was from L.A. But she was the only one I didn't find so funny :)
The show was well-attended, so they're gonna shoot to do it once every two months or so. I'm excited about that, too. I never, ever think to go see live comedy, but it was great. It's amazing, the random stuff comedians think up to talk about. Of course all of my favorite material of the night cannot be talked about here, but it wouldn't be funny if I retold it in a blog anyway. Delivery and timing are, of course, the bulk of what makes the stuff funny in the first place.
The only thing I didn't like about the night was observing how the other comedians there didn't laugh at each others' stuff. Maybe because they are so funny they just have a higher standard for what makes them laugh, but that doesn't make sense because their own stuff was making them laugh, and in terms of funniness, they were pretty evenly matched. I felt like it was a jealousy/hater type of thing, which is unfortunate (see quote at the bottom of this page :), but other than that slight downer, which is just a personal thing for me, a good time was had by all.
Don't think I'd ever be back to the venue unless there were another of these shows happening, but for tonight's purposes, it was perfect.
omigosh. this post makes me want to go even more now!! awesomeness.
ReplyDeleteHey, there, young'un, *this* old woman remembers belted pads! I think they were designed by a man, though, so they didn't hold the pad in place as much as make you feel like you were wearing an elastic chastity belt. Thank goodness someone quickly came up with a tampon!
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