We attended the Jerry Seinfeld concert at Weidner Center last night, and were treated to a really good time. Anything at Weidner is good (what a great venue) and when you throw in a talent like Seinfeld, you're in for a great night.
Unfortunately, things started slow as opener Tom Papa was more miss than hit, especially right away. He got the crowd more warm as his set went on, but personally, I felt his humor was a bit cliché. The lines about what mom told him growing up felt like they had been rehashed from some dusty comic from the '70's, but clearly some folks enjoyed it.
Seinfeld, on the other hand, came out like he was shot from a cannon. High energy, great interaction with the audience, gratuitous Packer references, and the classic Seinfeld inflection had the audience eating out of his hand. And deservedly so. The man is hands-down funny, and even stale joke material like erectile disfunction medial commercials, done by thousands of comics for over a decade now, seemed fairly fresh.
Bits that stood out included a discussion on cell phones, "moron-star," the marriage game show, and other people's kids being ugly.
His encore included a chance for the audience to shout out questions or request bits, and here Seinfeld appeared really in his element. While he likely gets asked similar questions in every town, his answers were delivered in a very interactive and fresh way.
I've seen big name comics go through the motions before. This was a guy that was not that at all. He was on top of his game, and appeared to really have a good time. I'd definitely see him again.
Disappointment on the night was trying to find a place in town to get a late bite. The two places we stopped had rolled things up for the evening. Any suggestions from Green Bay residents on where to get dinner after 9:00 on a weeknight?
I have been having these sentiments more and more lately, but it is hard to believe Seinfeld has been off the air for more than a dozen years now. Maybe it is the long road of syndication and having Curb on HBO that has bridged the gap, but it makes you realize that 20 years is not a long time.
ReplyDeleteI remember being a young cub, and talking about the almost brand new series with my friends Ken Henecke, Tony Clacko, Kennon Broadhurts, Sidd, and others. Seinfeld was one of the coolest shows ever, but technology has really passed it by. A single cell phone ruins about 90% of the plots.
How young we were.