5/31/2010
Four out of Five Stars
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Caught this show last night
and I must say this is unlike any show that I've seen in Vegas so
far. This is something I expect at a little performance theater in
Los Angeles or New York, and it doesn't have a Vegas vibe at all.
What this show is basically, is Geechy Guy, who holds the world
record for joke telling (600ish jokes in an hour), Todd Paul, who
also has his own show in the same room, and Mickey Joseph, who I
have caught at the Plaza as Joey Bishop in the Rat Pack is Back
Show. The three of them do a theatrical show where they hang out in
an alley behind a comedy club, sitting on milk crates and beer kegs,
and just shotgun jokes to each other. The jokes are all really off
the wall and most are messed up. Topics include sex (gay and
straight and all the wacky stuff in between), animal jokes,
religious jokes, bar jokes, doctor jokes, and anything else they can
think of that night in order to outdo each other. Special guests
such as local talent in the area drop in to join them. The night my
husband and I were there the opening acts for Carrot Top and the
Naughty Boys at Krave were there. Everyone was completely hilarious
but because this show was late I got very tired and zoned out at the
end.
I'm completely a fan of this sort of show in Vegas, because we need
something different than the typical acts we have. It's very raw
and new so they still have some improvements to make. There's
really no interaction with the audience, they don't move around at
all, but I'm not sure if that would make this show better.
Go and see this show if you want to see some good, raw local
talented comedy from the area. This is also a bargain show as they
are having a promotion where they give you a free drink for every
ticket you buy, and they give you a free drink after the show for
the downstairs club in Hooters. So you get two free drinks and a
strip show for about 16 bucks a person, which makes this little show
a great bargain,
July 22, 2010
Five questions with Geechy Guy, comedian
BY B.J. HAMMERSTEIN
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Keeping up with high-powered motormouth comic Geechy Guy is no easy
task. "I have so many jokes -- it's not even funny," the
Rochester-raised comedian says over the phone from his residence in Las
Vegas. Come Labor Day, he'll mark 25 years in the biz. His up-and-down
career has included a heartbreaking loss on the classic talent showcase
"Star Search" and a big moment in 1993 when he set a Guinness record by
delivering an amazing 676 jokes in an hour. "It was at the Improv in
L.A., a benefit for flood victims. The crowd had to laugh at all the
jokes or they didn't count," he recalls.
The 46-year-old Geech says he has been through a lot over the years, but
at the end of the day, he's just a simple guy from the Midwest. "They
say that a person's car reflects their personality -- I don't have a
car," he says before he delivers his next joke -- one about a
correspondence course he once took in mime. When Geech returns home to
Mark Ridley's -- where he'll headline a series of shows this weekend,
starting tonight -- he'll be doing something he hasn't done in a while:
a one-man act.
At the Hooters Casino Hotel in Vegas, his three-man comedic creation,
"The Dirty Joke Show," is receiving rave reviews. "The show is really
taking off -- way better than we could have ever expected," he says of
the behind-the-scenes-style play he started about five years ago. He's
thrilled about the buzz, but what's most important to him, he says, is
that the show has provided a spark of passion to a career that was
slowly fading. "No matter how good it is or how good it could get, some
things start to get old after 25 years," he says. "Now I'm really
looking forward to the shows every single night."
QUESTION: What's "The Dirty Joke Show" all about?
ANSWER: It's a show I started about five years ago -- now more than 125
shows in -- and for a lack of a better word, it's a play. It's set at
the back alley of a comedy club, in between shows, and three comedians
pull up beer kegs, milk crates, and we basically sit around and smoke
and drink and entertain each other for the remainder.
There's a little bit of improv involved, but we are each armed with 50
jokes apiece and fire those out from our arsenal -- just go back and
forth playing off each other. There are elements of classic stand-up
there, but it's different: All three comics onstage at once, we're mic'd
up (instead of talking directly into a mic on its stand), and we're not
really performing to the audience but to each other.
People don't usually go to comedy shows thinking they're about to see a
play. They're not really used to it, but I don't think it's much of an
issue. They're kind of surprised in a good way. It's more than just
three guys in front of a microphone. Our personalities are really coming
out, and the crowd is hearing, literally, hundreds of jokes.
Q: How did it come about?
A: There's this old joke about how comedians are the toughest crowds.
... If you dress someone up like an old woman and push them down the
stairs, most people would laugh, but comics won't. To make a comedian
laugh, an old woman needs to be pushed down the steps. That's just to
give you a sense of what a comedian's sense of humor is like.
Basically, it started on that premise: that comedians do routines for
their audience but maybe -- many times -- they're even funnier offstage.
So "The Dirty Joke Show" was first designed to try and take the whole
onstage element out of the routine. Stop thinking (before a
performance), "OK, it's time to stop being funny and now I have to go to
work."
And then there are friends of mine who aren't comics. When they are
hanging out with me and my comedian friends, they always end up thanking
me a day later, saying they had the best time.
That was the thought. I didn't know what would happen if we did it, but
I recognized that it could potentially be really funny and something
unique.
Q: You're called "king of the one-liners." What's the key to a good
one-liner?
A: Wow, that's a really good question: I don't really know. Hmm, I don't
know the key. That everybody laughs?! You stumped me -- that it's short
and to the point. that it has good phrasing, good wordplay.
I think in my case, I have a great sense of humor in the truest sense. I
can sense what's going to be funny ... to most people. If you're able to
recognize that, and there's a natural sense of what people think is
funny, that's probably the most important part.
Q: How did you get your start in comedy?
A: One of my best friends, whom I met when I was 18, he was doing comedy
then, and he basically let me know that comedy was something you could
do right here in Michigan. You could work on it at different places. You
can start small. Work your way toward places like Mark Ridley's. ...
Back in 1985, I started with Mark (Ridley) at the Holly Hotel in Holly.
Tim Allen used to pick me up at my mom's house. But, yeah, the sky was
the limit, and there has always been an incredible amount of talent born
and raised in Michigan.
Q: What do you have planned for your homecoming show at the Comedy
Castle this weekend?
A: Oh, I'm so all over the place. There will be jokes all across the
board. A flurry of one-liners about everything, basically. There will be
a little bit, about less than five minutes of "The Dirty Joke Show." But
I talk really fast, so there will be a whole lot of jokes and plenty of
laughs.
SHOW REVIEW: 'The Dirty Joke Show,' 'The King Lives -- Pete Wilcox's
Tribute to Elvis'
By
MIKE WEATHERFORD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
"The Dirty Joke Show" doesn't leave much to
explain, though the title only hints at a novel, almost theatrical
concept: three comedians hanging out in the alley behind a comedy
club, firing off the promised goods.
And Pete Willcox, star of "The King Lives," puts
his modest vehicle into perspective with a joke about Cirque du
Soleil's new "Viva Elvis" spectacle: "They've got 47 dancers and 15
musicians and no Elvis."
The 67-year-old Willcox still has rival Elvi on
the Strip, but he's more available. His small lounge tribute is
booked five nights a week in the Night Owl room, while Trent Carlini
only works the Las Vegas Hilton on Mondays, and the "Legends in
Concert" Elvis must time-share the stage with other impersonators.
"The Dirty Joke Show" competes with many a
stand-up club, but it's really something new and different. For
starters, it puts three comics onstage together, instead of in
separate sets. The oddly named Geechy Guy, who conceived and
directed it, co-stars with Hooters' resident comedian Todd Paul and
a third comic, usually Mickey Joseph. (Today it's Rob Sherwood, with
Nancy Ryan taking over Saturday and Sunday and Joseph back on
Monday.)
When Paul took Guy's concept to management,
Hooters agreed to "Dirty Joke" as a late show and outfitted an
upstairs banquet room to host it along with Paul's solo showcase.
The opening comes off as casual banter, yet
skillfully reminds us modern stand-up has evolved into a more
personal forum. Professional comedians usually consider it a cheat
to use what Paul calls "a street joke," beyond the occasional
"Here's one you can take home with you ...."
Guy, Paul and (at this show) John Bizarre come
through a "Stage Door" to pull up some beer kegs and milk crates on
the alley set, and you will need a good memory to take home 200 or
more jokes they throw to crack each other up.
Only a handful would be printable, but there are
lesbian jokes, Italian jokes, pope jokes, penguin jokes, elephant
jokes, fly jokes, snail jokes, and, of course, a Tiger joke
(amazingly, not until 50 minutes into the show). At one point Guy
rings up 13 "A guy goes to a doctor ..." gags in a row.
Guy has a home-court advantage. A lanky dude who
sounds a lot like late voice actor Lorenzo Music (Carlton the
doorman on "Rhoda" and the TV animated "Garfield"), he calls his own
stand-up "middle school": new one-liners delivered in vintage style.
It's Paul who grounds the premise, believably playing the offstage
comedian and proving the adage "acting is reacting."
It's still a work in progress, with challenges
yet to solve. The boys could get up and move around more, and they
need more of a structural arc to pace and spell the audience. So
far, the barrage of jokes is broken up only by a bit of Paul's
juggling and a song parody.
But the flexible format already has attracted
drop-in guests. It's ambitious enough to create a hip, off-Broadway
atmosphere and casual enough to draw other comics as a late-night
hang. An admirable balance, one anyone bored with the usual stuff
should find appealing.
Ironically, "The Dirty Joke Show" is more
theatrical than "The King Lives," which I would call a "set" more
than a "show." Nothing wrong with that, as long as everyone
understands going in. It's a shame the business model has so shifted
that quality lounge acts have to charge a ticket, even a modest one.
(Both shows are bargain tickets to begin with, further discounted
with in-house promotions.)
The narrow stage squeezes Willcox so tightly amid
his four-piece band and two singers that he barely has room to throw
any Elvis moves. Not that he wears the jumpsuit anyway. The
suggested premise, not clearly articulated, is that if Elvis had
lived long enough, he would have traded the iconic outfit for a
sequined red blazer.
In Willcox's vision, age-appropriate Elvis also
would be covering Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" and Garth Brooks'
"If Tomorrow Never Comes," and having fun mixing "All Shook Up" and
"Don't Be Cruel" into a hip-hop shuffle.
These pleasant surprises fall amid the standard
fare. Willcox sings all of it well, and his comic banter quickly
puts the crowd on his side. He says he wants to go further and add
other celebrity impressions. Why not? Sammy Davis Jr. did
impressions, and now everyone imitates Sammy. Elvis is kind of
entitled.
And if Willcox wanted to go tell a few dirty
jokes afterward, I'm sure he'd be welcome upstairs.
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at
mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.
Good Clean Dirty Fun at Hooters Comedy Show
Before “The Dirty Joke Show” begins an announcer
warns folks with sensitive ears to leave and go see “Donny and Marie.”
That’s good advice for those who don’t like the “F” word, which seems to
be used two or three times in every sentence in this comedy showcase of
potty mouth humor at Hooters, which may be seen at 11 p.m. Mondays
through Thursdays.
The “F” bombs and the jokes are fast and furious, delivered by veteran
comics Geechy Guy (who once set a world record by telling more than 600
jokes in an hour), Todd Paul (who has his own comedy show at Hooters at
7 p.m. nightly) and Mickey Joseph (who portrays Joey Bishop in “The Rat
Pack is Back” at the Plaza).
From time to time a guest comedian will show up and throw out a couple
of jokes. Recently it was Kevin Burke, who has two shows in town –
“Defending the Caveman” at the Excalibur and “Fitz of Laughter” at
Fitzgeralds.
Ron Shotts, one of the funniest comedians in the business and a Vegas
resident, showed up another night.
“A guest set is built in,” says Guy. “It doesn’t have to happen, but has
happened six out of 10 nights.”
Guy came up with the idea about five years ago but couldn’t sell it
until Hooters decided to take a chance.
The premise is three comedians joining each other in an alley behind a
comedy club after a show and exchanging jokes for about 90 minutes.
“I thought it might be fun to let the audience watch us tell each other
jokes,” says Guy, who may be best known for his appearances on Ed
McMahon’s “Star Search” in the ‘80s - held the record for the most wins
for a comedian (10) beating such comedians as Ray Romano.
The comedians take turns pulling jokes from their dirty joke bag.
Each comedian 40 to 50 jokes in their allotted space,” Guy says. “As
long as we do what’s our own, that’s the only rule we have. We draw from
our own list.
“There’s probably a 20 to 30 percent difference in jokes every night. We
just follow each other. One guy does one and reminds us of one.”
Not all the jokes are dirty.
“You know what the snail said when he rode on the back of a turtle?” Guy
asked.
“No.”
“Wheeeeeeeee.”
“You know what you need to circumcise a whale?” Guy asked.
“No.”
“Four skin divers.”
Most of the remaining jokes are for adults, though Guy calls them “R”
rated.
“It’s good clean dirty fun,” he says.
The show is loosely scripted. Each comedian gets his turn at pulling out
his dirty jokes in a dirty joke free-for-all.
If you don’t like one, wait a second and there’ll be another.
Many you may know.
“Most people have heard some of the jokes,” Guy says. “But what better
way than to hear a real comic tell them the joke than Uncle Bob - even
if they have heard the joke they should still enjoy it.”
Where Magazine - cover story
April 2010
Show Review
Behind the curtain
Staff Report
Sure comedians are funny on stage but have
you ever wondered what goes on behind the curtain? This show
takes three comedians and gives you a behind-the-scenes look at
what happens when they each try to outdo each other with the
funniest joke. Forget being politically correct or censorship,
The Dirty Joke Show is all about being funny and stars Geechy
Guy, Todd Paul and Mickey Joseph show audiences that they will
say and do just about anything to make you laugh. While the show
features three comedians you never know what other special guest
might stop by and add to this hilarious night of comedy.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
=
Tuesday, February 16th was a very special VIP night for the
Dirty Joke Show at Hooters Casino Hotel. We had the lovely
ladies from the Fantasy Show at the Luxor in attendance that
night. Strip Headliner, Kevin Burke, also make a special
appearance on stage that night. He got into the action and
even a shared a few dirty jokes himself. Attached you will
find some photos from this night. If you did not get the
pleasure of attending the show this night, we do invite you
to come see the show some other evening. This show is funny
and outrageous and will have you laughing and all of the
jokes are DIRTY!
So a man wakes his wife up n
says how about some 69 and she says beef n broccoli?
Monday
thru Thursday Nights at 11pm
General Admission $24.99
January 27, 2010
TalkVegas.com
The Dirty Joke Show is a new show at the Hooters. I think it is the
most brilliant concept in the history of stand up comedy. I have
been to a large number of comedy clubs here and across the country.
The program is the same at all of them. Some local comes out as an
emcee and warms up the crowd. A feature comedian or two come out for
short skits. Then the headliner does his set. This show does it a
little different.
The stage is set up like the back of the building behind a bar.
There are empty booze bottles, trash, old beer kegs, a dumpster,
etc. A short video is used for a warm up and sets up the atmosphere
that it is the back alley behind comedy club just as the show ends.
Three comedians come out in the alley and start talking about the
set they just did. They just hang out, drink booze, have a smoke and
tell jokes to each other. They are wearing lapel mics, so they don't
have to walk up front and center and speak into a mic. It's really
casual as they talk to each other instead of to an audience. It's
set up where one or more comedians could drop by and hang out and
tell jokes with them or tell a few and leave.
This particular show is about dirty jokes, so yes, the jokes are
dirty. But it could be done with any genre of jokes, or better yet,
no specific genre. I REALLY like this format. It takes pressure off
of the comedian to induce a laugh, and it takes the pressure off of
the audience to laugh or applaud on cue. I'm sure some parts are
scripted, but it is easy to tell that most all of it is ad lib. And
since the comedians are focused on each other instead of the
audience, they really are working off each other.
Since the show is at Hooters it doesn't have favorable odds of
surviving very long. I do recommend it though for someone that wants
a comedy show at 11pm with dirty jokes. The show lasted a little
over an hour. Hooters was giving out coupons in the gift shop in
back of the casino to see the show for $12.50 including one drink. I
would guess that street price would be about $25.
To purchase tickets, call the
Hooters Box Office at 1-866-584-6687 or click below to
purchase nline. Must be at least 21 years old to attend.
Prices do not include tax and service fees.
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