Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents
Venue: Talking Stick Resort – Showroom
Date: June 28th, 2019
Tour: Hotdogs and Angels 2019 Tour
I find it hard to write reviews about comedians without giving away their jokes or stories. Band concerts are easy because you can indicate how the band performed, the songs they played and how the audience reacted. But if I were to repeat a story or joke the comedian told, I would not really do it justice and I would diminish the effect. So, I will try and summarize the performance and the reactions of the audience so you can have an idea. Another way to check out Kathleen is to check out her Netflix shows. I believe there are currently 2 shows available include her last tour, “Bothering Jesus”.
This is the second time I have gotten to see both Kathleen Madigan and Raanan Hershberg. Like the last time, they were at Talking Stick Resort in the Showroom. It is a small venue that is perfect for this style of show. I have seen a lot of comedy shows over the years and this show and venue reminds me a lot of the Las Vegas casino lounges I visited in the 60s and 70s. If you ever get a chance to see a show here, it is definitely worth it. There are no bad seats.
The show started with Danny Zelisko coming out and telling us about the upcoming shows. Then Kathleen’s voice came over the PA and she introduced Raanan Hershberg. Raanan came out and did about 20 minutes of jokes and stories. He joked that he is one of those rare things from Kentucky, a Jew. He also made a number of jokes about himself and his twin sister. A number were about people asking if they were “identical or fraternal twins”. He also talked about how he knows that the earth is overpopulated since there was a waiting line at Mt Everest.
Raanan leaves, the stage darkens and out walks Kathleen as the spot lights highlight her. She said, “Let’s give a hand to Raanan, he is the best comedian I could afford. After a couple of minutes, Kathleen requested that they turn off the video camera. The showroom has 2 very large screens on either side of the stage that displays the performers. Kathleen asked to stop recording because it was distracting her seeing large versions of herself out of the corner of her eyes.
She told a story about being in Georgia for a show and she asked the people there what to do and they told her she could zipline to another state. After thinking about it for a while, she came up with the idea of “Ziplining prisoners across America”.
She told a number of stories about having Sprint as her cell phone service provider and how wonderful the service is. The joke about Sprint service and El Chapio’s tunnel made everyone in the audience laugh. She also told the story about her mother and a broken iPhone in WalMart and them asking her mother who her provider was. This story seemed to ring true to a number of people in the audience and everyone was laughing. I thought to myself, I could honestly see my mother doing the same thing.
She told a number of stories about her parents including her father’s hearing aids and the batteries running out and all of the dogs in the neighborhood. Again, I remember being at my wife’s grandparent’s house and her grandfather’s hearing aid having the same problem.
While in Hawaii, she was there as one of the speakers for a business meeting conference. They asked her to join them at surf camp at 6AM. She laughed and said “NO”, because she did not want to be shark food. She had a very funny joke about a business meeting of sharks talking about whether they should bite anyone that day.
The show is definitely for adults due to some of the language used. None of the stories or jokes were that racely and I have heard worst language at some high school events. Kathleen is definitely one of the funniest comedians performing today. She has a wit that is down to earth and something a lot of us can relate with. There were times I actually felt like she was talking about my family and some of the dumb and strange things that happened to us. If you get a chance to see Kathleen perform live, it is definitely worth it. She will make you laugh and wonder if she has insight into your family.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved
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