World of Weird Al Yankovic

samuraisumo @ Aug 10 2005, 03:42 AM wrote: Last year was two EXTREME jugglers.

Does that mean they took sips of Mountain Dew between the pins?

samuraisumo @ Aug 10 2005, 12:42 AM wrote: Let's see. At the Puyallup show two years ago, we had a cowgirl who made lots of fem jokes.(Radio station WPMS, only comes in once a month!!)

I was there! But I don't remember too many fem jokes. Heck, I was just a couple of hours from meeting Al, I don't remember much of that concert. I had an industrial strength case of AIH.

scottidog @ Aug 9 2005, 01:32 AM wrote: That brings up the question of why it's so tough to open for Al.

I've seen my fair share of opening acts, some pretty good, some absolutely awful.

Opening bands always fail. People are at an Al concert to see comedy music, laugh, and have a good time with their friends and family, not for serious music. If they wanted serious music, they would have bought tickets for another concert. Plus, Al's fans come from every walk of life because Al covers every type of music out there. So, if you put an alternative band up on stage, for example, you're gonna only appeal to small part of the audience.

Comedians are either hit or miss, usually miss. The simple reason is because Al's so darn funny. There's a lot of expectation from the audience for the comedian to be as funny as Al. The audience comes to an Al concert expecting to be enterained, and expecting to laugh. It's the first joke that sets the tone for the rest of the comedian's set. If it's genuinely funny and original, they win the audience over and are given a chance. If it's not funny, rude, or inappropriate, get them off the stage as soon as possible, something better is coming up.

Jugglers seem to work the best. There's no expectation to be as funny as Al, and they appeal to all ages. I've never seen a juggler booed.

I'm okay with opening acts, every budding star needs to be given a chance to shine, and sometimes they're actually entertaining and fill the time nicely before the show. Having said that, only two acts were worth my while to follow up on later, so if there were no opening acts at future Al shows, I certainly wouldn't miss them.

Dave

OMG speaking of opening for Al.........
did anyone go to the Mission Viejo Lake concert?
There was this "comedian" (ill explain the quotes)...... and he was one of the opener dudes for the concert, ok? Right, anyways....
Al is all about being a family show, right? So you see, this comedian starts out PG.......... then he makes a couple on the border of PG-13......... then he started to talk about himself (and im not just talking about himself in general, if you get the picture)...... anyways, it was bad enough hearing him cuss and use foul language to describe male parts and such. The crowd started to get restless and the laughs/clapping was few and far between.
Midway through a sentence... his mic was turned off!! He motioned to the sound guy that "something was wrong" but the sound guy made the cut sign across his neck. It was funny (to me anyways... being at an angle where i could see the guy do this). The other host person came out to appologize and explained that they did not intend the jokes to be of that rating and that Al wants it to be a family show.

Long story short....... that was not a good opener for Al. lol.

Same thing happened at the infamous Halloween show. Its nice to know Al's people will pull the plug when the opening act is inappropriate.

Dave

Elvis Posted on Aug 11 2005, 03:31 AM
  Same thing happened at the infamous Halloween show. Its nice to know Al's people will pull the plug when the opening act is inappropriate. 

That was soooo great! Thanks Al's people! (a couple sitting next to me said he was a local shock jock; seems like there was another show near that time when something similar happened)

I really liked the comedian who was at some OC fair concerts as mentioned by stupidsurgeon27 (though I don't remember his name). A guy in York, PA wasn't too bad (and he asked some Al-related trivia questions). Navy Pier had a juggler-type show one year, IIRC. The audience seemed to really like him.

Mostly I clap in relief because the opening acts are done/leaving the stage (sorry, don't like to make them feel bad, which is just another reason to leave the front rows for people who perhaps have a broader sense of humor, eh?)

I didn't mind the comedian at the Canberra show...even though he was introduced as "'Weird Al' Yankovic's favourite Australian comedian!!!", and a few of his jokes fell kinda flat. I understand Mewrio saw the same guy at his show?

So that's what happened to Yahoo Serious!

I agree with Dave. I expect the comedians that open for Al to be really funny. When they're not, I'm disappointed. I certainly don't boo or heckle them, because I realize that they're just trying to make a living. I don't think people should boo or heckle the opener. It's just rude.

Let's face it, I'll bet Al gets his share of the heckling too. From idiots like those tweak.com people. And the person who didn't like their free tickets.