Victoria Tour Rolls On - 30 Days and 30 NIghts in the Wild West
4 out of 5 Comedians agree - Victoria Alexander is Money.
Posted By: |
Victoria Alexander |
Posted On: |
Sat Feb 9th, 2008 |
I saw Sebastian Maniscalco open for BB King & Al Green at Hard Rock Hotel last September. He was brilliant and hysterical. BB's audience was elderly and the acoustics were awful but Sebastian heroically plowed through. The Joint has some VIP seating somewhere upstairs but I had a standing room only ticket. This meant that 50 of us had to keep moving around being shoved along by waitresses and security. For BB's and Al's fans, small folding chairs - lashed together with plastic ties - were set up. There must have been 500 or more people packed into The Joint. Many of them had trouble fitting into the seats. One robust man called out for a knife to cut free his chair so he'd have more room. When you have a standing-room only ticket, it's not a good idea to get to the event two hours early.
There were more canes than at Lourdes.
Like me, Maniscalco was astonished at the HRH's dress code. All the female hotel residents were walking around the casino in bikini tops and thongs. All the guys were shirtless in low-slung swimming trunks.
Maniscalco (minus his raunchier material) is one of four comedians Vince Vaughn has assembled for his "Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland".
I liked the fact that Vaughn - Lord knows he doesn't need to do it - lived on the tour bus with the guys, introduced the acts, did skits, cajoled his celebrity friends to turn up, and did Meets & Greets! He did all the radio publicity! What a guy!
And not one movie star hissy fit.
Everybody loves the Vince Vaughn movie persona. Here he is as likeable and hangs out! And he brings along terrific clips and has helped his buddies from way back in time (pre-Swingers") to make it.
The four comedians are the aforementioned Sebastian, former Vaughn roommate Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, and Bret Ernst. Vaughn's buddies include Jon Favreau (who claimed anyone could have played Vince's iconic role in "Swingers" and proves it!), Justin Long, Dwight Yoakam and the very generous Buck Owens (who gives Vince a guitar!).
Where were the comedy groupies hanging outside the buses? Where was the pot smoking?
We get a snapshot of every city on the 30 day tour. Not to be insensitive to the misery of the real world, the tour stops at the heel of Hurricane Katrina, visits a park site shelter, and invites the newly homeless to a benefit show.
I was disappointed with Ahmed Ahmed. Where was his tough, pissed-off "I'm a Muslim in America" material? Besides the break-out Sebastian, John Caparulo and Bret Ernst certainly have a future.
I'll be looking for Maniscalco to headline [in Las Vegas] and after "Wild West Comedy Show", so will you.
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