Jim Breuer - A Funny Man

So, Saturday night when my buddies were in town, we went to see Jim Breuer live at The Improv down on the Waterfront. You may remember Breuer from the movie Half Baked, a movie starring Dave Chappelle, or from his stint on Saturday Night Live, with his famous character "Goat Boy". One friend, Jarv, had seen him before at Slippery Rock University, and said he was hysterical...and he didn't disappoint on this night.

Maybe the most remarkable aspect of his show was that he cursed maybe four times; one time he said s--- in the context of a story where his daughter said the word, and he admonished her (in the story) by saying that the family doesn't talk like that. It was really refreshing.

There were many highlights, but I will point out a few. First, he told the story of the movie Half Baked, a "pot" movie. I remember seeing this movie in high school. One of the funniest parts of the movie, to me, is when they decide to go on a late night shopping spree after smoking some weed, and their grocery list is long. At the end of the list, Breuer, in his best stoner voice, adds: "...and Funions!" So, anytime anyone makes a list of anything, I add "funions" to the end of the list. Nobody ever gets it. Anyway...he's telling the story, and he continually pulls out his Chappelle impression, which is spot on, funny every time he does it. So he talks about how he was actually not high for every scene in the movie...minus one. In that scene, in which he "saved the movie" (literally...the bad guy was about to quit, so he filmed a scene after smoking weed so that production could continue) he delivers his famous line: "sucks to be you, man!" He set it up in the show, and delivered it. It killed.

Then, he started talking about success. As his measure of success, he said there were two things he wanted: leather pants and a kangaroo. He went on a riff about this that was priceless; my favorite moment of the show. He was hopping around stage like a kangaroo, then observing the reactions of people as they noticed his kangaroo: "man, is that guy successful". It was a very funny combination of visuals and dialogue. Funniest part of the show, to me.

Ultimately, he was the best comic I've seen live. I've seen a few, including Jerry Seinfeld (who took the Lord's name in vain way, waaaaaaaaaaaay too often) so I think that I can make a good comparison. But, it was a pleasant night out, and I'd recommend to everyone taking in comedy shows at the Improv.