Published: August 23, 2008 10:55 pm         

REVIEW: Theatre packed for Comedy All-Stars

Rowdy audience member unable to interrupt quality show

TERRE HAUTE — The jokes flowed fast and effectively Saturday night in the Indiana Theatre, where the Bob and Tom Comedy All-Stars performed.

Each comic, as well as emcee Kristi Lee, got tested by a rowdy member of a sellout audience of nearly 1,500. Perhaps, like the jokes, one too many beers flowed to the hollering guest. But the comedians, all regulars on the “Bob and Tom Show,” rose to the occasion with clever retorts. The most succinct was southern Illinois funnyman Tommy Johnagin, who subtlely followed his jokes with “shut up,” and “stupid,” and the rest of the crowd got it.

Aside from that front-row distraction — a Tourette’s moment, as guitar playing comic Tim Cavanagh described it — the fans and the entertainers connected.

Their presence in Indiana was a frequent topic. Roy Wood Jr., the highlight of a solid lineup, admitted he was a Miami Dolphins fan, in the heart of Colts and Bears country, and got an expected round of boos.

“You can’t boo a Dolphins fan,” he pleaded. “That’s like being a crack addict. We’re in pain, man.”

Wood, who worked his routine so fast the noisy fan couldn’t get a word — or guttural “Yeaahhhhh” — in edgewise, also confessed he’d heard enough hype about Olympian gold medal record-setter Michael Phelps. “If he’s the best swimmer, put a gator in the pool. We’ll see,” Wood said.

Later, Wisconsin comic Tim Bedore picked up on the Olympics theme, especially the dispute over suspicions the Chinese gymnasts were underage. Bedore said their age shouldn’t matter. “Let ’em be 9, or 7. Heck, take embryos, put ’em in spoons, and flick ’em across the arena,” Bedore said.

The show featured a musical side as well, with Cavanagh strumming and singing through a cluster of one-minute songs, while popular “Bob and Tom Show” boat salesman Donnie Baker rocked the historic theater. Cavanagh quizzed the audience — those who weren’t screaming incessantly — about the cars they drive, and felt the pain of Hyundai owners. “They were thinking of having one of those reunions, like Saturn has, for Hyundais, but they got to thinking, ‘How would they get there?’”

For the second time in two years, the “Bob and Tom” comics filled the Indiana. The turnout, especially with ticket prices at $31.50, proved that Terre Haute has a desire for live entertainment. Before the show began, Johnagin stood back stage and gazed at the ornate theater and heard the throng filing into their seats and said, “If you give them a good product, people will come out to see you.”

On Friday night, the All-Stars performed at French Lick.

Alex Sherfick, 22, drove from southern Indiana, Loogootee, on Saturday to see the troupe’s Terre Haute show. “It’s just so topical,” he said, flanked by Kara Sanders, 22, of Farmersburg. “It addresses issues, but it doesn’t focus on any one. I listen to them every morning, and it’s nice to see them in person.”

The only thing that would’ve made it better, were if the fans could’ve heard it all in person. Let the funny guys and gals tell their jokes, buddy.



Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.