Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness
April 2, 2011
Gibson Amphitheatre
Feeling like a herded cow, we fought through the crowd just in time to enjoy Cleto & the Cletones, who were the house band once again for this year's Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness KROQ event.
If the band sound familiar, it's because they play nightly for Jimmy Kimmel Live! They were the obvious choice to bring out Jimmy to kick off the show. While Jimmy's late-night comedy is funny, tonight his witty banter and his jokes were just . . . ehhhh. Other than a funny video clip about thinking proceeds would go to breast cancer, it was forgettable. It felt like a scripted monologue, but the crowd seemed into it–probably due to the fact he is Jimmy Kimmel.
Kevin and Bean came out to roaring cheers to say hi and inform us that proceeds from this year's event would go to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Children's Center NICU charities.
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A good cause followed by some good comedy was in order, so they brought
out Ray Romano. Ray kept it pretty PC and talked a lot about
marriage, the differences in having sex when you're older, and
his kids. He was pretty lighthearted. My
parents would have loved him because his set was geared more toward the
middle-aged. As expected, though, everybody in the audience
loved Raymond.
Ralph Garman, entertainment reporter for Kevin and Bean, introduced Australian comedy trio Axis of Awesome. The three men (Lee, Benny and Jordan) are hilarious and have musical
talent to back it up. They sang “How
to Write a Love Song,” did a cover (of sorts) called “Bird Plane,” and
brought everyone to their feet with “Four Chords.” Axis of Awesome were
the best act of the night and received a well-deserved standing ovation.
They should rename their group Axis of Even More Awesome Awesomeness.
KROQ's
Lisa May brought out Patton Oswalt next, who promptly apologized for
making fun of people who wear sweat pants in public. I also learned that I
am not alone in my hate for parking enforcement; he is an extreme hater
as well. He also brought up a valid point about strippers having a
whole new act if they wore clothes. Sounds dumb in print, but
it was hilarious to hear the words come out of his mouth.
Freshly
cut from Dancing With the Stars, Psycho Mike Catherwood brought his
partner Lacey Schwimmer out to introduce Steve-O (who also happens to be
an ex-partner of Lacey's). Where do I start with Steve-O? His act
covered his three years of sobriety (brought on by a Johnny Knoxville
intervention), jacking off to internet porn (which caused him to have a
crooked dick), his familiarity with “nasty box,” and no one wanting a
reality show called Flavor of Steve-O. I concur. Generally, when you
think of Steve-O, you think of crazy and painful stunts. When you take
the stunts out of the mix, he is crazy and painful with just his words. He
seemed somewhat nervous, so he was good, but not great.
KROQ's
Dave “The King of Mexico” and DJ Omar Kahn brought on Doug Benson, and as
usual, Doug looked and acted high as a kite. I suspect it wasn't an act,
though. He admitted his memory isn't what it used to be and that he had
notes at the beginning, saying, “Hey, everybody!” Doug's set was filled
with jokes about movies, commercials, smoking pot and his hate toward
anti-pot ads.
Ralph Garman came back to the stage to bring in Jim Jeffries. If you aren't familiar
with Jim, the time to make yourself familiar is now. The crowd appreciated this Aussie's
honesty, saying his erection is all the foreplay he needs:
“Why would I ride on the swings when I've already been to Disneyland?”
And even though he blamed women for being stuck on kissing, the women in
the audience cheered him throughout.
Bill Burr, the last comic on the bill, had an angry way
about him. He ranted about Orange County's obsession with plastic surgery,
his girlfriend and their issues (and wanting to smack her and roll her
up in a yoga mat), and his apparent hate for walking the dog. He was
funny, but bitter. He actually made me want to leave, so maybe it was
good that he closed out the show.
Critic's Bias: I can't wait to heard Four Chords live.
The Crowd: This event was said to have sold out in hours (oddly enough,
there were last-minute tickets for sale), so the lucky people who filled
the Gibson were prepared to have a great time. Long lines for the
drinks, but luckily, they were big drinks.
Overheard In the Crowd:
“Whoooooo-hooooooo take off your shirt!!” screamed a drunk girl when Axis of Awesome's took the stage. I can only
assume it was for Jordan.
“Who the fuck are these guys? They fucking killed!”
“Nice rack! Hello, your heinous!” When “Miss Double D-cember” walked by.
“Oh, my god! Jim Jeffries actually made me cry I laughed so hard!”
Random Notebook Dump: Nice bird tattoos flying up your legs. I mean, if “nice” is code for “how fucking drunk were you?”
Setlist:
Jimmy Kimmel
Ray Romano
Axis of Awesome
Patton Oswalt
Steve-O
Doug Benson
Jim Jeffries
Bill Burr
Ali Lerman knows much about comedy, basketball, and celebrating Wu-Tang Wednesday. She’s been writing for sixteen years and still calls her mom with grammatical questions.