LIVE REVIEW Philadelphia-Saur

2005-06-01

I hustled down to the Khyber to see "America's Funnyman" Neil Hamburger with Pleaseeasaur. Expectations run so low with Neil that it would be difficult for him to disappoint. So you say you like dry humor? Well, you'd love Neil Hamburger--you'd have to visit the Sahara for comedy more arid. His act was burger-iffic as usual. In fact, he even told a few jokes that were legitimately funny. Highlight of the night:

Q: What's the difference between Courtney Love and the American flag?

A: It would be wrong to urinate on the American flag.

.....Haw! Priceless! Mr. Hamburger seems to definitely have a fetish for Ms. Love. About 75% of all his "jokes" were about her. I met him after the show. He gave me and my companion Leggz a few drink tickets. His real name is Gregg and he's actually a pretty normal guy. I barely recognized him without the Neil get-up. I asked him if it hurts his feelings when people heckle him onstage. He was strangely evasive. I think I may have actually hit a soft spot. Here I was thinking that he was some kind of masochist that revels in making the audience hate him, but perhaps I was wrong.

.....The real winner of the night, however, was the opener, Pleaseeasaur. It was one guy with a bunch of crazy costumes singing along to pre-recorded synth-y music tracks. He also had an accomplice projecting images behind him and someone else sticking cardboard props out from behind a curtain. It was a combination of musical comedy skit and bizarre performance art. I don't even know how to describe it--except to say it was hilarious! I bought his DVD.

.....He mentioned onstage that the very first Pleaseeasaur show was upstairs at the Khyber in 1996. I drunkenly embarrassed myself afterward by swearing to him up & down that Khyber had no upstairs and he must be mistaking it for the old Upstairs at Nicks. It happens that only minutes prior I had been actually hanging out upstairs at the Khyber enjoying the $2 well drink specials. Whatthefuck was I thinking? Sometimes I swear I'm borderline retarded ...or like my friend Maggie said, I must have "drain bramage. "Sometimes it's not easy being chromosomally challenged, but as Neil Hamburger famously says: "But thaaat's my life!"

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY (PHILADELPHIA. PA)