Friday night Rob Gorden and Mark Douglas brought the Rob & Mark Show to the Parkside Lounge, and added even more color to the tinselly stage. The word on the street was that these guys are gut-splitting. They did not disappoint.

First of all, they look like they would be funny, and that’s not to say they’re funny-lookin’. If you’re a fan of the film “So I Married An Axe Murderer”, and you probably are if you’re uncool, you might expect Rob to spew “Harriet…Harriet…” all slam-like, because of his resemblance to Mike Myers. And Mark has the look of a sitcom actor who is one audition away from stealing Matt LeBlanc’s jobs, you know, on the shows that are supposed to be funny.

They’re a combo with chemistry. “No one wants to read your blog!” Rob sang, while Mark strummed the acoustic. “The Blog Song” elicited appreciative cheers from the audience. And a few sheepish laughs as well from those guilty of clacking away at the keys about something mundane, like shopping for toothbrushes, in this ultimate modern-age display of what I call capital-narcissism.

They also played a song about having a man-crush on “24”’s Jack Bauer. And let’s not forget guest comic Michael Birch as womanizing boozer Ben Franklin, who claimed he created bifocals so his penis would appear larger. (If anyone caught “The Office” on Thursday night, you will recognize a reoccurring theme here. Ben Franklin is bringing sexyback, I guess.)

But the real treat was the Pink Floyd jukebox musical, set to a story about kids at fat camp. If you don’t laugh when Rob and Mark shout, “Hey, Fatso, leave those chips alone!” you should have your pulse checked.

Rob and Mark wrapped up the show with “Karate Kid The Musical”. They covered all the major scenes of the movie, switching from one character to the next with ease, from Elisabeth Shue’s Ally, to Johnny The Blonde Guy who appears in most popular eighties movies, to Mr. Miyagi and his infamous phrase, “Wax on, wax off.” It’s worth it alone just to hear Mark say “But, Sensei!” in one breath and “Daniel, son!” in the next. When Rob hobbled up to the mic, Ralph-Macchio-with-a-broken-knee style, and positioned himself in the crane, I became a knee slapping laughing freak.
And of course, there’s the “Glory of Love.” But I won’t spoil the ending.