Archive for March 5th, 2007

Dear Mo Pitkins,

What the hell?

I arrived at 7:30 for the 7:45 Shark Show that was happening in the upstairs lounge and there was no one sitting at the little desk at the top of the stairs where they usually take your money and tell you what’s going on. Hmm. I went back downstairs. Then I saw some other people go upstairs, so I followed them thinking they might know what’s going on. They didn’t. At this point, it’s 7:45. A woman with a Mo Pitkins t-shirt comes up the stairs and says “The show started already you know, you can go ahead in.” So we walk in and start to sit down when we’re told by the man on stage that the show has in fact, not started yet. Back into the hallway to wait some more. Finally, 8:00 and we are let in. Grr. Poor organization makes me frustrated. We sit down and the waitress comes over to take our drink order. My friend wanted an Orange Julius. Unfortunately for her, they don’t make the specialty cocktails upstairs, so she had to settle for jack and coke. Hmmph. This show better be good cause now I’m all cranky.

Lucky for me, it was the funnest!

Gabe McKinley, Nick Stevens, Dan Gaba and Ari Voukydis are The Shark Show. It’s sorta like Saturday Night Live, if Saturday Night Live had comedians instead of musical guests. The guest comics included Chris Jurek, A.D. Miles, Sean Crespo, and Dan Newbower. I enjoyed Chris Jurek’s email from his mother about his Time Out New York joke of the week. I had seen A.D. Miles two days prior and even though some of the material was the same, I still laughed. I loved Sean Crespo’s take on hipsters who are “so over motor skills”. Dan Newbower was charmingly funny as always, but I was disappointed that he ran out of time before he could finish the re-telling of a dream he had about doing stand-up at Carnegie Hall.

My favorite moments with the regular cast included the passive aggressive environmentalist, Nick Steven’s pantomime, Ari’s Ann Coulter CUNT watch, and Gabe McKinley’s news update. Honestly, sketch comedy and variety shows frighten me a little because it’s SO easy to do it badly. I had nothing to fear.

The Shark Show lived up to all the great things I’ve heard about it. This is smartly written, well acted, funny stuff. You should check it out.