Louie Anderson – Still Larger Than Life
Louie Anderson - Click for more images
The 59 year old comedian, best known for his comedic style and overall girth, took to the stage at Thunder Valley Casino Resort’s Pano Hall Saturday, rounding out a weekend of comedy that started with comedians Don Friesen and Jason Love on Friday.
Right out of the gate Louie Anderson had the audience laughing by saying;
“What a beautiful day wasn’t it? I almost went for a walk.”
After a few brief jokes about his size, the Las Vegas resident jumped right into the casino life. Joking about blackjack in particular and the pressure you are under to ‘follow the rules.’ For example he split two tens and won, but everyone at the table yelled at him because he screwed it up for everyone else.
Anderson really enjoys bantering with audience members and Saturday night was no exception. One audience member in particular took quite a beating. Horris was asked what his name was and Anderson immediately said “Oh, that’s a torturous name”.
As Anderson continued asking Horace questions like, “What were you parents thinking,” he paused and asked what his middle name was. Horace replied, “Lavelle,” sending Anderson into another frenzy. When asked what his last name was Horace replied, “It’s best we leave that one alone.” Anderson finally got his answer, but I will leave Horaces last name out to protect him from any further humiliation.
His show was low key when compared to other comedians. He’s not what I would call a hard-hitting comic, but somewhat dry in his delivery with a straight-forward no nonsense approach.
I’ve never been a fan of Anderson, but after watching his show I have to admit he’s won me over. He’s a superb storyteller, delivers well timed punch-lines, and he’s quick-witted while engaging unsuspecting audience members.
Off-stage Louie Anderson is a genuinely nice guy, and oddly enough, he’s even soft-spoken, unless you get him wound up and then all bets are off.
Anderson works with numerous charity organizations and after 9/11 he put together a NYC Police vs. Firemen show with the prize money going to the NYPD and NYFD Widows fund, with Anderson contributing $75,000 of his own money.
Not only is Anderson an actor and comedian, he’s also written several books and created the cartoon series Life with Louie, and hosted the hit game show Family Feud from 1999 to 2002.
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Don Friesen
Thunder Valley Casino Resort sponsored an evening of laughs for the Lincoln Police Activities League (PAL) starring comedian Don Frieson with special guest Jason Love. KTXL Fox 40’s Paul Robins hosted the evenings event.
PAL Director and Lincoln Police Chief Paul Shelgren, along with the Executive Director and Lincoln Police Youth Services Officer, Steve Krueger kicked off the event thanking their sponsors; Sierra Pacific Industries, AT&T, SureWest Foundation, 92.1 K-Hits and KTXL Fox 40. In attendance were Senator Ted Gaines and Assemblywoman Beth Gaines.
As Paul Robins wrestled the microphone from Shelgren and Krueger, he informed the audience that prior to his news anchor job he was working as a standup comic. After a few jokes Robins kicked it into high gear with a dead-on Casey Kasem impression. In his best Kasem voice Robins told a story about a man working in the morgue, who had written Kasem a letter requesting that Kasem play “She’s so Cold,” by the Rolling Stones. I’ll let you figure out where he went with the joke – hilarious!
Robins definitely left the stage too early as he introduced Jason Love. Robins could have easily taken on the opening act duties to warm up the crowd for Friesen. As Love took the stage he was met with a lukewarm response that continued through his act.
I believe Love lost most of the crowd when he picked up his guitar and started singing a song that was all about, of all things, shit. Yes, I said shit, but he said shit way more times than I’m going to write about shit. This to a crowd of PAL supporters – What was he thinking?
Jason Love - Click for more images
Love redeemed himself with his signature one-liners such as, “How come there are signs that read ‘no shoplifting’? Are there places where it’s ok? Rio Linda right?” and “Only one in three crimes are reported. How do they know?”
Two time winner of San Francisco’s Standup Comedy competition Don Friesen took the stage, but only after Robins came back out to tell a quick Easter joke that saw the audience rolling on the floor laughing. Robins definitely has a knack for comedy.
Friesen started his routine off joking about the current real estate crisis and how people’s dreams now are waiting for someone to default on their home loans, so they could swoop in and take it over. He continued on with his kids living at home and started bantering with an audience member who had their 33 year old son living at home.
Friesen went on with life’s trials and tribulations, including the time he went in for Lasik surgery. The doctors handed him a waiver to sign with a warning that one of the side-effects could be blindness, which was the exact opposite of what he was striving for. When he complained about the waiver the doctor said it was their standard contract, to which Friesen responded, “Since it’s a standard contract, then you’re saying that you’re not just screwing me, but you’re screwing everybody.”
I don’t know that Love or Friesen were able to completely engage the entire audience. While they had their zingers and some really funny bits, they just couldn’t bring the majority of the audience to tears, or true rolling on the floor laughter.
About PAL: The Lincoln Police Activities League is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a bond of trust, understanding and mutual respect between youth and law enforcement. We will accomplish our mission through recreational, athletic, and educational programs designed to encourage good citizenship and improve the overall quality of life in the Lincoln area.
PAL provides many free, positive events and activities for young people in our community, some of which include the Junior Giants baseball program, Halloween Haunted House, Christmas party for kids, a co-sponsored fishing derby program, various sports outings, and the after school program at PAL’s Youth Center.
Lincoln PAL activities are open free of charge to all community youth between 8 and 18 years of age. To register, call Youth Services Officer Steve Krueger at 916-343-3632.
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Rex Navarette Stops Filipino’s From Gambling
Rex Navarrete - Click for more images
Yes! It happened Friday night at Thunder Valley Casino Resort, as comedian Rex Naverret set out to do what few people have done before, stop Filipinos from gambling – at least long enough to watch his show.
As Florante De Leon warmed up the crowd with his unbelievable music – unbelievable because I couldn’t understand a damn thing he was saying since it was all in Tagalog. As he was playing, Florante also bantered with the audience as they slowly filed in to catch the headlining act of Navarette.
Florante continued as the room filled with reluctant Filipinos who had to leave their seats at the tables and slot machines. However, by the end of Florante’s performance the place was packed with a sufficiently warmed up crowd whose minds had drifted from winning the next big jackpot, to enjoying a noteworthy performance.
Florante De Leon - Click for more images
There were many spouses of non-Filipino descent that didn’t understand Tagalog, so Florante didn’t catch on to about a quarter of the audience.
English speaking Navarette enjoys lamenting about his life growing up, so he started the show letting everyone know that, as a kid, he never saw his parents. While his parents were always away gambling in Reno, they would have his World War 2 veteran Grandfather watching him.
So off Navarrette went on tales of his adventures with his Grandfather. One such adventure landed them in the middle of Oakland buying fish and chips at a black owned shop, only for his Grandfather to be misunderstood when he told the store owner that they wanted two vinegars. The owner had thought he said – we just want to be ni##ers.
After his adventures with his Grandfather, Naverrete went on to complain about Filipino food and how even he was afraid to eat the food, sometimes only being able to eat it in the dark.
And so the rest of the evening went as Navarette did his best imitations of varying Asian accents while providing a very entertaining view of life as a 1st generation immigrant from the Philipines.
Thunder Valley has more great comedians coming up during their summer concert series including Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham and Louie Anderson. Be sure to get your tickets early, these shows are going to sellout fast!
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