Jimmy Pardo at Zanies Comedy Club in Rosemont, IL.
The moment I noticed the two guys wearing ridiculous hats take their seats in the front row at the 8 p.m. show on July 12 was the moment I knew that this was going to be a hilarious Jimmy Pardo set. A guy in flip flops and a green and white checkered fedora sitting near another guy who was all-too-confidently sporting a lederhosen hat that was decked out in buttons as if he is some sort of weird German punk rocker in the 90's; I couldn't wait to hear Mr. Pardo tear into these guys.
The show also featured the hilarious Mike Toomey, whose opening set included an array of brilliant bits, some of which suited the Chicago-area crowd particularly well. He reminded us of the comedic annoyances of winter weather and went on a brilliant rant about how today's weathermen need to cut through the bull shit. There's really only two types of weather, he argued, hat weather and no-hat weather. The set featured plenty of other highlights, including a hysterical vocal impersonation of a voice over guy from an old timey anti-drug movie. His quick wit, hilarious bits and local credit made Toomey a fantastic opener for the crowd-work master, Jimmy Pardo.
Mr. Pardo's set began with exactly what I was hoping for, a hilarious back-and-forth between him and the aforementioned crazy-hat-guys. I know the other two comics already talked about the hats, Jimmy said, "but, seriously what the fuck is going on?" These were just two of a handful of audience members to experience the hysterically funny wrath of Jimmy Pardo. Others included a guy in flip-flops who couldn't hear "past the fungus on his bare feet," a fan who was laughing so hard that Jimmy asked him if he was recording a laugh track for a sitcom, and an audience member whose English was so indecipherable that it caused Pardo to launch into his classic Cajun Jimmy character, who told a hilarious story that ended with (spoiler alert) a gator on the second floor.
The set also featured a classic tirade about Ted Nugent, after which Jimmy told the audience that if they don't like his comedy they can go across the street to Toby Keith's bar & grill and get themselves a "racist burger." He also discussed the Godzilla Convention going on at the hotel he was staying at, as well as the porn convention going on at the hotel across the street, and pointed out that there's pretty much the same people at both events.
Other Pardo highlights included one of his classic comedic recitations of "Bad Bad Leroy Brown." Laugh-track-guy was laughing so hard and audibly at this bit, that at one point Jimmy said he's not going to stop reciting the lyrics until that guy stops laughing. "I'll do the whole Jim Croce songbook if I have to," he said. Jimmy's beloved Shreveport-guy character also came into the mix on several occasions. He discussed going to see Transformers with Mike Toomey, a story that wound up being one long and hysterical dick joke, and closed with a classic story about taking his son to see Brave.
If you're interested in seeing one of the quickest minds in comedy live, I would highly recommend seeing Jimmy Pardo, as well as Mike Toomey, any chance you get.
10/10 Shreveports!
No comments:
Post a Comment