low-hanging laffs

Las Vegas likes to do things bigger, so naturally, Hooters has a bigger than normal presence in Sin City. The tasteless restaurant teams up off-strip with a bustling casino and hotel. The Night Owl Showroom, tucked into the bosom of the Hooters casino, features live entertainment. Two nights a week the room presents a comedy showcase called The Hilarious 7, wherein seven comics perform 10-minute sets, producing a 70-minute show. The Hilarious website describes the show as a contest pitting the comics against one another, with the crowd voting one to be the best.

Onstage behind the comic, atop a bar table, sits a large lighted digital countdown clock. Once the comedian begins, the clock ticks down the minutes. Depending on how funny the jokes are, time ticks by swiftly or slowly. On my last visit the clock mostly ticked by slowly. Still, despite lots of half-baked humor and jokey dead-ends there were laughs. A mercy laugh is still a laugh. Some kernels of funny and flashes of individuality emerged, along with moments of punchless punchlines and painful puns. Thud. Luckily for the audience the clock kept ticking. A few of the comics were distracted by the clock, which in turn distracted the audience, which in turn elicited nervous laughter. Lends new meaning to Mark Twain’s quip: “Humor is tragedy plus time”

It’s Hooters, right? What did the audience expect? It begs the question: Why did these particular people choose comedy as a way to express themselves? Some were unfunny. Some were wooden. Or both. Still they got up on a stage alone- literally in a spotlight, to deliver their own material to a crowd of strangers. Maybe the funny is in there somewhere. Seeing a truly great comedian kill it is exhilarating, and perhaps therein lies the allure of laugh-getting. The Hilarious 7 showcase (basically a glorified open mic) provides wannabes with valuable stage time. Stand-up comedy happens on a stage. That’s where the magic is. Less magical is the time and work required for writing and re-writing good material. Also key is observation: who’s funny, what’s funny and what’s not. If you aim to be a comedian, get your shtick together. Observe, write, perform, repeat. All of this is crucial in the search for a true and unique comic voice. After all, a comic without a voice is like an owl without a hoot.