My night with a professional.....comedian. That's not right!!

Let's start with a trip trip down memory lane from the ole' Dimension household...

I'll set the stage: its late 1980's, I was just a youngster, late teens, and was highly obsessed with comedy. Around this time, I became familiar with comedians like Andrew Dice Clay, Bob Nelson, Rick Ducommun and Howie Mandel to name a few. One comic in particular made a lasting impression, not just upon me, but upon my entire family. This comedian was Kevin Meaney.

Kevin Meaney was funny, charismatic and over the top. Doing impressions of his family, how over bearing his Mother was and the pure ridiculousness of everyday life made perfect sense to me. My Dad had raised me on Jonathan Winters and Kevin really reminded me of Winters, with his great sense of storytelling and sketch mastery. "That's not right" and "go upstairs and put your big pants on" echoed our household for years and it even leaked into my own household, when my wife and I would tell our kids "stop walking around with that puss on your face!" They never laughed, but we sure did.

So, fast forward 30 years...

In our hometown, we have a theater; The Act II Playhouse, here in Ambler, and while Kim and I were out for our walk, I noticed they host comedy shows. I had never been to this theater, even though I lived here for 15 years, my wife has lived here, basically her entire life. I have no idea why I've never been there before, but let's just say, I'm glad we investigated things further.

I came home, looked online and, nearly fell over. I see "Kevin Meaney" coming to our hometown!! After being a fan for nearly 30 years, the opportunity had come to see him...live!! Obviously, you can see, just by my use of exclamation marks, I was flipping out. I grabbed two, 2nd row seats and we were set.

Kevin with Kim and I

Let's just talk about the theater for second, before I discuss the night in question. The theater was so great. Its quaint, intimate and I was regretting not being there before. It will be a monthly spot for Kim and I. There is nothing better than being part of a small town and enjoying the finer things like the Act II Playhouse.

Now, Kevin came out like a house on fire, for the first 25 minutes, he was firing off funny stories, relatable family commentary and punchline after punchline and Kim and I were dying. Just full of energy. The entire, sold out crowd was in tears. He did new material, plus some of his most notable. He involved the crowd but here is where you can tell that Kevin is seasoned comedian....

Meaney chose stories and content based upon the demographic of the crowd. The audience was made up of mostly 35-65 yr olds and every story he told was relatable. Situations we can all look back upon and laugh, like going outside and playing, by digging a hole, not staring at people while driving and your parents being able to reach into the backseat, no matter how far away you squirmed from their reach. It was all 100% on point and took us all back to growing up.

I can't recommend these 2 things anymore.

1. If you're in Ambler, PA and you're looking for a great comedy show, play or musical, make sure you stop by the Act II Playhouse. 
2. If Kevin Meaney comes near your town, go out and see him. I promise, you will not be disappointed. 

Here are all your ways to stay in contact with them:

Kevin's Twitter - https://twitter.com/kevinmeaney

Kevin's website -http://www.kevinmeaney.com

Act 2 Playhouse - http://act2.org

Act 2 Twitter - https://twitter.com/act2playhouse

Until next time...make sure you subscribe to my Youtube channel www.youtube.com/robdimension and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/RobDimension 

Rediscovering 80's Comedians, Today

This past week has been filled with a lot of memories of years past. Back in the late 80's, my family had HBO. World famous funny man, Rodney Dangerfield hosted a show that introduced America to some of the best comedians on the planet. I remember parking myself down in front of the ole' boob tube and watching, laughing and learning comedy from "up and comers". Sure, these "new, fresh faces" we actually masters of the art, that were gaining national exposure.

This is where I found Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison, Bob Saget and a few others. I also remember finding Howie Mandel on HBO too. I actually saw Howie in Atlantic City in 1987. He was fantastic. Well, this brings me to today's point of rediscovering the comedians of the 80's. While some may have fallen out of sight, that doesn't mean they ever stopped working.

While walking with Kim through our hometown, we saw an advertisement for a comedy show, this is where I give a "OMG" moment. I see a sign for Kevin Meaney...KEVIN MEANEY in my hometown!!! I am instantly brought back to the late 80's of watching Kevin's stand up routine of "Big Pants people", him parading around on stage, singing"I don't care" and saying a catch phrase I've muttered for years, "That's not right". I race home to look up info about tickets and instantly purchase tickets. Sure, I haven't watched any of Kevin's routines in years but in today's world, I looked around on youtube and sat back, laughed and was brought back to 1987.

So, in a few weeks, Kim and I will walk 2 block, head to our local theater and enjoy the comedy stylings of Kevin Meaney. Now...this would've been a great story had this been the end..but guess what? Its not!!

Yesterday, sniffing around online (sounds very detective-like) I discover another comedian from the 80's that absolutely, captivated me, named Bob Nelson. His characters Eppy Epperman and Jiffy Jeff, the prize fighter (who fought 6 times and lost 11) were classics in my household growing up. A few clicks on youtube and then a quick search discovered that Bob will be in my area in Oct. Again, I literally freak out and shout to Kim, "You believe this!! Bob Nelson is gonna be around here in October!!" Sure, it took her a few minutes of me acting out Bob's routine to remember who Bob was, but then she laughed and remembered. Again, after a few clicks, we grab tickets to see Bob in October. I'm not sure why these comedians have found their way back into my life, brain..whatever...but I am so glad they did. Call it nostalgia or a trip down memory lane, I call it still funny after all these years. Do some searching and maybe, just maybe, you'll find a reason to smile and laugh. Enjoy your day.

Follow Kevin on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/kevinmeaney

Follow Bob on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/comicbobnelson