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Kevin James, star of CBS’s “The King of Queens,” returned to stand-up last Friday at Royce Hall to benefit Rx Laughter.
Charity comedy event provided middle-aged laughs
UCLA jokes are most often told by USC folk, but last Friday they abounded at our very own Royce Hall.
Host Tom Kenny began the night with accolades of Royce, saying, “This place is fancy schmancy. I don’t know who this Royce guy is, but I’m pretty sure his first name is Rolls.”
Wendy Liebman, the first act and only woman comic in the show, did an entire bit on UCLA and academia in general.
“My brother went to UCLA in 1979,” said Liebman, to a sustained applause. “He’s going to become a senior next year. He’s in gradual school.”
Ray Romano, headliner and star of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” tried hard to come up with student-related laughs. All he could come up with, however, was “I went to Queensboro Community College.”
The laughs were created for the benefit of children with cancer, who are participants in a study concerning how laughter can help heal. Founded by network executive Sherry Hilber, Rx Laughter brought the comics, via support from TV’s Comedy Central, to Royce for the fundraiser.
A short video on Rx Laughter came between acts and introduced patrons to the charity their ticket proceeds were going toward. (UCLA receives only a 5% percent administrative fee.) However, seats were not nearly filled to capacity as ticket prices probably deterred more student admissions. A limited number of $15 tickets sold out early and many were faced with purchasing $30 tickets on a student budget.
The comic material reflected this as well. Most of the jokes were aimed at married life, with UCLA alumnus Steve Mittleman doing a standard marriage-disillusionment bit.
Kevin James of the sitcom “Queen of Kings” seemed the most student-oriented, using material focused on gross-out jokes, mostly at the expense of his own obesity. He talked about how his swimwear often gets lost in his fat folds and about his misadventures in water-skiing.
Fresh off his Emmy win, Ray Romano was hilarious. Unlike the other comics, Romano seemed intent mostly on being spontaneous or at least giving the audience the feeling of spontaneity. He enjoyed getting to know the audience and deriving material from what was naturally available.
One couple admitted to having three children after only three years of marriage. Their youngest child was nine years old.
“That must be some weird California math,” Romano said.
A father of four, Romano also found ample material in his children. He joked that being the father of identical twins, he benefits from saving money on photographs.
He even ended his act with a home-made video of his toddler twins slapping each other, spitting food, and giving the camera the finger as Romano sang an off-key “Silent Night” sarcastically.
Romano was the funniest act because he seemed to be talking about something real. He even insisted that a gross-out bathroom encounter between his twins was a true story. Nevertheless, his stories sounded real, because they were based on common experiences.
Each comic thanked the audience for donating to a good cause, but often times they would save this for the end of their act, when the applause would drown out any positive statement they made about Rx Laughter.
In addition, apparently the comics promptly shipped themselves in and out. Kevin James didn’t stick around long enough to receive his humanitarian award, a glass block with etchings. None of the comics made it to the after-party, which was strictly for people with $125 VIP seats.
Perhaps next time the event could be more tailored for students, who are indeed hungering for good comedy on a Friday night but often restricted to student-ticket-priced outings and not so interested in jokes about dull marriages.
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