America's Funnyman

Went to Hollywood Blvd.'s semi-historical venue The Knitting Factory last night to check out one of my favorite working comedians, the legendary Neil Hamburger. For those of you unfamiliar with Hamburger's act, he's among the last of a dying breed. A gag man. A comedian who is as much about the strength of his material as he is any sort of on-stage "schtick" or "persona." I'll give you one example...Here's a classic Neil Hamburger one-liner:

-Why did Julia Roberts rub shit all over her vagina?
-Because she was horny.



Folks, it just goes on like that. For an hour. Absolutely amazing stuff. I thought my friend Steve was going to have an anyeurism, he was laughing so hard.

Okay, okay, one more classic Niel Hambuger joke...

-Why did Britney Spears have a caesarian section?
-Because, like her husband Kevin Federlane [sp], she wanted to avoid labor.

Booyakasha!

Hamburger's poised right on the brink of stardom. He's been on the Jimmy Kimmel show a few times, he recently returned from a Standing Room Only tour of Malaysia (memorialized in the new documentary, Left for Dead in Malaysia). I'd suggest heading out to see him before he starts playing sold-out stadiums. Or check out one of his albums, "50 States, 50 Laughs" or "America's Funnyman" or even "Raw Hamburger."

The opening act was soul-punk-swing combo The Abe Lincoln Story. At least, they call themselves soul-punk-swing. It's more like Orange County third-wave ska than anything else. They reminded me of bands like Reel Big Fish or The Aquabats, except they're all about 10-15 years older and even more ironic.

They opened with kind of a funny, goofy song called "Rock Paper Scissors," and I was kind of enjoying them. At the very least, they had a lot of energy, and a lot of musicians on stage playing everything from keyboards to saxophone to trumpet.

But once they kept playing, and it became clear that all the songs are the same kind of horn-inflected, self-aware silly observational ditties - one is called "I Don't Need a Bag," and spends 5 minutes railing against clerks at convenience stores who give you little things like gum and mints in a big plastic bag. You get the idea. A little of it goes a long way.

The show was in the Alter-Knit Lounge, a little room set off from the actual main venue. It's tiny, but it does have its own bar. Amazingly, Neil Hamburger didn't manage to sell out the closet-like room, but it was about half-full. I'm sure next time through town, Neil will manage to upgrade to, at the very least, The Wiltern.