daniel moore: something better (FringeTIX)
Daniel Moore @ some tiny upstairs room in The Austral
9:00pm, Wed 14 Mar 2007
It looks like management at The Austral have decided that they’re sick of donating the rather large Bunka venue to the comedians entrusted with the space; the show this evening was moved to a room upstairs, hot and stuffy and small. Perfect for the ten of us that showed up.
Now let’s get one thing straight – I like to encourage comedians, given the chance. I’ll laugh out loud at the lamest of jokes, just to give them some noise… just to make them feel like they’re not performing in front of a bunch of mannequins. They’ve got a tough job, especially when it comes to making a small crowd laugh in a small uncomfortable room. But – and this is a bit important – they need to bring something to the party, too. “Comedy” would be preferred.
What I’m saying is that comedians usually have a friend in me (Bryan Lynagh excepted). And I wanted to be Daniel Moore’s friend. But he’s got a bit of a problem, because…
- his audience interaction is awkward, at best; and…
- he’s not funny.
Let’s just qualify that last statement: Moore knows how to build a joke. He can lay down a foundation and steadily assemble a sturdy structure for a decent joke. But the punchlines – pretty much every punchline he delivered for the show – were incredibly crap. Seriously. “To get to the other side”-level crap.
In fact, the funniest thing that happened all night was the manner in which he dealt with the (very) early-comers for the Nick Sun show. And even that went on too long and ended limply.
And no, I’m not down on him because he likened me to the Comic Book Guy (from The Simpsons) which, even if somewhat physically appropriate, was a little rough. I’m down on him because I had to force laughs, just to help him out. I’m down on him because he wasn’t particularly funny.