"Money" is the only word that properly describes this comedy show. With fans anticipating the Vince Vaughn we all know from the movies, the show sold out at the Barrymore. Although it was no "Wild West" show, it was definitely wild — and definitely funny.
Arriving fashionably late, Vince Vaughn put together some pretty good comedy in a two-hour block. The jokes were inappropriate and lude, but hilarious. The show opened with great music and Vince Vaughn, charming as ever. He presented three comedy acts including Ahmed Ahmed (yes, that's his real name), Sebastian, Bret Ernst and John Caparulo with guest appearances by Peter Billings (Ralph from "A Christmas Story") Justin Long ("Dodgeball") and Keir O'Donnell (the psycho artist from "Wedding Crashers").
With no intermission and laugh-out-loud comedy, this show was awesome.
The comedians that had actual stand-up time joked about everything from women's menstrual cycles to going to the library for porn. They were easily the best part of the show.
All three also had different styles of comedy; so, disregarding the inappropriate jokes, (although they were plentiful), each comedian was unique. It made for a plethora of laughs as well. The first act, Ahmed Ahmed, was quite funny. He is Egyptian, and he unleashed a whirlwind of jokes stemming from that, making reference to the airport checks, terrorism and his large middle-eastern family.
The next comedian, Sebastian, played on different chords from text messaging, to those annoying people who are still amazed with digital cameras, to bad breath. He actually dared to ask the question, "Did someone sh-t in your mouth?" His performance left the audience laughing so hard it hurt.
The third comedian was Bret Ernst, who focused mainly on gender-oriented humor. He said that America would be a better place with a woman president because we wouldn't have war, but she would increase our deficit by decorating the White House. The fourth and final comedian, John Caparulo, was not as funny as he was outright crude. By the end of the night, unless a joke was funnier than it was blatantly offensive, the audience wasn't laughing. Caparulo was not the best choice to finish out the show.
The intermission of actual "famous" people was hot and cold. The Peter Billings improv with Vince proved to be mildly boring, while Justin Long and Vaughn amused the audience with "dodgeball" and drawings. They included audience members in their skits, with a couple of audience members allowed to throw dodgeballs at Justin Long. Each actor effectively portrayed the same character they once played and seemed almost unoriginal. Some people say stick with what sells, but it seemed that new comedy would have worked better for the show.
Aside from the jokes, interaction with the audience is what made this show stimulating. Vince was down-to-earth and fun, and the audience loved him. He showed some humility, letting the audience see clips from his acting past. Specifically, one public service announcement got the entire audience to crack up when they realized the commercial was about STDs and teen pregnancy.
He ended the show Vince Vaughn style, going above and beyond the call of duty. He urged the entire audience to sing "Sweet Caroline," karaoke style with the words up on a screen. It was very impressive and made up for the letdown that was the last comedian's act. Overall, Vince and his cronies were "money" and I mean "money baby, money."
