“Who pays for a gay wedding? The bottom’s family?”
Brad Wollack kicked off the “Comedians of Chelsea Lately” show at The Fillmore Miami Beach theatre Friday night to an orchestra of laughter. The diverse audience – truly a microcosm of Miami’s metropolitan community – quickly let their political correctness go as fast as they sipped cocktails and beer.
From the ladies in the front seat who cheered when Sarah Colonna mentioned that, most of the time, “ruffies” are merely an excuse for “blacking out,” to the mother who was surprised by Josh Wolf’s confession that he encouraged his teenage son to attend a rainbow party, nothing and no one were off limits. “I’m just kidding. Don’t call child protective services on me, lady.”
Indeed, this was your grandfather’s comedy show as much as E!’s “Chelsea Lately” with Chelsea Handler is not “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
The content of “Lately,” the current events late-night comedy du jour show on E!, on which all of the performing comedians are regulars, greatly informed the direction of the Fillmore performance – with one exception: the live performance in Miami Beach is exponentially naughtier. “We get away with a lot on E!,” Brad Wollack told The Miami Hurricane in an interview last week. But the four comedians, who performed 25-30 minute performances one after the other, probably wouldn’t dare go this far on cable, making the nearly $50 ticket cost (including added charges) well-worth the audience’s cash.
Comedian Loni Love owned the most well-received shtick of the night. As the closing act, Love benefitted from the audience’s then hour and a half intoxication. But Love, who appeared to be enjoying a few drinks herself, was right on mark. She sashayed around the stage with the level of comfort she admittedly feels at buffets. Every time I gained composure and was ready to let my cheeks and throat relax after a body-consuming laughter response to her hilarity, Love shot back with another joke of gold, sending your body into near compulsion.
It is a show for which an open-minded audience’s enjoyment is effortless. Treat yourself to a plethora of laughs and see the “Comedians of Chelsea Lately” on stage together before they outgrow the “Chelsea” brand and hopefully become as big as Ms. Handler herself.