I have to admit, I was skeptical of the Birdy’s venue hosting comedian Doug Stanhope. Great rock and roll club but…… I saw him perform at Locals Only last year and it was a great show and enjoyable evening. Dave and Michelle brought in extra tables and “adjusted” for the comedian. I was sure that Birdy’s wouldn’t do that. I even sent Stanhope an email stating that his management company should research the club before booking them. I have been a patron of Birdy’s since it was The Hummingbird. So I want it understood that I don’t have anything against Birdy’s. But I told Stanhope that there would be no tables and no waitress and didn’t seem like a place for a comedy show. More on the email later.

Arriving at the posted “Doors open at” time of 8:00, we entered to find the floor of Birdy’s packed. Probably 75% full. Birdy’s took out the dozen or so tables they DO have so the room was completely wide open. We settled in on a spot of the floor on the left side of the stage about 20 back from the edge of the left corner. I went to the bar and stood about 6 people deep waiting for my turn to get a couple of beers. The wait was not too bad and soon I was headed back to our “spot” with a Rolling Rock for me and an MGD 64 for my wife. We met a couple from Eaton, Ohio that chose the spot in front of us. They drove in for the show and were driving home afterwards. They commented that they didn’t understand the venue choice but they were looking forward to seeing Stanhope again.
The band Up! Scumbag! opened the show and were the same band that opened for Stanhope last year. They started with a rousing garage band version of the opening song to “All in the Family” -Those Were the Days. They were great much like last year and did a few originals and some more interesting covers like Elvis’s “Only Fools Rush In”. Very solid performance once again. Catch them if you get the chance.
The next act was the opening comedian from last years show, Stan Chan. His material was funny and was a repeat for the most part of his act last year. Still funny but funnier if you didn’t catch it last year.
The next comedian was very good but I never got his name. If you were there and saw the show, fill me in on his name. I remember he said he lived in Peoria, IL. He did a great bit about Michael Phelps. He was very funny. A great opener for Stanhope.
By this time I had forgotten that we had been standing for 2 hours and getting a beer from the bar wasn’t too bad, however they ran out of Rolling Rock after my second so I switched to Heineken.
Finally, Doug Stanhope took the stage. He started out by saying, “If you’re pissed about not having a table or a waitress, I think they have a table for you down at Crackers” and “Don’t send me hate messages about this place. You can’t hate me any more than I hate myself.” Surely he was talking about someone else and not about my email. Wasn’t he? I will assume he was. Nonetheless, he did about an hour which was a bit shorter than last year but he was still right on target. Some people there, obviously, weren’t familiar with his “style” and got mad and hurled epithets at him but that is no problem for Stanhope. His bits about romance, sex, drugs, movies, religion, politics are real and shocking. And hilarious!! He’s not to be missed. Check out his DVD’s sometime and you’ll see, he nails everything! Showtime has been showing his special “No Refunds” for a while now. He also has one called “Deadbeat Hero”. Both are worth a view or two.
Closing out the show was Ohio based band Johnie3 and they did a standup job of entertaining everyone while the hangers on schmoozed with Stanhope for autographs and pictures. The bass player even gave me a CD!
So all in all, I’m glad I passed on the table at Crackers that night!
Great show Birdy’s!