By Jason Genegabus

Jason Genegabus photo

Stand-up comedy, like baseball, mixed martial arts or a swimsuit contest, is an activity best observed in a live setting.

You can stay home and watch it on TV – even on one of those big screen deals that broadcast in high definition. But there’s something special about sitting behind the first base dugout at Murakami Stadium, or watching punches fly at ringside in the same building Chris Rock performed at on Saturday.

And believe me, sitting just feet from a dozen (or more) beautiful women in bikinis beats watching the Hooters girls on cable any day.

My point – and yes, I’ve got one – is that Rock’s nearly two-hour set was easily last weekend’s can’t-miss event.

Think about it. Rock started performing in 1985, so more than 20 years have passed before he made it to Honolulu. He’ll be nearly 65 years old if he waits another two decades to come back.

So it wasn’t surprising that, with little more than three weeks notice and nearly zero promotion, Rock easily sold out the Blaisdell Arena. I’m pretty sure Saturday was the first time most of us there had seen Rock in the flesh.

One notable exception was Bobby Brown, who arrived last week in advance of his concert this weekend at Pipeline Cafe. He was escorted in more than halfway through Rock’s set and left before it ended, accompanied by a female who definitely wasn’t Whitney Houston.

But back to Rock. If you’ve seen one of his HBO specials, you know what to expect when he’s on stage. Most of his jokes focused on politics and race, with some relationship humor and thoughts on current events to bridge the more provocative material.

After a few predictable digs at Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rock focused on Sen. Barack Obama.

“He got a little Hawaiian in him,” he said. “Like in his toe or something.”

Comparing his name to NBA star Dikembe Mutumbo, Rock said Obama’s downfall will be his wife (”I do not believe a black woman can be first lady of the United States … a black woman cannot play a background role!”) and bristled at the thought that African-Americans would vote for him solely based on his skin color.

Yet, he made it clear which candidate would be getting his vote.

“I hope he wins,” Rock said of Obama. “I’m not gonna front.”

President Bush was up next, although it wasn’t until Rock finished a tangent on interracial relationships (inspired by Tiger Woods) and his love for a certain part of the female anatomy. The current mortgage crisis, higher gas prices and the war in Iraq also got some attention.

By the time he was done, Rock had shared the secret of when it’s okay for white people to use the N-word, admitted to keeping a No Doubt CD in his car and singing along to it when he drives, and reminded all the guys in the audience that “financial stability is sexy.”

While you’ll probably be able to buy the “No Apologies” live DVD and relive all the jokes from Saturday night, I’m still glad I got to see Rock in person. I don’t know why, but I underestimated his ability to make me laugh until I cried.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 4:23 am and is filed under Nightlife, Outside The Club, Adventures in Clubland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.