Craig Ferguson was most recently the host of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," which was my favorite late night talk show for quite a while. He has written, starred in and directed several films throughout this career, establishing himself as a successful comedian.
On Saturday he performed to a nearly sold-out crowd at the Riverside. Needless to say, I was incredibly excited to see him. Did it live up to the hype? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Opening for Ferguson was Michael Palascak, a comedian who has performed on several late night talk shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," and "Conan." Palascak mumbled through expected, unoriginal jokes about how obnoxious his girlfriend is and how bad his cell service is. There is an old saying that goes, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” so I’m not going to keep talking about the opener.
Part of this review is going to sound like I didn’t enjoy Ferguson’s performance, but stick with me for the whole review. Ferguson began the show with his “horse” dancing on stage.
At first, I was frustrated, thinking that he was just going to take advantage of his celebrity status and not deliver with the high energy, personal jokes that I have grown to expect from him. As I sit here writing this now, I realize that was just a really clever way of ingratiating himself to his audience.
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Most of the audience that was there was there to see the host of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." They were not there to see comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson took about 20 minutes before he started to get into his actual material, and did so incredibly cleverly. The highlight of his set was a long story about meeting Mick Jagger to help him write a movie. His impression of Jagger was not only accurate, but hilarious. Ferguson is a special comedian who not only knows his audience, but how to tell a joke. He is a comedian from a different time where comedians were more than just funny. Ferguson is a performer and entertainer of the highest quality.
Punchline KO of the Week
This week’s KO is from John Mulaney, who recently performed in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater. Probably his most famous bit, the Salt and Pepper Dinner tells a very funny story of a young Mulaney playing a prank.
Remember to follow Punchine on Twitter. @Punchlinemke, where I retweet comedians so that you don’t have to.
