This past Friday I had the opportunity to go down to The Underground Collaborative to see Nick Vatterott perform his very unique style of stand-up comedy. I was treated to not only an amazing show by Nick, but got to enjoy fantastic sets by two local comedians as well.
The host for the evening was local Milwaukee comedian Christopher Schmidt, who is fairly ubiquitous in the local comedy scene and rightfully so given his excellent material. Schmidt served up a nice set of observational comedy with the confidence and laid-back delivery of someone who knows his material and his audience. Schmidt is the regular host of The Duck and Cover Comedy Hour at Frank’s Power Plant in Bay View. The highlight of his set was a very funny story about his small apartment and his fear of being murdered in it.
Next up was Madison native Geoffrey Asmus, who is a regular performer at The Comedy Club on State in Madison. Asmus changed the energy from laid-back observational humor to the best kind of awkward, self-aware, quirky humor money can buy. His material spans from adult literacy to his sex life, or lack thereof. He rides the thin line of absurdity with a great deal of skill, giving the audience a very funny, painfully awkward show. Like Schmidt, he is a local comedian doing everything right.
Last but absolutely not least was the headliner, Nick Vatterott, who has been seen on “Conan” and been featured on Comedy Central. Vatterott had what was probably the most unique set I have ever had the good fortune to see.
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This incredibly high-energy comedian demands your attention as he bounces back and forth between slightly bizarre observational comedy to absurdist commentaries on comedic form itself. One minute he is telling you a story about the time he almost got hit by a car, the next he’s telling quippy one-liners, and then he’s doing impressions of people doing impressions. All of this is done at near lightning speed and resulted in me laughing so hard that I lost my voice.
Vatterott is absolutely the kind of comedian we need setting the boundary of what is funny. The amazing thing about his set is that even though he was pushing the limits, every single one of his jokes hit, at least for me. He layers his jokes in a strategic and tactful way that I’ve never heard before and expects the audience to figure it out. His first album, For Amusement Only, is available on iTunes and I highly recommend that you check it out.
Vatterott felt uncomfortable pushing his album at the show, but I don’t. You need to buy this album and you need to see this comedian. It was a fantastic performance.
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