Tom Green Comedy Tour Atlanta Debut & Review

About a week ago, I was excited to learn that Canadian comedian Tom Green planned a return to Georgia.

The "Freddy Got Fingered" and "Road Trip" star tonight launched the U.S. leg of a "World Standup Comedy Tour" at Atlanta's Funny Farm Comedy Club in suburban Atlanta (just north of B.F.E., er, in Alpharetta, Ga., to be exact).

I've always enjoyed Green's off-beat humor, particularly his "Tom Green Show" bits, occasional appearances on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" (in particular, one segment he filmed at then-client B.C. Canada Place in Torino during February 2006, and, of course, this scene from one of his films (sorry, this YouTube link does not set up the scene with its tearful father-son goodbye).

Unfortunately, for the $25 ticket price, plus standard comedy club two-item/drink minimum, and the loathsome drive "Outside The Perimeter" ("O.T.P." for local Atlantans who reside in town), Green did not deliver the goods in his live comedy tour debut.

Though Green's live show has some potential to be great, it needs a lot of work before Comedy Central or any other network is going to come knocking for a TV special. (By the way, Chris Rock's most recent tour is now in rotation on Comedy Central and worth a look -- hilarious!).

On the plus side, the biggest laughs for Green were some you might expect. First the Drew Barrymore jokes. Then the testicular cancer/one-nut jokes. And then Green rolled out some of the script from "Freddy Got Fingered" and "Road Trip" -- all mostly fun and funny. His facial expressions do induce hearty chuckles on their own.

Things finally got funnier when Green launched into a few digs about reality TV, his own recent antics on "The Apprentice" and apt observations on American TV watching habits -- mostly bad habits and TMZ drivel (I happen to agree with Tom's remarks on this front, and hungered for more swings at paparazzi). My favorite was Green's take on the fate he wishes for "American Idol" flash-in-the-pan stars versus icons of rock'n'roll like The Rolling Stones (bravo, Tom!).

Probably the most original lines of the show were Green's descriptions of male adolescent anticipation, circa 1985 (pre-Internet), of the arrival of the Sears Catalog, and how in the same era the only way to find porn (other than the "PG-rated" stuff via Sears lingerie and swimsuit pages) was to discover discarded adult magazines in the woods "with sunlight shining down through the leaves lighting the way" (a lot of the mostly-Thirtysomething male audience members were nodding and nervously laughing in agreement).

But you could tell Green was struggling when only half-way through the performance he succumbed to audience pleas to "sing the 'Bum Bum' song" or "say the line about [fill in the blank from any of Green's films]." Of course, he did, briefly, pick up a guitar and start to play, but only the one recycled tune (well, at least a line or two from it).

It was disappointing that every time Green seemed to be on to something new and funny, the train of thought pulled back to (especially by 2/3 through the show) overused lines from past works.

When Green lamented, guitar in-hand, that for his big screen films, he only came up with the "Bum Bum" song, he seemed to be perceiving his own missed opportunity. On stage tonight felt right to debut an original tune for the tour, but missed opportunity again prevailed as Green put away the guitar after only a few bars.

The same thing happened when he feigned launching into a rap tune -- first time, something from the past. Second rap-song cued, Green held back sans delivery of new material. Near the end, Green asked the bartenders for a real drink, which he pounded; it was difficult to tell whether this was a panic move to buy some time and regroup versus a planned part of the act.

The appalling final lines and prop for the show, though not entirely predictable, retreated again to the past -- regrettably the intended shock and awe actions only seemed to resonate with part of the crowd (with some polishing this could be a huge crowd pleaser for future shows).

To his credit, Green and his opening act (a Dallas-born stand-up comedian with some potential that may be realized via this tour) took time after the show to shake hands or pose for photos with audience members and sign autographs. Green even made time for a quick backstage video interview (unfortunately, batteries kaput -- yours truly sucks at remembering to install new batteries), during which I got in three questions:

1. Where will the "Tom Green Comedy Tour" go next? (this part made it on video before the batteries died)


2. What is Green's take on the Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien actions of late, considering Green used to appear on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" as a correspondent? (Green took the high road on this question, stating only he "loves those guys")


3. What was Green's favorite memory or experience related to the Olympics, considering his aforementioned work for "The Tonight Show" in at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics? (Green answered "meeting you" before giving me the most patronizing high five and disappearing into the kitchen of The Funny Farm -- lame).

Should you see Tom Green's Comedy Tour? If you're a hardcore fan who wants to hear Green retread old material, knock yourself out. Here's hoping tonight's lackluster debut was just a warm up for better things to come -- Green has the goods. Just needs to deliver them better.

Image via Tom Green

Fun With Nick & Jane

Georgia Tech's Ferst Center for the Arts (disclosure: an Edelman client) was the funniest place in Atlanta last night, with Mark Twain Prize (and Emmy, and Tony, and GRAMMY) winning comedienne Lily Tomlin playing to a standing room audience.

As a special treat (though not surprising), local star resident Jane Fonda -- Tomlin's co-star from one of the first Beta-tape home video cassettes I ever viewed: Nine To Five -- was in the audience. Jane was seated on the center aisle, on about row 15. My seat was on the front row (purchased online at 12:01 a.m. ET/12:01 p.m. Beijing time, as I was working in China during the on-sale moment, determined to have an excellent seat, and it was, as we could practically see Tomlin's nose hairs whenever she strolled stage left!).

During her 90 minutes of monologue, in-character sketches and even some pantomime and dancing, Tomlin delivered and outstanding array of laughs. Given this week's election news, perhaps Tomlin's best pseudo-impromptu line was her lamentations on how she is "now deeply worried about the future of comedy" in a post-W. presidency. She also described how graffiti in her hometown of Detroit sold thousands of cars:

"Teenagers used to spray paint that four-letter word that started with 'F' on bridges, and overnight the adults would repaint it to read 'BUICK'!"

Tomlin also touched on Hollywood, family and sexuality several times, noting that in her youth, family and society, "no one was gay -- they were only shy."

Following a sustained standing ovation, a couple hundred "VIP" ticket holders joined Tomlin and Fonda on stage for a delightfully informal meet-and-greet session. Everyone got as much time as they wanted to snap photos, ask questions or seek autographs from both stars.

For the sake of this blog, when it was my turn to chat with Tomlin, I decided to reprise my "reporter" role in an Olympic version of "The Chris Farley Show" and ask whether Lily had a favorite Olympic moment, athlete or experience (Tomlin is now the fifth celebrity to indulge my Olympic curiosity after Ennio Morricone, Kelly Clarkson, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and most recently Garrison Keillor).

Tomlin took a minute to think about it, and eventually replied (see the video) that she was amazed by the opening ceremonies in Athens and Beijing, in particular the giant LED "scroll" in the Bird's Nest. A bit later, off camera, Tomlin introduced the topic to her stage manager while we were exchanged e-mail information (Tomlin missed Fonda's departure from the event, and I offered Fonda's G-CAPP manager's e-mail to Tomlin & Co. -- thanks, Ms. Tomlin, for answering my questions and for signing my ticket).

Before she left the venue, I also asked Fonda whether she had ever seen Tomlin perform live on stage. The answer was, "No. No, not ever in Atlanta. And this venue [The Ferst Center and Atlanta] was a great place for this."

On the advice of Fonda's team from G-CAPP, I did not go down the Olympic path of questions, which I now regret. One of Fonda's G-CAPP colleagues said that she did not believe Jane had attended an Olympics, and unsure about the Goodwill Games with Fonda's then-husband Ted Turner.

Today, the morning after, the Web yielded that Fonda DID have at least one five-ringed connection as host of some sort of 1984 televised "Olympic Gala" (with Neil Diamond, The Beach Boys, James Stewart, Paul Hogan, Olivia Newton-John, Christoper Reeve, Dizzy Gillespie, Brooke Shields, Bruce Jenner, Peggy Flemming, John Houseman, Robert Wagner, Placido Domingo, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Barbara Walters, Andy Williams, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster and even Prince Charles and Princess Diana -- man, I need to find a tape of this) which presumably took place in Los Angeles before or during the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad.

Oh, well -- guess I'll have to ask Jane the next time we cross paths at the Midtown Whole Foods Market.

But back to Tomlin. Of several dozen celebrity introductions over the years, Tomlin was one of the most gracious, friendly and genuine. I appreciated her time to talk with so many people and her thoughtful answer to my questions -- some of the best 1x1 celebrity time since working with Benazir Bhutto's media tour at CNN. To paraphrase the interviewer Chris Farley, "That was AWESOME!"

And that's the truth.