Comedian Eugene Mirman, best known for his work on the animated hit “Bob’s Burgers,” brought his absurdist stand-up comedy show to the Paradise Rock Club Saturday night.
The show began with Mirman and comedian Aparna Nancherla walking onto the stage and talking to each other. Mirman simply asked Nancherla how her day went, and the two talented comedians took off from there, riffing and making jokes about anything and everything.
The “fun time opening chats,” as Mirman called it, warmed up the crowd and set a relaxed and silly tone for the remainder of the show.
Nancherla, whose debut comedy album released in July 2016, officially opened the show. Nancherla talked about politics, catcalling and women’s magazines. Some jokes were one-liners, some had more intricate setups. Nearly every one of them had unexpected and funny punchlines.
Nancherla’s tone and comedy were noticeably different from those of Mirman’s, and the two of them made for an interesting and refreshing pairing. Nancherla served as a perfect opener, getting the crowd looser before the main event.
Mirman took the stage next, commenting about how glad he was to be back in Boston and at the Paradise Rock Club. He made a few jokes about how “romantic” the lighting in the theater seemed and then jumped right into his material.
Mirman’s tone stayed consistent throughout. Sometimes his jokes were quick and witty, sometimes they were anecdotal. Almost all the time they were absurd and silly. Mirman wasn’t afraid to laugh at himself as well as at the audience, and he did so regularly.
Mirman used a number of visual and audio aids to accentuate and add to his jokes. He brought with him copies of fake safety posters that he hung in a French hotel as well as a poster-length picture of his son he carried in his back pocket.
Mirman also spent a significant amount of time showing a calendar with pictures he painted by himself, complete with ludicrous titles, ridiculous quotes and hilarious fake holidays.
One of the best bits of Mirman’s act was a part of the show in which he said absolutely nothing. Mirman had prepared an Amazon Echo with hilarious answers to simple questions about his to-do list and calendars. Hearing the punchlines of jokes delivered in the robotic voice of Amazon’s Alexa was unique and entertaining.
The props and aids never felt like a crutch, and Mirman would be just as funny without using them. Even when he did, everything written on the posters or the calendar came from his head alone. The props aren’t the joke themselves, but rather an extension of Mirman’s own thinking.
Mirman took written questions from the audience. Throughout the show, he would remove them from his pocket to offer his opinion and give advice. It was a brilliant and funny display of Mirman’s quick-wittedness. He had an answer prepared for nearly every question asked, and, for those that he didn’t, he simply made fun of the question, laughed and moved along.
Similar to the “fun time opening chats,” this advice-giving portion of the show was an outstandingly simple bit of comedy. Mirman’s riffing and conversational improvisation was as funny as his prepared material, and such a fact speaks to his ability and obvious experience as a comedian.
Mirman ended the show by playing excerpts from his recently released nine-volume, seven-LP comedy album “I’m Sorry (You’re Welcome).” His absurdly long album contains a full stand-up set, sound effects made by Mirman’s own mouth and more than 45 minutes of crying and silly ringtones.
Mirman highlighted some of these effects and ringtones, setting some up with context while letting others speak for themselves. He also brought out local musicians Matt Savage and Christian Cundari, whose work appeared on the album, for a live performance of one of the album’s more vulgar soundscapes.
Mirman, Savage and Cundari ended the show by playing two short songs from “Bob’s Burgers,” much to the audience’s enjoyment. Many members of the crowd cheered and sang along with “Electric Love” and “Gene’s Snake Song.”
It was clear that Mirman knew exactly what he was doing, and he has obviously been in comedy for a number of years. Mirman and his audience both know he’s funny and it created a silly, unique and, most importantly, hilarious show.
