Skip to main content

Review: Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm at the Aladdin

A caveat: I am a gigantic fan of everyone who performed on Wednesday the 16th -- the Doubleclicks were the opener -- so this particular review will likely not be particularly even-handed. There is no hate in this post, only love.

The Doubleclicks started the show, with a six-song set and five of the songs were new since the last time I was at a show for them. Sadly, I haven't been able to support them nearly as much as I wished, but they're starting to get a real name in the Nerdrock sub-genre, and that's very cool to me, considering that as a Doubleclique (the fan club) I have a serial number that, as far as I can tell, is the lowest number available. And I have a t-shirt with that serial number on it. So you could probably call me a fan, if'n you wanted. Aubrey (cello) and Angela (uke and guitar) are, as far as I can tell, a young and attractive female version of Paul and Storm. In the vein of Garfunkel and Oates, though really much more cerebral (not a knock on G&O; they're funny and good in their own way, but they're lots less... refined than DK).

Then Wil Wheaton came on and read some stories. Now, Wil Wheaton isn't exactly the most musically talented fella out there. But that's OK, because he's also the world's Alpha Geek and probably one of the better actors (voice and screen) of my generation. The fact that he's incredibly niche doesn't really matter in my ascertainment; he's brilliant, funny, moving, and a truly gifted actor. He read several stories, and one or two of them I've heard before, and two of them with musical accompaniment. And he hit it out of the park, a perfect balance of funny and moving, and a good breather between the laughs generated by Angela and Aubrey and Paul and Storm. It's been a real pleasure to be able to see someone who has found success in their chosen field by being true to themselves. I think it gives the rest of us hope.

The closing act was, of course, Paul and Storm. And it was as funny as expected; they did some of their old stuff, and some of their new stuff, and there were tons and tons of jokes, and thanks to Mr. Wheaton, there were a ton of Penn State jokes (of which Paul is an alum). Horribly, horribly inappropriate jokes, which had a number of people in the audience wavering back and forth as to whether they were upset or not. The cover band jokes were out in force as well, which is always a nice bit of comedy that takes both wit and cleverness on the instant. I'd love to say I was good at the game, but I'm nowhere near as good as the originators. As expected.

I have one complaint, just one, and it's going to be a repeating theme: not enough time. I'd've liked to hear one or two more songs from, basically, everyone (including Wil). I also understand why they weren't able to make that happen -- with the doors opening at 7 and the show starting at 8, to get out before midnight basically everyone has to do a short set, especially if the goal is to finish "The Captain's Wife's Lament" before the heat-death of the universe.

In summary, it was a great show, and well worth the money. The Aladdin Theatre is a great venue, and the performers were terrific. And I'm glad that my girlfriend was able to come with me, and had a good time. It was great to share it with her.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Organizing And You: Lessons from Labor History

    I made a joke on Twitter a while ago: Do I need to post the Thomas M Comeau Organizing Principles again? https://t.co/QQIrJ9Sd3i — Jerome Comeau says Defund The Police (@Heronymus) July 15, 2021 and it recently came back up because a member of my family got their first union job and was like "every job should be offering these sorts of benefits" and so I went ahead and wrote down what I remember of what my dad told me. My father had many jobs, but his profession was basically a labor union organizer, and he talked a lot about the bedrock foundation items needed to be serious about organizing collective action. Here's what I remember.    The Thomas M. Comeau Principles of Organizing -- a fundamental list for finding and building worker solidarity from 50 years of Union Involvement. This list is not ranked; all of the principles stated herein are coequal in their importance. Numbering is a rhetorical choice, not a valuation. 1) Be good at your job. Even in...

#RPGaDay 2018 Day 19: What music enhances your game?

Again, this really depends on the game and whether or not I'm playing or running or what have you. The RIFTS game I just storyran leaned heavily on Tell That Devil by Jill Andrews and Neko Case's Hold On, Hold On  for mood and setting. Sometimes, I think about themes for my characters. I had a dwarven knight that used to ride around humming Shostakovich's 5th . And there's a good chance that my newest character will hum chiptunes to themselves, since they're a robot.

#RPGaDay 2017 -- Day 7

What was your most impactful RPG session? This is actually pretty tough for me, because there are several issues around this question. Including the definition of "impactful", which I imagine is on purpose, to get the biggest response. The thing is, my table has always been a place for interesting things to happen to the player , rather than the characters. Sometimes interesting things happen to the characters, but that's not the point of playing -- the point is to make sure that the players are having a good time. So 'impactful', in my book, means moments when the players all sit up and gasp/cheer/react in some way. So I don't know about the "most", but I can tell you about the "latest": when one of my players, a normally-quiet and careful player, decided that his character would take center stage, make a speech, and pull everyone into talking  out of trouble, instead of fighting. Which, given we're playing RIFTS, was a pretty awe...