I went out last night with my sister, Dorothy, to Diamond’s Pub and Billiards on Frankfort Ave. We met up with some more of my family. Does alcoholism run in my family? No. But funny does. We were all there to watch one of our own get up on stage to roll out some jokes and make us laugh.
My nephew, Matt Bridges, has become a comedian. I guess “become” isn’t the best word since he’s always been a comedian. I can’t remember my sister, Sharon (his mother), ever taking a picture that you wouldn’t later find Matt’s head somewhere in it peaking out with a goofy grin or silly face like a Where’s Waldo character. It was inevitable.
I’ve been to see Matt on stage a couple times now. He uses situational and observational humor and tells stories from his experiences as a regular guy, a family man, a father. No, he doesn’t make fun of his family – even though the Indiana Jones of Feces (a bit on potty training his daughter) was pretty funny.
And on the quirky side, which I suppose all comedians are, he takes pictures with his friends, family and anyone at the show, while they smack, hit, choke or otherwise humiliate him. Here are a few from last night with appropriate tag-lines. Enjoy.
Above you’ll see Matt’s Aunt Dorothy, generally a docile woman, taking a punch at him for dragging her out on a work night. She has to be at the post office at 6:00 a.m. Oh… I guess that explains the hostility. She was going “postal” on him.
When he didn’t apologize fast enough, she decided to choke an apology out of him. The funny thing is, my other nephew, Tommy, just stood in the background laughing at the whole thing saying, “This is your best bit yet, Matt.”
Tommy finally realized Aunt Dorothy beating Matt up wasn’t part of the act. So he jumped in to squeeze an apology out of him on Aunt Dorothy’s behalf.
Unfortunately Matt couldn’t speak while being choked. He eventually just passed out and Tommy kicked him in the ribs. He did – really. I don’t have a picture of it because I was distracted by my niece, Sandy, and I looked away.
You can see here to the right why she diverted my attention. I caught her later smacking Matt a good one.
But, all in all, it was an enjoyable evening. Matt made us laugh and we all got to punch him for it.
Be sure to get out sometime and see Matt when he’s doing his stand up. You can check out his schedule at his website. Or just stop in anywhere you see girls beating up some silly guy. It’s probably us.
Just FYI – Matt’s really thrilled to be competing in Kentucky’s First Annual Comedy Derby Contest. No – the comedians aren’t running a race carrying jockeys – I asked. It’s at 4th Street Live’s Improv Comedy Club on Sept. 30th, Oct. 14th and Nov. 4th, 2009. Matt will be competing in the Nov. 14th show. So come on out and support the area’s finest stand up comedians and especially the finest comedian of all, the Comedian Matt Bridges.