Comic Kevin Bozeman rocked a near-capacity crowd at the Ellen Eccles Theatre with somewhat blue banter on Feb. 14 (Image courtesy of Facebook).
LOGAN – When it comes to Comedy Nights sponsored by the Cache Valley Center for the Arts, if at first you don’t succeed, you just try again.
The sweet smell of success was all over the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Valentine’s Day, as stand-up artists Debra DiGiovanni and Kevin Bozeman had a near-capacity audience rolling in the aisles.
Interestingly enough, observed guest host and recent transplant to Cache Valley Keith Barany, both comics started slow but quickly decided to tear up the PG rulebooks and go mildly blue.
The packed crowd of mostly college students and younger adults responded with bouts of hysterical laughter, cheers and applause.
So much for Cache Valley audiences supposedly not being able to take a joke, even when it comes at their own expense.
Barany started the show by riffing on his new life here in Utah, being the only Jewish man in a sea of totally indifferent LDS women. From his unique perspective, there isn’t an LDS church on every corner in Logan, but there is a dentist’s office.
Originally from Canada, DiGiovanni explained that she relocated to Los Angeles, where everyone is slim and beautiful – except her.
The comic then illustrated her predicament in the Sunshine State with trademark self-depreciating and good-natured humor.
DiGiovanni’s set roamed randomly from the mundane (“There’s 7,594 brands of apples and what idiot picked those names?”) to getting down and dirty about “romantic movies” (AKA porn), including “guys with feathers.”
I guess you had to be there.
“I like Logan,” Bozeman quipped as he began his routine. “But there’s sure a lot of white people here.”
“You all in a witness protection program for white people?”
He then launched into a series of jokes about the trials and tribulations of being a Black father whose towering sons don’t play basketball. They prefer soccer, until they are confronted by a opposing team of Mexicans.
Interacting with the audience, Bozeman asked how white people felt about seeing a Black mermaid in the recent live-action Disney version of The Little Mermaid?
“That exactly how I feel when I see a white running back in the National Football League,” he responded.
Bozeman also humorously discussed what the called the “logical impossibilities” of a Black Superman and a Black Batman.
Although both comics tended to get a little raw at times, only four people stood up and walked out in a huff during Bozeman’s stand-up.
“That’s not bad,” Barany remarked. “Maybe we need to have some serious discussions about what works and what doesn’t in these comedy nights.”
The final Comedy Night of the CacheARTS 2023-2024 National Touring Season will be on Saturday, May 4, featuring stand-up by comics Cathy Ladman and Ross Bennett.
Tickets for the Ladman/Bennett comedy night can be purchased online at www.cachearts.org
The Ellen Eccles Theatre is located at 43 South Main Street in downtown Logan.