The artistic risks of performing stand-up in massive, rock-ready venues are considerable, as proved a couple weeks ago. Inebriated hecklers, lagging energy, and even random weather can sap the momentum from an art form that thrives in close, sheltered quarters.
It’s with considerable aplomb then that the second annual Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival presented a seamless evening of high-level stand-up at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sunday night. From Brody Stevens’ main stage introduction shortly after 7 p.m. to Louis C.K.’s assured headlining set three hours later, the Funny or Die-sponsored tour made for an evening of effortless laughter.
Stevens, an intensely self-deprecating stand-up who looks like a beefy, hungover Steve Jobs, earlier presided over the second stage at the top of the venue, which featured local comics Troy Walker, Adrian Mesa and Jordan Doll, among others. He then kicked off the main stage by pointing out his “Pot-a-gonia” shirt, which he said he purchased for $24 from a homeless kid on Denver’s 16th Street Mall — shortly before being hit by a free mall-ride bus.
Whitney Cummings, co-creator of “2 Broke Girls” and her now-defunct, eponymous NBC sitcom, started her set of dating and sex-based material with some zingers that quickly grew raunchy. “My definition of love is being willing to die for somebody that you yourself want to kill,” she said in one of her few bits that didn’t include graphic sexual descriptions or heavy profanity.
Cummings set a tone of relaxed stage-prowling that would run throughout the night, her leg perched on monitors when she wasn’t surveying the audience from the stage railing, as if leaning into the crowd to draw energy from the 9,450 souls. Chris Hardwick, the host of “@midnight,” “The Talking Dead” and founder of the Nerdist podcast network, went one further by climbing into the first couple rows and awkwardly hugging an attendee for at least 30 seconds. His sharp, lightning-fast crowd work helped temper the awkwardness. “Don’t force me to cowgirl you!” he yelled at the man, whose face was pressed tightly into his chest.
Hardwick’s crackling wordplay provided a suitable lead-in for Demetri Martin, who faced perhaps the biggest challenge of the night with his tightly edited, cerebral jokes. Big, stoned, boozy crowds are not known for their attentiveness, but Martin’s calm delivery was mercifully met with courteousness from the audience. “There’s a fine line between having a pet and having a hostage from a different species,” he said in one of his typically thoughtful, profanity-free jokes.
Hannibal Buress’ follow-up was the opposite — and not simply because Buress closed with fire breathers and stilt-walkers, soundtracked by hip-hop-loving tour musician DJ Trauma. Buress is loud and loose, one of those comics who make stand-up feel more like a one-sided conversation than a self-contained artistic statement. “If any of my jokes bomb I’m just blaming it on the altitude,” he said after pointing out his baggy jumpsuit, which was emblazoned with a huge, colorful image of his face.
A brief tribute to Joan Rivers and Robin Williams was followed by an intermission, after which Stevens let the crowd know the Broncos-Colts game score (it was the talk of the bathrooms and concessions lines, too). Marc Maron, whose neurotic self-analysis arguably makes him the least Red Rocks-appropriate comic one can imagine, offered a remarkably palatable version of his set for a large crowd. Sarah Silverman then took the stage to “Papa Don’t Preach,” a song to which she said she had been molested. “It didn’t ruin it for me,” she said.
Working off notes after “burning” her latest hour-long set with last year’s Emmy-winning HBO special, Silverman quickly decided crowd work was the way to go. She took to the first row, which includes seating for the disabled, and asked “If you’re in a wheelchair and I sit on your lap, will I hurt you?” A game female attendee replied “No,” so Silverman perched herself on her lap, where she did jokes about how lazy and conceited quadriplegics can be. People expecting any less were clearly unfamiliar with Silverman’s style. However, the fact that she used one of the biggest stages in all of comedy to test new material exhibited her real fearlessness.
Aziz Ansari echoed a mild theme of the night in his jokes about creepy guys and the perils of being a woman in contemporary patriarchal culture. If that sounds stiff, it wasn’t. Ansari’s a natural on stage, far more likable in person than on his stand-up specials, where he has lately seemed smarmy and overly comfortable. Live he sizzles with the energy of Chris Rock, driving home punchlines with loose-shouldered, sing-songy repetition. His “Parks and Recreation” fame made him an audience favorite and perfect appetizer for main dish Louis C.K., who has also expanded his fame and respect with his award-winning TV series.
“People are leaving?!” he barked as a few in the crowd streamed toward the bathrooms at the start of his set. The grumpy perspective of C.K.’s material, which wavers between apoplexy at society’s idiocy and bemused acceptance of his own, contrasted mightily with the high energy he brought to his performance. Like Demetri Martin or the Oddball festival in general, he’s not the first person you’d think would thrive on the Red Rocks stage. That he did was testament to the smart booking and clean presentation of Oddball, which managed to make stand-up seem as necessary and beloved on the big outdoor stage as jam bands and booming EDM sets.
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John Wenzel is an A&E reporter and critic for . Follow him .
Michael McGrath is a Denver area photographer. His work is available at . Visit .
