COMEDY REVIEW : Jeni’s Spontaneity Adds Bite to His Trusted Bits
Richard Jeni showed at the Improvisation on Tuesday that he has, among other assets, one of the comic’s most valued assets--the ability to appear fresh, even when the material may already be known to an audience.
Like most stand-up performers, Jeni relies on a cache of trusted routines honed through repeat performances. But unlike those who are hampered by the predictability of their jokes, Jeni at his best seems to add to them, developing a sense of spontaneity that registers beyond the familiar.
Take, for instance, his signature bit on “Jaws IV.” The set-piece about the absurd plot holes and other stupidities in that silly sequel has become a trademark, a riff he frequently relies on during his frequent TV appearances.
It goes like this: This ambitious shark has eaten a woman’s family. In full retreat, she catches a plane for the Bahamas. The shark figures this out and follows her there. Jeni approaches this ridiculousness from the perspective of the average Joe watching the movie on cable in the early morning.
Smacking his forehead incredulously, he wonders why she went to the Bahamas instead of, say, Canada, a country not known for shark problems? “Wouldn’t her apartment be sufficient protection from the average shark? By the time he found the building, parked the car in the shark place, got in the elevator and came to the door, you would most likely smell fish and split.”
While the lines may not come across that funny in print, it’s what Jeni is doing on stage that makes it work. He’s a very animated performer with precise timing and the good sense to linger on a subject, letting it expand at its own pace but with nice actorly punctuations.
In fact, it’s a little ironic that Jeni has become such a frequent presence on TV, especially on “The Tonight Show.” On television, his bits often come across as restrained and generic. But in a club, with an hour to build his themes, he’s another comic altogether.
A former New Yorker with the requisite East Coast edge, Jeni brings a cartoonish anxiety to most of his routines, such as the one on getting into fights. First he told the crowd about the time he was in a Southern bar and a big cracker punched him out. No foreplay--just one shot in the face and he was gazing at the bottom of his bar stool.
Then, he contrasted that with what it’s like fighting in New York. There’s “plenty of time to figure out if you want to be in a fight” because of the verbal dancing that goes on before the bell rings. Mainly, you threaten a lot, hoping the other guy will back down.
Arms flailing, eyes popping, Brooklyn accent percolating, Jeni told the other dude just what might happen: “Hey! I’ll rip off your ear and stick it on your knee so any time you wanna hear somebody you’ll have to lift your knee up to their face!”
He also talked about smoking. Marlboros, Jeni noted, are for people who say “I want a tumor and I’m in a bit of a rush.” As for his own problems with smoking in front of nonsmokers, he said they tend to give him a look like “Why don’t you just relieve yourself on the children?”
He also talked about the differences between men and women. There was the specific, such as what they look for in a restroom (“I’ve never done anything in a bathroom that required a pink couch”) to the general, like birthing (“You think you understand women? C’mon, they have babies on purpose!”).
He even talked about Cher and her questionable taste. “She’s got this giant tattoo on her (derriere). I wish someone had the nerve to say ‘Hey, we’re trying to eat a burger over here!’ ”
Richard Jeni performs tonight through Thursday at 8:30 p.m.; Friday at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 p.m. at the Improvisation, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine. Tickets: $7 and $10. (714) 854-5455.