Comedic chords
Stephen Lynch was less than overwhelmed with the Syracuse University mascot Monday night.
‘The Orange? Really?’ the comedian said, swiveling atop a stool on the Goldstein Auditorium stage, black guitar in hand. ‘Too bad nothing will rhyme with that in a fight song. We are the Orange…door hinge?’
While even Lynch couldn’t come up with a better fight song for the university, the Broadway performer and musical comedian spent two hours singing to a packed auditorium about his love of waiting for the results of an AIDS test, his desire to be a gynecologist and homeless French bums living in New York City (living in an alley behind a Quizno’s in a cheese-covered cardboard box and clad in a patched beret.)
‘He’s so original,’ said Jay Wilson, a sophomore biochemistry major. ‘He’s not afraid to go there. The audience was really responsive to it.’
Lynch, famous for his Comedy Central specials and recent role as the title character in the Broadway version of ‘The Wedding Singer,’ played 13 pieces from his three musical-based comedy albums. He even penned a new song on the spot, including one about making a cardboard cutout of himself – with the help of Kinko’s – as a reaction to a fan’s request.
He kept the show casual – even complaining to the audience about the lack of effort by the ‘Syracuse Decorating Committee.’ The stage featured just a color-changing screen and three seats, for his ‘sidekicks’ – two performers who assisted in the act – who Lynch brought out towards the end of the evening.
‘It felt kind of voyeuristic watching them on stage because it was just these guys having fun,’ said Alex Coulombe, a third-year architecture student. ‘He just keeps it chill, and it was like watching them have fun together.’
Lynch did medleys with each of the two sidekicks, including a song about a hot girl’s fat friend (who does shots of blue cheese dressing at an Outback Steakhouse during guys’ night out?)
In a fairly uncensored night, Lynch discussed past experiences with Comedy Central’s concerns about his more controversial lyrics.
‘Not everything I think has to come out of my mouth,’ Lynch said.
Then he made a knock-knock joke about the Gestapo.
Between songs, Lynch did impressions of everyone from actor Hugh Grant to singer James Taylor (‘You just have to sound bored’) and performed musical numbers from the perspectives of Satan, Jesus’ brother – Craig Christ – and a tribute to Charles Schultz’s ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.
‘I’ve loved him for about two years and have DVDs and CDs of his,’ said Alejandra Quintero, a freshman magazine major. ‘He gets the crowd going and gets everyone involved. He’s so good.’
Published on March 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm
