The Secret Stand Up of Alex Mac

13 shows. 13 states. 13 days. For any comedian the task sounds like a daunting one. For Doug Benson and Graham Elwood, it is the reality of the Medical Marijuana Tour. The tour, conceived by everyone’s favorite Pot comic, takes the pair to every state that currently allows medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Starting off in the nation’s smallest bastion of medical marijuana, Rhode Island, the tour’s first show took place at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence.

For all my love of alternative comedy, I never have really been to what could be considered an “alternative” show. All of my previous stand up comedy experiences have been at theaters or clubs. And even with the case of less traditional clubs like Mottley’s, there has always been a lack of that inexpressible je ne sais quoi that I had felt seeing clips of my favorite comedians at places like Largo or the UCB theater. While I don’t really think the venue makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of a comedy show, after seeing Doug Benson and Graham Elwood at Lupo’s I can speak to the interesting sense of informality that such a venue offers instead of more traditional ones. Lupo’s is a large venue, best suited to an appearance by Collective Soul, AFI, or a host of other rock bands. Somehow, the contrast between the sprawling venue and the comedians only served to make the event seem more like a special secret that the audience members had stumbled upon, a private show for those who had the good sense to seek it out.

No one in the audience last night did not know what they were in for. It was a crowd of fans attending a show for fans. The air before the show was palpable with anticipation and excitement. For all of its lack of size, the audience made the night an amazing success due to their overwhelming enthusiasm. In fact, the only person in the audience who seemed out of a place was an old man who asked me to move a chair for him…at least until I eventually found out that he was Graham Elwood’s dad. The only poor thing before the show was the delay. The show, meant to start at 8PM, was delayed for fifteen minutes as the house held to let more people into the audience. Throughout all of this, I was able to see backstage from my seat in the front. Tiny glimpses of Elwood and Benson taunted me as I waited for the show to begin.

When it did, however, it was a show to remember! A quick introduction by Benson launched us into a whirlwind set by Graham Elwood full of yellow belt palm strikes and Eddie Vedder riffs as he scaled the side speakers singing “Even Flow”. A couple of longer bits included recounting attempts to snowboard and being tricked by soldiers in the Middle East. Throughout the set, Elwood never slowed down and showed a frantic pacing that was masterful in the places where it slowed down. A continuous wave of laughter washed over the crowd as Elwood roamed the stage. A particularly strong riff had to do with Rhode Island’s law which legalizes prostitution as long as it is under a roof (“As long as you have a musket, you can take another man’s property!”). All in all, Elwood was more than just an amazing warm up to Benson’s set but gave an amazing set worth the ticket price in and of itself.

Following this, it was Benson’s turn to take the stage (“My name is Doug Benson and I am here to recruit you!”). Performing a great deal of material from his most recent CD, Unbalanced Load and a little from Professional Humoredian. Benson was in top form, obviously excited for the start of his tour and fully ready to stray into various riffs and bits of audience interaction when he felt the desire to. The highlight of the night was a new riff about a show Benson did for deaf people, which eventually ended with the creation of a new word (inspired by the sign language of his interpreter): “hand cunt”. Doug proceeded to write down this new joke for later use. Interactions with a high couple up front throughout the show led to Jim Gaffigan like audience voices. But while the highlight of the night, joke wise, was “hand cunt” then the biggest change was his decision to do his cleanest joke (“I was a dog with a sign that said “I bite”…) and his dirtiest (“…and grandma is fingering herself?”) at the same time. Alternating between the two jokes, the audience was treated to a weird Mab Libs like presentation that had us all rolling on the floor. This ended the night with a suitable bang.

After the show, the two comedians could not have been nicer, mingling with the crowd and chatting about various things. I offer Graham a quick “Bag ‘o corn, friend!” and he immediately returned it and started chatting with me for a fair amount of time. Before I left, I was able to sneak a picture with both of the comedians: a small souvenir of an amazing night of comedy and an amazing first show to the Medical Marijuana Tour.