It was a Friday night and my best friend and I were strolling into a local "hole-in-the-wall" bar (called, Swanees) in Pioneer Square (I‘m guessing named for the pioneers who discovered it). In just a few minutes a small inconspicuous door would open to the patrons of this bar and lead us down a narrow staircase to The Seattle Comedy Underground . The walls were plastered with the faces of comedians of past who have gone on to either fame or absolute obscurity. “So you actually know the headliner from school?” asked one stranger behind me to another. The headliner tonight is somewhat of a local comedic hero.
We were seated at the very front left corner of the stage (front right to the performers). The stage itself was a carpeted 10 foot wide square and the backdrop (of course) a brick wall with a Seattle scenery painted on. The tables were too small, the seating was crowded, and the food (bar food) was over priced. But none of that mattered because we were soon going to be laughing - and hard.
The opening comics warmed us up very well but not enough that I could remember all their names a day later (with the exception of Courtney Cronin). Finally, it was time. "You won't believe the list I have on this guy. . . 10 Things I Hate About You. . . Slow Clapper. . . top selling comedy album in the nation. . .Kyle Cease!" Kyle took the stage and the crown took to clapping and hollering. "Yeah! More than that shit bitches. You're very excited to see me, I'm in movies. Two of them!" While we were already clapping pretty loudly (not just my friend and I, but the audience in general) it got louder. We agreed - he was funnier that (and our previous clapping was kind of shitty.)
Kyle immediately demonstrated his hilarious and chameleon-like ability to impersonate anything. Right at the start he impersonated a guy who just had a waitress hand him a burger he ordered, the hamburger itself, the plate that the hamburger was on, a couple napkins, and a soda. We ate it all up (the funny impersonations not the burger(except the guy the who ordered the burger, he ate up the jokes and the burger.))
Experiencing Kyle Cease live took me back to junior high days (weekends and most of summer) spent sitting on my best friend's couch while we watched t.v. and talked about how ridiculous shows, commercials, and movies can be. Eventually, those conversations would turn into a sort "inside joke" or language between just the two of us. Until now. I found that we were sitting amongst a crowd of strangers all laughing at the same type of nonsense, as if Kyle had somehow been in on those bizarre dialouges and observations years ago. We were all laughing at the same "inside jokes."
Kyle gives his shows such an intimate/personal feeling that when the hour or so is up (can't keep track of time when tears of laughter are streaming down your face) it feels as though you had just spent the evening hanging out with buddies. Kyle's unique style of comedy stems from his honesty, that he's true his own character, and genuinely likes his fans. You owe it to yourself (if you haven't already) to catch this man perform live.
Kyle is currently on tour and is nominated on Comedy Central's Stand-Up Show Down. Fans can go to www.comedycentral.com and vote for their favorite performer (pssst. Vote for Kyle) to be featured during a stand-up marathon on Jan. 28. Kyle will also be back in Seattle sometime in March of 2007 to tape a live 1 hour Stand-Up Special for the comedy station.
If you would like more information on how where Kyle Cease is performing and what he's up to, you can visit www.KyleCease.com.
Be Kyle's Friend!
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