The House of Blues over the weekend hosted the LOL! comedy showcase, which brought together four local comics for one home-grown show. Here's what you missed, from Obed the Intern:
- Aaron Aryanpur opened with homey quips about his 7-year-old son and Whataburger. Aryanpur joked with the audience about how he often wishes Whataburger would stop portraying white-collar workers as its key customers and cater more to the real clients: drunk thirtysomethings with a pallet for lemon pies at 3 a.m.
Aryanpur won the audience over near the end of his act when he told the story of his son's pre-kindergarten graduation. The little Aryanpur told his teacher he wanted to be a comedian like his father, but only because he didn't know ninja was one of the career options.
- Chelsea Hood professed her love for Taco Bell, which is so strong she once thought the inside of her purse was covered with sour cream and not the hand lotion that was actually inside. While relieved, she joked, she still would have preferred the grande burrito.
- YouTube sensation Dominic Harris barreled over the audience with every joke he told. Each punch line was more powerful that the previous. His best joke was about a psychological study that found that men are attracted to women who have features similar to their own: "I guess that's why I like girls with big dicks."
Headliner Paul Varghese's big-stage experience really gave the show a feeling of completeness. Varghese's ability to take more serious, national-scale themes and turn them into relatable situations cleared the way for a more mature tone.
Turning to the Chick-Fil-A anti-gay fiasco, Varghese asked the audience not to boo him for what he was about to announce: "I love Chick-Fil-A." While some did boo, others cheered.
Varghese provided the joke of the night when he said he had to do some soul-searching and consider whether or not he should continue enjoying Chick-Fil-A out of respect to his gay friends and family members. After taking one bite of a chicken sandwich, Varghese said, his first thought was, "Fuck my friends and family."
