Joel McHale Warner Theatre – Washington DC
front row center
Nancy calls me up one afternoon after getting an email from Live Nation. The email talks about several upcoming comedians to the area, one of them Joel McHale on Friday November 7th. It was only a week or so before the show but we decided to check for tickets. What we got floored me, front row center. We lucked out again for tickets, just like we did for Jim Gaffigan a few months back.
We decided to make it a full evening out of the show since it was a Friday night. We had dinner at the Blue Water Grille in Centreville. Neither of us had been there and it was on the way. When we walked it the dinner side was completely empty, the bar side however was packed. The menu was mostly seafood items, who could have guessed from the name. I got the Mahi Mahi and it was great. Both of us left the place stuffed and ready to loose a few pounds laughing our asses off.
We headed to DC in record time for a Friday night. The whole drive on 66 was clear of traffic making the trip actually enjoyable. With all that time we made there was plenty of time to walk around downtown before the show. I was surprised by the number of shops open and the volume of people out that night. Maybe it was being Friday night or something but I have rarely seen that much life in the city that late. We got some coffee and did a little window shopping before getting to the Warner Theatre.
When we arrived the doors were not open and a large crowd has amassed in front of the theatre. Luckily we found an empty park bench to sit on. We had our assigned seats so there was no reason to stand in a line when we didn’t have to. We both did a lot of people watching on that bench. And let me tell you the freaks do come out at night. Not to say I am much better, but I did check myself out in the mirror before I walked out of the house.
After what must have been 30 minutes we just cut in line and got into the venue. It was getting close to show time and we wanted to get to our seats. After fighting the crowd in the lobby we both felt like rock stars when the usher walked us down to the front row. I had never been that close but what a great view of the stage.
The open act was a guy from the 98 Rock morning show in Baltimore, Mickey. This guy actually had a day job so it jokes were a little rough around the edges. But on the whole the guy was great. Talked a lot about his kids, wife, and other observational comedy. There was even a heckler, “Dick,” and he handled that guy very well. After 20 minutes or so Joel finally came out on stage. The crowd was warmed up and ready for some laughs.
Joel was alright. He is the host of the Soup on E!, a show I don’t watch, so I am not that familiar with his work. Both Nancy and Jeremy agreed that he was a funny guy and the show would be worth it. Some of his stuff was about celebrities and current entertainment news. He even went into the various beefs celebrities have with the show, like Tyra Banks. I am sure it is a lot like his show, the same kind of comedy and style of joke telling.
He was funny and both of us had a great time. I will start looking for comedy show more often after these two great experiences. I just hope to keep scoring great seats to this venue. I actually told Nancy that I expect to be on stage for the next show. It is kind of hard to top front row center seats. I guess getting tickets last minute is sometimes not that bad.
