Saturday, April 01, 2006
Robert Klein @ Society for Ethical Culture
Between "Colonoscopy" and "I Can't Stop My Leg," a tuneful Robert Klein provided jokes and classic routines in a well-paced 80-minute performance on Saturday night. He started strong, with material about getting old and his parents' move to Florida. The act lagged somewhat in the middle, partially due to the building's poor acoustics. But Klein revived the senior-heavy crowd with a spot-on tribute to his mentor Rodney Dangerfield, an ode to the Presbyterian church-turned-venue and a rousing, harmonica-laden finale.
I've long been a fan of Klein, who attended my alma mater De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx in the '60s. Like George Carlin, Klein built a strong counterculture fan base in the '70s. His albums, Child of the '50s (1973) and Mind Over Matter (1974) on Brut Records, are classics of the period. Before Robin Williams came along, Klein, Carlin and Richard Pryor were America's greatest comics. Perhaps due to his occasional roles in romantic comedies and Broadway musicals, Klein's coolness quotient has waned, but he remains a comic treasure with a delivery to die for. Check him out the next time he's performing in your town. You won't be disappointed.
For more on Robert Klein: CLICK HERE
I've long been a fan of Klein, who attended my alma mater De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx in the '60s. Like George Carlin, Klein built a strong counterculture fan base in the '70s. His albums, Child of the '50s (1973) and Mind Over Matter (1974) on Brut Records, are classics of the period. Before Robin Williams came along, Klein, Carlin and Richard Pryor were America's greatest comics. Perhaps due to his occasional roles in romantic comedies and Broadway musicals, Klein's coolness quotient has waned, but he remains a comic treasure with a delivery to die for. Check him out the next time he's performing in your town. You won't be disappointed.
For more on Robert Klein: CLICK HERE
