Last night I saw Jill Sobule and Cyndi Lauper in concert at Massey Hall in Toronto. Sandwiched in between them, like an unappetizing layer of devilled ham, was a well-known female comedian.
As a performer, I know it's bad form to do a few things. One is to complain, onstage, that one isn't getting paid enough, as this woman did early in her set. Another is to swear repeatedly while prancing about onstage during the headliner's signature song. (Cyndi Lauper's biggest hit, in case you missed the 80's, was "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". She-who-shall-not-be-named must've noticed that another word sounded just like "fun"...and so she just yelled it over and over. During the song. Bad form, as I said.)
The effervescent Jill Sobule was terrific, taking requests from the audience during her captivating and warmly-received set. Later on, she enthusiastically joined Cyndi for an encore, while Mean Individual (also called back to the stage) sulked about having to do more work.
Cyndi Lauper was bopping around in fine form, decked out in a black leather bustier (which she acknowledged was a bit uncomfortable) and belting out her tunes like it was '85. A class act, she impressed everyone when she (while singing) convinced a hunky guy in the audience to hoist her onto his back so she could ride up and down the aisle. She also spoke warmly about her young son (who has given up the drums for hockey) and pledged her support for the Erase Hate purple-wristband campaign undertaken by the mother of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man killled in a hate crime.
Both Cyndi Lauper and Jill Sobule were such positive, generous spirits throughout the evening--giving, enthusiastic and respectful of the audience--it's hard to understand why they were on tour with The Negative Celebrity at all.
And it's hard to understand why anyone in the audience was laughing and clapping.
Maybe some people see her as a daring, edgy, brave person. If so, I wonder if they'd support an unknown "comic" if he or she mouthed off onstage without bothering to write any real material and insulted the headliner? Was this just a case of celebrity-worship? (During Cyndi's set, a guy sitting next to me didn't bother to clap for any song...until "Time After Time", "True Colours" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". See what I mean? For him, the valuable part of the performance seemed to be whether or not he had heard it before.)
Maybe the performer is successful (to whatever extent she is) because she's venting all the pent-up rage many people are feeling these days. If she's a reflection of the public's current consciousness, I'd say we're in more trouble than we thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the skewering of deserving targets (such as George Bush) but I get nervous when the "performance" slips into inarticulate rage. Keep the guns away from the comics, folks!
I'm always rooting for the nice people, the eloquent ones, and the ones still smiling. Call me crazy.
Jill Sobule's latest CD is called "Underdog Victorious", and it further develops a theme she's been working with for years: may the little gal win. May good prevail. (She sang my favourite song of hers, called "Bitter", last night: "I don't want to get bitter/I don't want to turn cruel/I don't want to get old before I have to.") Cyndi Lauper has always struck me as a bit of an underdog too. When she emerged at the same time as Madonna, I might have predicted Cyndi would have become the bigger star (yeah, yeah, and I'm no good at stock tips either), but here she is, playing Massey Hall instead of the Air Canada Centre--and rockin' out anyway to her ace songs.
All three women performers, striving to keep their audience engaged and their artistic spirits aloft, have (no doubt) lots of things to complain about: declining audiences, rising costs, depressing world events...you name it. Two of them put on an entertaining show with class and maturity.
Just because you're an underdog doesn't mean you have to be a bitch.
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