For Comic Fans Only
The PIT's 'Comic Book Club,' while irreverent
about its subject, will appeal best to devotees
Trying
to review the “Comic Book Club” show now running at The People’s Improv
Theater at 8 p.m. Tuesdays is a difficult task for a non-comic book fan,
because while it has some funny moments that are self-explanatory, a lot
of it is so steeped in comic book fandom and knowledge that it really
comes off as for fan boys (and fan girls, although there are less of
those) only.
Alexander Zalben of sketch group Elephant Larry leads the proceedings
here, with not one but two sidekicks, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage, of
whom Tyler is far more talkative and dominant. The guests at the April
24 edition of the show were rocker Andrew W.K. and Timmy Williams, a
member of sketch comedy group Whitest Kids U’Know.
Williams went a long way toward making the show accessible to a general
audience, surprisingly, because his group’s TV show seems scattershot
(see previous review). As the group commented on the prospect of a
Spiderman musical, for which Bono and The Edge are said to be writing
songs, on the fly he came up with with “I Still Haven’t Found Dr. Ock,”
and “Beautiful Web.”
Again, coming at this show from a non-comic informed perspective, when
asked for questions on slips of paper before the show, the one Jester
threw in was “How did you find out what your superpower is?”, which
puzzled the cast at first since it was admittedly off-kilter, but maybe
inspired their most interesting material of the night. Williams told
that his power was “unemployment,” while Tyler deadpanned, “I can tell
when a subway is coming -- before everyone else. And I don’t use an
umbrella.”
However, if you are into the comic books, this is clearly the show for
you, because the panelists are actually anything but reverent of all
comic books, reviewing the week’s newest titles in series like “World
War III” and “52,” and they don’t hesitate to slam nonsensical plot
twists or unexplained occurrences in their stories. |