The comedy festival to end all festivals

So as I blogged last week, we had tickets to the Oddball Comedy Festival this weekend past. The headliners were Flight of the Conchords and Dave Chappelle. (Just quietly, our number one and two comedy heroes).

We had an amazing time. Absolutely amazing. Like, laugh your arse off, cannot breathe, slap your thighs, hug a stranger, snort sauce out your nose, pee your pants a little, funny.

No exaggerating.

Here are some bullet points from the day.

• It was a beautiful day, but bloody hot. As the MC put it, every man in the crows had "swamp ass". But, definitely a beautiful day. 
• The festival was in The Woodlands. For non Houstonians - it is a long ass way from the city. For geographical reference points here you go - Perth - Think Rockingham to Yanchep, Kiwis - Think Hamilton to Auckland. Its a long bloody way lol.
• It was a great venue. I totally recommend it. Just give your self a few days for travel either side of the festival. 
• The MC came out and absolutely owned. He was brilliant. 
• The first act on the bill was Kristen Schaal. She came out dressed as a man and talked about big "titties". I think she kind of lost half the crowd... But I thought she was awesome. She ended with a fantastic rendition of Flashdance. The dance reinforced my dream of one day becoming a professional in the competitive but rewarding field of interpretive dance.
• Next up was Al Madrigal. He is the Latino correspondent for The Daily Show. A funny, funny man. He was very, very good value. Also he looked like a Latino version of Tobias from Arrested Development. Except with hair.
• Hannibal Buress was super funny. He had a hilarious break down of rap lyrics, which included a surprise appearance by a few rappers who were mean.
• Demetri Martin may be my new favourite human being. He was dead pan, dry, so, so funny. I am gonna be spending awhile on you tube laughing at his stuff. If you have five minutes, look him up.

Now let me take a break from commenting on the comedians for a second to tell you about another amusing part of the night. This wasn't on the bill. And it wasn't an act. Y'all know I struggle in general with stupid people. Well, hmmm. We were sitting behind two ladies who really didn't laugh all that much. After some subtle observation, it turned out they weren't actually understanding the comedy. One of the associated man friends of the women had to keep explaining the jokes. That's fine, if you don't get it, whatever. But don't talk the whole way through the Flight of the Conchords act calling them "weird", "stupid", or "unfunny" ruining it for other people.
Anyhoo.

• Flight of the Conchords. Firstly, what a massive kiwi moment. They are so brilliant, so smart and so funny. I am like, still buzzing that I have finally seen them live. Awesome to hear some new songs. And super exciting that we got to hear one of my personal favourites, "Hurt Feelings".
• Dave Chappelle. Legend. 
• Dave Chappelle. Still has it. 
• Dave Chappelle. Is hilarious. 
• Dave Chappelle. Has a following unlike no other. 
• Dave Chappelle. Can make a crowd lost their shit. Absolutely killed it. And we sang him happy birthday as it was his 40th birthday. Dave Chappelle. There are a few people we know who can understand how big a moment it was for us to actually see our comedy hero in the flesh. Rob and I were gobsmacked. He was real. He was in the flesh. He is so unbelievably funny.  

What an amazing night.
My sides still hurt from laughing. And every now and then Rob or I will say "oh, and what about when...".

And here is an observation, if you have a tattoo on your shoulder that says "YAYO" you probably won't understand the songs of New Zealand's 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo.

Better living bitches.

Anticipating comedy.

This weekend has the potential to be monumental.

Obviously I like to laugh. I like to giggle. I like to guffaw. I like to hold in a silent laugh at an inappropriate moment. I also like to cackle. Sometimes I like to laugh so hard my sides hurt. I have been known to have laugh so much I pee. I genuinely love laughing.

My adoration of laughing, or being in a state of "laugh", means that I am drawn to funny people. My parents are maniacally funny. My friends crack me up. My husband is a funny, funny man.

And so, I love comedians. I love sarcastic humour; obvious, stupid humour; observational humour; dry, British humour; odd and bizarre quips; physical humour. Most comedy I love. I will try and make a list of people who crack me up, but I don't think there is time. Literally. People just crack me up.

My point is, right now, I am anticipating comedy. On Saturday night, I am going to be ticking off two MASSIVE items from my bucket list. And a few other smaller "must do's".

On Saturday night I am seeing both The Flight of the Conchords, and Dave Chapelle.

Yes. I said it.

Let it sink in for awhile.

I am almost scared to say it out loud in case I am dreaming. I am so darned excited I am already amped. I was amped the day I found they were playing together two months ago. I was amped after I finally got tickets after waiting on line for 38 minutes. Actually, the day I found out they were both playing together my friend nearly drove off the road because I swore so loudly. I never thought I would be able to see Dave Chappelle live. And I have missed the last few shows that The Conchords have done.*

But combine them. It's like the Holy Grail of my funny bone.

Oh, and this just popped up on my screen at work..

Garrrhhhhh!

If it wasn't enough that my two favorite comedy "situations" are playing in Houston  on Saturday night, Kristen Schaal is also going to be there. She is a funny, funny lady.

PLUS, tonight, my childhood dreams are coming true. We are going to see Pauly Shore at Improv Houston.

I grew up on classics such as "Son in Law", "In the Army Now", and "Biodome". I went through the "Hey Buudddddy" phase. My sister and I literally watched "Son in Law" 100 times. I still  love the shit out of "Encino Man".

So I am excited. Very excited. This week has been long. And if I think about what will be happening in the next 72 hours I get wound up and start bouncing around. More than usual.

Anyway, I wanted to share my excitement with you funny people out there, and just say how blessed I feel that we are in a place where we can experience this. 

And if I pee my pants this weekend, it will be totally worth it.



Sarah xo

*(Rereading this paragraph, I feel that the word amped is barely appropriate to convey my excitement. But there you go.)

About the festival!

Flight of the Conchords first album, Image from Wikipedia