Master of ribaldry: Steven Lynch at Shriver Hall
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Stephen Lynch's concert at Shriver Hall last Friday was one of those times when it's an asset to be on good terms with your neighborhood scalper. Some fans waited outside the auditorium for six hours just to get in. An hour before the show started, the auditorium was already three-quarters full. All this excitement was reserved for guitarist and comedian Stephen Lynch.
Lynch's show was arranged by the Hopkins Organization for Programming (HOP). This was the HOP's second sold-out engagement this year, the first being comedian Pablo Francisco's show last fall. The energy level was high as everyone sat in anticipation for Lynch to appear. In showbiz tradition, he finally appeared 20 minutes after the scheduled time to an ocean of cheering and applause. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was going to be a great show.
Beginning as a theatre major at Western Michigan University in the early `90s, Lynch began writing comic songs and playing guitar as a hobby, without any real plans to pursue a career as a comic musician. In New York City, his pursuit of an acting career was quickly overshadowed by his unique comedic acts. Playing ironic, amusing and usually offensive songs, Lynch would have his audience rolling in the aisles. His big break came when Comedy Central gave him his own hour-long segment on their series Comedy Central Presents. With a smile he says, "They could have easily said no after I auditioned." But they didn't and it gave Lynch the national recognition that established him as a prominent comedian. He's opened up for Lewis Black, David Chappelle and the late Mitch Hedberg. He described Hedberg as his favorite comedian to work with but only on "his good days."
Though he has been touring and performing for over two decades, Lynch told his crowd in Shriver Hall that he was honestly nervous and felt a little rusty. Baltimore is his first stop on his tour after taking a break to appear in the Broadway musical, The Wedding Singer, based on the hit Adam Sandler movie. The creators of the musical approached him to play the lead character of Robbie Hart. The musical ran for four short months from April to December of 2006, but Lynch did manage to snag a Tony Award nomination for his performance. He's happy to be back on tour playing his own pieces again. On the road, he has more time to work on new songs now that he isn't controlled by the grueling eight weekly performances of the musical.
For Lynch, it's truly about the music. "If I didn't write songs, I wouldn't do comedy," he says. He considers himself a musician/comedian and not the reverse.
Coming onto stage with his guitar in one hand and a bottle of Corona in the other, Lynch immediately bonded with the audience. Like most comedic acts, he continued to interact with the crowd throughout the show. Opening with "Dr. Stephen," a song about his aspirations to be a gynecologist, the crude and humorous tone was immediately set. While sitting on a stool, he even managed to spread his legs as if in stirrups so he could play while "being in the patient's perspective."
Lynch's songs discussed everything from the perverted temptations of a Catholic clergyman in "Priest" to the life as a homeless French bum in "Pierre." The ideas come randomly to mind while reading, watching television, or even riding the subway. The lyrics were witty and continued to surprise the audience. "Vanilla Ice Cream" tells the story of a white guy breaking up his girlfriend because of her race — "Just don't take it personally, this is no attack / But we will never last because I am white and you are ... also white."
Other highlights included his classic song, "Special", about his childhood best friend who was dropped as a baby and now eats dirt and names his toes. "Superhero," another older hit, encouraged the crowd to shout out ideas of inappropriate superhero names for Lynch to sing about — Ball-Sack Boy, for example. The audience was also the first to hear some of his newest material including a series of songs based on diary entries of famous individuals. One spoke about the writer's excitement to tame his new wild horse. The author was revealed as none other than Christopher Reeve.
Lynch rarely tours alone and tonight was no exception. Rod Cone, a friend from college, came out to sing the hilarious song, "She Gotta Smile." They sang about man's worst enemy when it comes to hooking up with the cute girl at the bar, her "big fat friend." Luckily, he had his non-discriminating friend to distract the girl proclaiming, "So what if you're a cow / I'll nail you anyhow!" Also accompanying him is a co-star from The Wedding Singer, David Josefberg. Together they sang the most wonderfully offensive songs, like "Little Tiny Moustache" which is about the graphic sexual act termed the Dirty Sanchez. While both Cone and Josefberg are entertaining, Lynch performs best on his own. The audience would have preferred to hear more of his solo songs than the numerous group songs he performed.
The songs never ceased to shock and please the crowd in Shriver. Though many would find Lynch distasteful, he doesn't like "being offensive for the sake of being offensive." He doesn't find "shocking to be funny." Walking the thin line of appropriateness is something he truly enjoys. However, Lynch can't help to admit to the crowd, "I can get away with so much when I sing about stuff."
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