If Joe Perra Comes to Your Town, Go to His Show

Over the weekend me and a buddy went to see Joe Pera at The Pageant here in Saint Louis. Let’s discuss.

I am relatively new to Joe Pera. The same friend told me to watch his show, as did RD, and I devoured all three seasons in less than a week. Each episode is only about 11 minutes so it wasn't some big undertaking. But I watched as much of the show each day as I could. I kept wanting to watch more and more. The more the show progressed the more I got into it. Joe Pera has this calm way about him. The show was great but also very unpredictable. "Joe Pera Talks with You" had a simple premise. Pera would bring up a subject he liked and try to talk to the audience about it. He would start his presentation and something wild would happen. That was what drew me into the show. I also appreciated the fact that the show took place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That is where my parents are from and a lot of my extended family still lives around the UP. It was easy for me to relate to the people, the accents and the general idea.

I did not know what to expect from an hour long standup show from Pera. I purposely stayed off the internet leading up to the show. I did not want to know anything that might be coming my way. I wanted to experience it all at the moment. That is one of my intentions in the new year. I want to get the full experience for the first time. That was the right thing for me to do.

Dan Licata, who wrote for the show, opened the night up. He did a solid 15 minutes. He was funny, fast and had some really interesting joke deliveries. He owned his lot in life. He made fun of family and friends. He did some very good crowd work. He was a little more upbeat and hyper than Pera. It was a nice yin to Pera's yang. I enjoyed his set very much. And without any wait he introduced Pera and Pera took the stage.

This crowd was perfect. We all cheered loudly, but respectfully when he walked on stage. We all knew his cadence and how he would deliver jokes. We know because we are all fans. And when he slowly walked on stage a giant smile grew on my face. I have found that, since COVID, I am nervous in enclosed spaces with a lot of people until the person I have come to see steps on stage. When Pera took the mic and started his show, all that fear washed away and I was in the moment.

Pera did not disappoint. He read an intro that killed, in his usual slow cadence. It was hilarious. He made joke after joke while reading the intro. I loved it. He did way more crowd work than I expected and it was tremendous. He would start a bit and then go out to the audience to get our take. His bit about feeding pita chips to a squirrel was made all the better because of his crowd work. He would openly laugh at some of the stuff the people were saying, but then he would use it. He is a pro at crowd work and it showed tenfold on Saturday night. I was blown away. He told a great bit about writing a love column for the New York Times. It had his typical outlook and joke telling presentation. Then, near the end of the letter he got real blue. I was caught totally off guard in the best possible way. I did not expect him to say the words that he was saying and I was cackling all along the way. And it wasn't like a shock comedian or anything. The swear words were needed for the joke and Pera used them expertly. He brought Licata and another actor who was on the show with him and they did a solid bit to close out the night.

This show was everything I wanted it to be, but it was so much more. I was blown away by what I saw. I am an even bigger fan than I was a few days ago. Joe Pera is a top notch alternative comic. I definitely recommend seeing him if he is near or in your time. He is more than worth the price of admission. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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