Here's to wishing I didn't leave!

Comedy at The Cabot returns to the new, remodeled Cabot on Saturday, February 27. Presented in partnership with Beverly-based Scamps Comedy Productions, the show features a great ensemble mix of Boston’s funniest comedians, including rising star Dan Boulger, former Betty Crocker Award winner Dave Decker, crowd-pleasing headliner Ira Proctor, and radio personality/actor Chris Zito.<-Boy do I wish that is really how I felt!

Last night at The Cabot Cinema in Beverly, MA four comedians took the stage and all I wanted after the week I had was to laugh. Something that could take my mind off of the everyday stresses and transport me to a land of laughter that was so intense tears started pouring down my face. Well I must say that didn’t really happen.

The host Dave Decker was one of my favorite parts of the whole show and that’s not saying much. Almost his entire act was about porn. Being someone who feels very strongly about that topic I mostly sat in silence because it was well awkward for me to watch. Now don’t get me wrong I am not a prude by any means and tend to have a mouth like a trucker but I just felt like his set was lacking some real world substance.

The second comedian Dan Boulger was just plain awful! It was said that he won the Boston Comedy Festival but I was wondering the whole time who the judges were and what they saw in this person because for most of his performance he looked like a deer in headlights. He was just plain awkward. He was stuttering and stammering. Most of the time it came across as if he just forgot his punch line and completely forgot the majority of his material. There was one person in the audience who made a comment to one of this jokes and it completely threw him off! I mean most comedians can just roll with the punches and I think that what he tried to do but failed miserably. After telling the person off, he just stood there and couldn’t even continue. Not to mention the nervous laughter. I was more embarrassed for him and just wanted his set to be over before it even really began.

The third comedian Chris Zito I must say was markedly better. He had a lot of personal insight and he talked about his relationship with his children, his ex-wives and current fiancé. He tried to use real life situations and occurrences to relate to his audience which is what I like to see. However then it took a turn for the uncomfortable he began talking about how his second wife and himself were at one point trying to have a child and were finding it very difficult. Talking of all of the tests that the both of them needed to go through and how they may have been better off not even trying because of how much effort they put in and how much money it cost them for all of the treatments. If these events really did take place He very well may have been using comedy as a way of coping and feeling better but I personally found it insulting from a personal and females’ perspective. I don’t feel that it was the right time, place of crowd for that particular set of jokes and material.

Lastly the headliner Ira Proctor came on and I found him quiet confusing at first. I really couldn’t tell if he simply had too much to drink before coming on stage or if it was simply his “shtick.” Once I was able to kind of “figure” him out and what his style was I must admit that I grew rather fond of his style. He was funny and whitty and very good at connecting with his audience. However at one point one of the patrons needed to take a call due to a personal matter and as she got up to scurry away that is all he talked about for a good 15 minutes. Now I understand having your flow interrupted and being “thrown” off of your game. However this individual came off as nothing but rude and insensitive and couldn’t seem to move on from the incident even after she returned to the show. He honestly came across as a bit of a jerk!

All in all with the Cabot recently receiving a face life of sorts and having a beautiful new look that they should be very proud of, I kind of expected the talent to be top notch as well and it honestly left me desperately wishing I didn’t want to leave throughout the whole show. It was a real disappointment.

Story Covered by: Nicole Lynne Wood
Wood Media Staff Writer