Review: PAM ANN STAYIN ALIVE & Rita Lamar = 2 Funny Ladies Who Should Let Everyone In On The Joke @ The Triad & Don't Tell Mama

Both Comedy Veterans Seemed To Be In Their Own Worlds.

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

So my lambkins, we closed out our summer last week with 2 comedy shows that we hoped would wow us as we waved goodbye to August. PAM ANN STAYIN ALIVE! at The Triad featured the airways drag queen trapped in a woman's body Air Hostess created by Australian comedian, writer, producer & DJ (?) Caroline Reid. Reid's work, a study in divine vulgarity, found its best expression when she created the character of sassy stewardess Pam in the early-ish 2000s (Maybe late-ish 90s), and now today, her book-ability largely rests on this creation, and like Frankenstein of old, she just keeps making sequels. This is not to say the lady ain't funny, because, by and large, she is. Her quick to the trigger wit, her rapport with the audience (all passengers on her flight to where... PARADISE!), her mastery of improv with said passengers, and her fast, naughty take-no-prisoners mouth generated loads of laughs from her people throughout the inflight entertainment. Kicking off the show with a really hilarious send-up film that overlays Pam's antics onto clips from the late lamented Jack Orman (JAG, ER, Shades Of Blue) 2011 series Pan Am, anyone in the crowd, like yours truly, not familiar with Reid's alter-egotist gets her gist very well. Seeing Pam from a decade ago cracking wise to a dreamy Colin Donnell and a perpetually perplexed-looking Christina Ricci warms and warns the room regarding what is about to happen. Her nasty insinuations and deadpan outrageousness make it clear that all passengers should buckle up for the turbulence ahead. Fellow comedian, Alan Carr's recorded introduction then brings on the Pam of today. Styled to the 9's in a FAB 60's kitsch blue stewardess suit with white gloves, amazing makeup, and a 12lb wig, it is easy to understand why many would think Pam was indeed a drag act... and indeed she is; a drag act performed by a woman in drag. Launching into a barrage of joke laden observations about everything from politics to perversions, from travel aphorisms to her own Covid waistline (PS - she looks great) the entire evening progressed through a stream of innuendo that had her fans rolling and saying her lines with her, and herein is where Bobby must bring some rain with the rainbow and add a cup of critic to this critique... While the lady is funny, her act ultimately felt like an inside joke with those of the "Pam unenlightened" on the outside. Whether it was her long and winding tale about travel with 3 of her cracked out gays, or her reveling in her comedically inappropriate profiling of various audience members with foreign-language-sounding double talk, the people in the house who seemed able to take the entire flight with Pam were those avid fans who were more than a few drinks in. Those of us on the sober train who had never taken this flight were left a bit in the lurch. In the final analysis, if Bobby may analyze here, it seems the act needs a refuel. It might behoove Reid to do what tennis pros do when their game sags a bit and go back to lesson #1. Perhaps get back to her notebooks and some off-the-beaten-path basement comedy corners where she can try out new stuff, fail, try more, and add some new stones to her yellow brick road of the air.

And speaking of new material, this was the feeling we got from our final comedienne of the summer, Rita Lamar. Billed as a headliner and booked in with 2 (count them 2) opening acts at Don't Tell Mama - La Lamar, an out and proud Big L in the LGBTQ+ community, graciously gave the first 30 minutes to her musical openers and took the final 20 minutes for herself. The music of the group, They Call Me Lucy, had a jammin' eclectic, bluesy, rock-with-heart feel that made one think they are more than worthy of a night on stage all to themselves. Tight vocals and deceptively easy-sounding accompaniment by guitar and bass made the ladies of Lucy a more than easy-to-listen-to trio. Following Lucy came the solo musical stylings of Andrew Lange V (don't ask Bobby if that is a letter V or a 5 cuz we dunno). This coffee house veteran player, third on the bill at Arlene's Grocery troubadour who writes his own songs, VERY quickly proved that his opening act days should be few and his billing deserves a fat promotion to the top. Generating laughs with his self effacing affability and total transparency as an artist, Lange V kept us all laughing between songs by just being himself and then gave us music that simultaneously seemed smooth and easy but with a taught sense of personal danger. Watching Andrew V play and sing leaves one with the feeling that the music is everything to him even in his newest composition he touted as being only, "Hours old." Andrew Lange V is definitely a singer-songwriter to check out, and if you find out what the V means, drop Bobby a line.

The trouble with having an opening act that generates as many laughs, unintentionally, as the pleasant but edgy Andrew Lange V is; you must bring your comedy A-game to follow. For Rita Lamar, a good old-fashioned set up the joke, deliver the punchline comic, her A-game seemed to be eluding her. For the first half of her set, a profound sense that new material was being worked out prevailed owing to a certain hesitancy of delivery and her use of the pages on the music stand placed between her and her audience. Now Bobby is ALL for comedians working out new bits and we also believe that it is a privilege to be in the house when a gifted funny person tanks it. Failure is what makes comedy happen the next time or the next time. However, failure was not where Rita landed. Fortunately for her, if she were INDEED bringing new stuff to the Original Room at DTM, it seemed to be in a middle state between, as the comics say "Eating $&!+" and catching fire; not quite fully baked, but still funny enough for the stage. Now, if Bobby is, heaven forfend, wrong (GAY GASP!), and this first 10-minutes was NOT new dough being kneaded, then Rita needs to take our suggestion to Pam Ann and go back to the beginning and find the fire. After her initial 10 though she relied less on the pages and things became more smooth sailing. In all your rainbow reviewer would say that Rita Lamar is a veteran performer, a fellow member of the LGBTQ+ club, and more than worthy of being a stand-up that can fall down and still make us laugh - and so, for our trips into comedyland we must break out our scores and give...

Pam Ann A Solid 3 Out Of 5 Rainbows

AND

Rita Lamar A Slightly Shakier 3 Out of 5 Rainbows

Keep Up With Pam Ann On Her Webby: HERE

Tweet Her Twitters: HERE

Stalk Her Insta PictoGrams: HERE

Ande Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

They Call Me Lucy Spins Their Webbysite: HERE

Ande Their Olde FaceBooke Is: HERE

Follow Andrew Lange V On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

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