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News & Notes: the last laugh, and a few more

By A.L. Adams
April 28, 2014
Culture, News & Notes

What’s been happening on the funny scene (and a little bit of music, too) in the past few days:

Saturday Night Live vet Norm Macdonald made a surprise appearance at the Funhouse Lounge’s monthly Midnight Mass comedy showcase following his show at Helium, and the room was apparently too star-struck to push back at a set that made him sound more like SNL’s “drunk uncle” than a savvy master of mirth. Red Dress Party ears must’ve burned as Macdonald gleefully slammed the “T” faction of the “LGBT” community and waved off “progressivism” as “stuff we’re gonna think is okay in the future.” (The future is now, and in it, Macdonald’s humor has ceased to be funny.)

Standup Chuck Roy … Bear with him.

Standup Chuck Roy … Bear with him.

Touring comic Chuck Roy, aka “Bear,” also popped into Mass to test Portland’s unholy waters for his one-hour special taping at Alberta Rose the following (Sunday) night. Between merciless heckler shutdowns and boasts about the virtues of his “girlfriend Steve” (or was it “Scott?”) Bear gave us a hot tip on the best “gay rave” he’s ever attended: a UFC fight.

Kevin Leigh Robinson, formerly the percussive half of the transcendent pop duo Viva Voce, debuted his solo act, Kaylee Rob, at Habesha Lounge, complete with psychedelic wall projections of glowing kaleidoscope patterns and vintage animation.

Action/Adventure Theater closed its four-week Sidekicks series with a cliffhanger: corrupt TV reporter Penelope Price got possession of the “Power Cube,” reviving its evil creator, Professor W. Lights out on evil laughter and a “To Be Continued…?” More on the theater’s ever-more-TV-like approach soon…

HBO comedy show host John Oliver poked fun at Portland in general, and Laura Gibson’s “Cover Oregon” TV spots in particular, lobbying folkstress Lisa Loeb for a spoof of Gibson’s “violently adorable” song.

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