| Review -- Dustin Diamond Live Feb. 15, 2003 Standup comedy is always better live than on record or on TV, and I guess thats a good thing for the case of Dustin Diamond, 26 year old former child star, Saved By the Bell's Samuel "Screech" Powers. Seeing "the white Urkel" live was if anything, awkward. I had felt that I had grown up with Diamond and the SBTB gang, and its weird seeing him in a new environment, not doing the squeaky high pitched voice, not wearing suspenders, not airing his grievances to Kevin the Robot. (Man he hated Kelly Kapowski, didn't he?) I had walked into Yuk Yuks this Valentines Day not expecting much. Like most people there, I just went to "go see Screech". I didn't care if he ended up sucking or not. It was something weird to tell people you saw, and it would be good to just see the Man anyway. I was wrong. I now want Dustin Diamond to succeed in his chosen craft. He can do it. I know he can. Dustin Diamond is moderately funny, which is damn good for a standup comedian these days. Dustin is very animated and jumpy on stage. Visually, he's doing everything right. He's very enthusiastic in his performance. His material isn't the strongest, but Dustin is really into this stuff (he's been doing it for 4 years now), and with a few tweaks, people could go see him for the show itself and not for who he is (or who he was). Seated about 6 inches from stage and less than a three feet from Diamond himself, I found myself really rooting for him to kick ass, wanting him to kill up there. To Diamonds credit, at this point in his career, having some blue humor in the show is a good idea. Its been keeping Bob Saget busy for years, bringing out audiences just to see America's dad swear. Dustin's smart to tap into this idea, and its funny at times, way better than Saget's that`s for sure. Sometimes its funny because its Screech and he's saying "cock", and sometimes its just plain funny. Sometimes however, its less funny because its Screech. And only because it feels like he's not being himself, at least not as much as should be. For him to come out and only do bathroom humor (which is fine), proving to everyone he's a grownup now is selling himself short. Sure, I know his 'observational humor' about swamp balls and the Drippy Penis is true and pretty funny, but this type of humor, aside from a few Bayside jokes, is his entire act. Dustin Diamond is a nerd in real life, just as his character was. And thats okay, really. Diamond loves chess more than anything, is smart, his band Salty the Pocket Knife is a big part of his life, he's obsessed with 80s cartoons like Thundercats, GI Joe (he was sporting a GI Joe shirt that night), he listens to Frank Zappa and Mr. Bungle. He watches wrestling+g. He's a weird nerd. Theres so much potential material there. The people coming to his show are pretty much the same age as him. If he was more himself rather than the same piss and shit jokes so many others do, he'd have a great set rather than just an okay one. His show was at his best when it seemed more improvised and was telling more personal stories about kids coming up to him in the supermarket, and being in Las Vegas. When he was himself, it was interesting the same way Henry Rollins' personal stories resonate. Oh well, its enough to make a living on I guess, enough to go on a tour, but probably not enough to base a new career around. I believe Dustin's smart enough to figure this out someday. Dustin was able to score off of hecklers a bit. Some people really came with that freak show mentality and made it obvious by constantly yelling "You were Screech!" and "Where's Belding?" . It wasn't funny, and Diamond mocked them in a mentally challenged voice, mocking them for going for the most obvious Saved by the Bell references. By the end, as much as he tried to maybe turn some of the crowd off, change their opinion of him, I still found Dustin to be the same likable nerd he always was. He seems like a really good guy. And he's got a good attitude, a lot of drive, and I really respect that. But his act still needs some tweaking. |
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