REVIEW: Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me LIVE!

the wife and i went to the steve allen theater last night for a show. yes, it was "date night." and what better way to celebrate our marital bliss than by listening to comics talk about their past failed attempts at romance? it was ben karlin's (the onion, the daily show, the colbert report) "things i've learned from women who've dumped me LIVE!"

overall, a very good show... patton oswalt hosted and while i don't always love him (he's a bit too nerd-cranky for me), he did a funny set about going to the oscars and other topical stuff. the only distraction was that i kept thinking to myself, "what does this have to do with learning from women who've dumped him?" i guess his set wasn't supposed to connect. anyhoo... larry wilmore (creator of "the bernie mac show" and now SENIOR black correspondent for "the daily show") read an abridged piece with a title something along the lines of "women are never too young to hurt you." it was basically a diary of the first year of his daughter's life... and how she hated her dad. nothing riveting and SPOILER ALERT he still loves her a year later. david wain (the state, stella, wainy days) did a hysterical staged reading with kerri kinney and david krumholz of wain's attempted wooing of a girl that defines the word "flake." i can already anticipate the wife and i saying "okay then, just keep me in the loop" whenever we have phone conversations that already finalize our plans. rodney rothman (former letterman writer) presented, via iChat, an animated piece of a phone call he had with jessica, a girl he's had a crush on since high school and a girl who does NOT remember making out with rodney years ago. bob odenkirk (mr. show) kicked ass with a faux-seminar coaching people to put 9 years (!!!) into a relationship before bailing. and OK Go provided the live music.

3 out of 4 readings were hysterical. wilmore's was still all right - just not my cup of tea. the music was decent - though i could've done with hearing a couple more songs since i'm probably never gonna get such an intimate OK Go show. and patton oswalt was really funny throughout the night. i highly recommend going if they continue putting these shows up in NYC or LA... but since the "cast" rotates, be sure to make sure you like the people reading that night.

http://www.steveallentheater.com/dumped
& http://www.amazon.com/Things-Learned-Women-Whove-Dumped/dp/0446580694