REVIEW: Comedian Brian Regan brings silliness, goofiness for one-night only set in Des Plaines

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

Sporting a hefty white beard, and almost unrecognizable, the notoriously clean and clean-shaven comedian, “Alright let’s talk about this, I got lazy,” Brian Regan delivered a bunch of new material in a set that had the audience in stitches at the 900-seat Des Plaines Theater Thursday, Aug. 8.

From the intimidation of taking a photo on a cruise ship, to three-cheese pizza, “Doesn’t it just become one cheese? Oh I can taste the sharpness of the cheddar,” to 3-1-1 calls of urgency vs. emergency, to ridiculous newspaper headlines, or having “memory problems,” the comedian delivered in full energy the humor that puts him in the “comedian’s comedian” category. He’s the opposite of the notoriously dirty Dave Attell, also a comedy legend.

A 30-year-career will do that.

Punchline after punchline, bit after bit, Des Plaines got to experience a big shot like Regan talk about trying to get into voice-over work, including thinking he would do a better job than Morgan Freeman on the “March of the Penguins.”

“Relax, he’s not here.” “Ok, so the one penguin is waddling …” That type of thing in his signature Regan silliness. He joked about morning radio trying to get as much as possible out of him. “Ok, one more Brian,” going into an extended bit about the format of the station and what music they play, and, in the end, who cares? It’s just “RADIO,” he screamed.

This was the same Brian everyone loves. Goofy, insightful, playful with the audience, watching his jokes land or not, seeing where he is, where he can take it, and just showing that he is one of the best in the business.

The audience appeared to be more of the older, married crowd. Ya know, 7:30 p.m. on a Thursday, in Des Plaines, myself included.  But there were some younger folks who were fans. A heckler shouted about an old bit he used to do, “The Big Yellow One is the Sun,” about a solar system project in school, (This kid can’t even zip up his pants, and he built a volcano?) which the comedian took in stride.

“I appreciate you know that bit. Didn’t think I’d have to incorporate it into this bit,” Regan said something to that effect.

“I can’t believe he’s playing Des Plaines,” a show-goer said. “I saw him at the Chicago Theater, but I guess this will be a more intimate experience.”

And it was.

The theater doesn’t have a bad seat in the house.

I guess you need it with a comedian like Regan, who uses facial expressions and act-outs, but the video screen behind him made him look like he was a red-faced alcoholic, or a roadie for Molly Hatchet. I don’t think Regan even drinks. And if he does, the badly tinted video images were different on screen than the Regan who was on the stage. An animated, silver-haired man who exuded such professionalism in his craft that had the audience laughing to no end.

Regan talked about taking ridiculous pictures people take and their reliance on cell-phones (Ok, let’s do one in front of a restaurant sign, get away, so we can take a picture and let’s make those people wait on both sides of the sidewalk), to vacation snobs, the term “not a racist bone in my body,” (well this X-ray shows something else), truth in social media, flat-Earthers and traveling (around the world), and the little idiosyncrasies we all share in life.

Most of this new material will likely end up in another special, and many streaming viewers will be in for a treat when he shoots one (unless he already did). Even if he does sport that new beard, perhaps it’s the new evolution of Brian Regan we all need. Maybe he’ll call it “Memory Problems.”

Regan came out at the end for an encore and said he is thinking of a new app, so people can fund their dreams. It’s called “GoFundYourself.”

That was as dirty as he got during the show.

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