Stand-up at the Rialto
Dave Attell tells tales
By Gerald M. Gay
ggay@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.16.2008
Comedian Dave Attell is looking forward to his Friday night show at the Rialto Theatre.
"For some reason there are way too many hot girls in that area of the country," he said in a phone interview last week. "It's like the tanning factor brings them in."
Attell can't remember the last time he performed in Tucson, if ever. The Tempe Improv is his usual stop in Arizona.
The New York comic, known best for his days on the nightlife series "Insomniac," returned to television late last year with his HBO comedy special, "Captain Miserable." Over the summer he hosted a revival of "The Gong Show" on Comedy Central. Here are five things we learned about Attell:
Despite his success on "Insomniac," he finds stand-up easier. "('Insomniac') was pretty intense. With stand-up you walk in, do your act, hang out, talk to the people a bit and then you are done. 'Insomniac' went on forever. It was neverending waiting for the sun to come up.
"It is fun to go back to towns where you've been and see how much it has changed. Every place should have its own flair, its distinct kind of scene. Now, we live in a world of chains and theme restaurants. It makes it harder for a show like that, but let's face it: Drinking is drinking wherever you do it."
Attell saw his HBO special as a dream come true. "HBO is a great place to do those specials. You can do whatever you want on HBO. It is very liberating for the comic, especially the dirty comic.
"I'll have new material in Tucson. Once I put jokes on a DVD or CD, I try not to do them as much. Otherwise, I'm like Jimmy Buffett, doing the same jokes over and over for decades."
He's ready to vote. "This has gone on way too long. We've been thinking about this, seeing the same people, for at least a year now. If you haven't made up your mind by now, I don't think you should be allowed to vote. We live in exciting times. With the war, natural disasters and now the financial thing. We couldn't take any more issues, unless aliens actually landed on the planet.
Attell is a regular on the USO circuit. "I try to do one week a year. I feel it is the very least I can do as long as they want me. It is a little disappointing to them since I'm not super famous. The worst part about it is getting there. You are on military time, not drunk comedy time. It is a lot of early mornings.
"They've never told me what I can't do. But I have to say, they like it dirty."
He thought the "Gong Show" could have been better. "On an Olympic scale, I would give it a bronze to a high silver. I don't think we really hit it because there were a lot of things we wanted to do. It was a very quick startup and there wasn't much chance to reinvent the show. Everybody has an idea of what the 'Gong Show' was. It would be like re-doing 'Happy Days' in high definition.
"I don't know if they will pick it up again. It is hard to do a show on a network where I did another show. For people to go, 'Hey! that's that drinking, traveling around guy. Now he is wearing a suit and talking to a juggler. What is this?'
"It kind of threw some of my crowd off, but they have to get over it. C'mon. I'm not Gilligan."
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