Neeeerds!

Saturday night at the Comedy Bar was the inaugural show for Nerdy Little Secret, a stand-up comedy show that supposed will cover all topics nerdy. It was a hit-and-miss affair with only the final head-liner, Fraser Young, being truly outstanding. Gavin Stephens made an amiable host and a deft improviser, able to riff on the audience's participation and reactions. The first two opening acts had too little material to work with. Blair Streeter's claim to nerd-dom was pointing out the ragging he got having a "girl's name", especially that of a rich spoiled brat from "Facts of Life". The 80s reference went over the heads of the mostly 20-something crowd. Deborah Etta Robinson's schtick is that she's "obviously cool" but her stories show otherwise. Not much laughter for either one.

A comedy singing duo, Nerds With Guitar, did better with songs about the various video-game or movie heroes and villains. Nerdy for sure. However, their song about "Date Rape" was a downer. The topic didn't fit with the evening's theme and was a bit uncomfortable, even if it had a Deliverance-like twist ending. The first headliner, Nile Sequin, also riffed on nerdy things like video games and comic books. He also covered more general topics like Stephen Harper and hipsters. He was batting about .500.

But the last act saved the night. Fraser Young's jokes consistently generated uproarious laughter. He understood the nerd condition and it's not video games, comic books, and such. Some nerds like video games but not all; some like Halo while others prefer old school Pacman. Not all nerds like comic books or sci-fi movies. The essence of the nerd is that his head is filled with all these "facts" gleaned from books, school, hobbies, etc. From them, he creates a set of rules by which things "ought to be" if people were more "logical" and "reasonable". And it's a continuing source of frustration that the real world is not like that.

In real-life, this world-view makes a nerd whiny, pedantic, bull-headed, anti-social and often irritating to other people (I should know). Fraser Young makes these complaints funny. He gets people to laugh at the idiocy of a person not knowing how to make change for $7.90 from a $10, the "scientific nonsense" of a drink labeled 0-Calorie Energy Boost, and the illogical vagueness in the steps of a how-to guide to a first kiss.

Speaking of kissing, I question the nerd credentials of these performers. They all mention having girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses. Nerds are supposed to be social misfits, gosh darn it. In fact, I stood next to the girlfriend of one of the Nerds With Guitar. She was a pretty red-head who, at 6 feet and heels, not only towered over me (not hard to do) but was several inches taller than him too. How did that pairing happen? Hmm, maybe the secret is to be funny. After all, Woody Allen didn't get Diane Keaton by being tall and handsome.