Paula Poundstone and Steven Wright joined together for a comic tour de force Friday night in Leede Arena that resulted in a top of-the-line stand-up comedy show for the enjoyment of the Dartmouth audience.
Leede was almost filled to capacity as students and many of their families filed in for an event at the top of the '99 Family Weekend roster. Many Hanover locals attended the show as well.
As expected, both comics kept to the familiar routines that made them famous.
Poundstone performed first, sporting suspenders and a bright red tie. She characteristically interacted a great deal with the audience, generating a spontaneous, crackling dialogue.
All looseness and ease, Poundstone greeted the crowd from the "University of Quaint" and said, "Hanover looks very nice. Someone must be working really hard."
Poundstone proceeded to cull members from the audience. Her "victims" ranged from an unknowing security guard she christened "Smokey the Bear" to a Hanover High School sophomore named Ashley, who was studying Latin.
Surprisingly, she did not heckle any Dartmouth students.
Some people who were unfamiliar with Poundstone's act were surprised and delighted by her interaction with the audience.
"I thought she was totally original," enthused Sondra Fine, a prospective from Maryland visiting the campus for the weekend.
Poundstone's conversation with the audience was interspersed with some set jokes about pets, children and sex.
She also vocalized her personal beliefs when she covered such issues as politics, claiming proudly that she was a "radical Democrat" and assisted suicide, saying "I believe in the right to die."
These comments elicted some approving applause from the audience.
Slightly tired from her flight from California to Lebanon, she joked about having been flown "overseas."
Poundstone also mentioned at the beginning of the show she was bothered by allergies.
Some students, such as Jim Gerhart '98 interpreted her slackness on stage as "indifference."
Don Conrad '99 agreed. He said, "She seemed disinterested since we weren't from some city like New York City."
Both said they had higher expectations from Steve Wright.
Upon entering the stage, the balding Wright, dressed in rumpled regalia, picked up a guitar and began strumming a series of short songs about absolutely nonsensical topics.
For instance, Wright sang about his friend Phil, who was killed playing checkers, and two dogs named Church and State.
"... You know the rest of the story," Wright crooned.
Few comics could pull off such a routine (Lisa Kudrow's character of Phoebe on the television show "Friends" comes to mind.)
Wright's deadpan delivery, continuous wisecracking and morose expression (he barely cracked a smile) proved to be the perfect combination.
Though Wright's act may not have been as inclusive of the audience as Poundstone's, he generated as many, if not more laughs.
Even some of his older lines such as about the foot falling asleep ("Is it going to be up all night?") which some may remember from his performance at Dartmouth in April 1994 were embraced by the audience.
