The Daily Collegian

Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Arts & Living

Media Credit: Matthew Harrison/Collegian

Last year, the University of Massachusetts was treated with two great shows from Lewis Black and Jim Breuer. This year's First Week '08 Comedy Night featured two comedians who appeared together on Chappelle's Show.

Although Tropical Storm Hanna kept most of the student body calling Wings and D.P. Dough from the comfort of their dorms, many others made the soggy trek to the Fine Arts Center to see comedians Bill Burr and Charlie Murphy take the stage.

Canton native Burr made his name by appearing on Chappelle's Show and Comedy Central Presents. He also just recently had a one-hour Comedy Central special called "Bill Burr: Why Do I Do This?" which aired on Aug. 31.

Joining him on Chapelle's Show was Murphy, who is more commonly known as Eddie Murphy's older brother. He is also noted as a writer for the box-office flop "Norbit," and had roles in "King's Ransom" and "Roll Bounce."

The two have been touring on and off together for more than five years. The show was hosted by comedian Freeze Love, who was first to take the stage in the partially filled FAC. He got the audience's blood flowing by making fun of his weight issue and his unorthodox ethnicity. Once his short bit was done, he introduced Burr, who electrified the auditorium with his crass, controversial humor about the elderly, race and sudden urges to clip people on the sidewalk, among other things.

The greatest parts of Burr's set were not in the jokes his fans knew or the monologues he rehearsed, but rather the improvisation that turned out to be the majority of his act. A few unlikely events occurred during Burr's allotted time on stage that turned an annoyance into stomach cramping laughter.

About 15 minutes into the act, an alarm started going off. The incessant beeping was inevitably not going to stop, so rather than allow it to get on his nerves, Burr made light of the situation. He told the audience that he thought "an invisible bus was going to back-up into [him] on the stage."

As it turned out, the alarm was to be out-done by someone who pre-gamed a bit too hard before the show. The young man vomited a few times in the first row and stumbled out of the theater not to be seen again. This, of course, became comedic fodder for Burr, who ensued in making fun of the puker and reminiscing on a few college yak stories of his own.

Burr's performance bested Black's and Bruer's previous shows, but Murphy had still yet to come out to prove himself. Buffering the two acts, Freeze Love made a second appearance, and treated the audience's curiosity to the truth behind the mystery alarm.

Continued...

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