2012)

7 May

When I heard that there was going to be a Trailer Park Boys live show locally at The Egg in Albany, I immediately bought a ticket. Trailer Park Boys is a show that I have been drunkenly plowing through for the past three months. I was unsure as to how Ricky, Julian and Bubbles would pull off a live performance, but I figured that they had a better shot than most television comedians because some of the funniest moments in the show are seemingly off-the-cuff exchanges between characters. I could not have anticipated what I saw the other night.

The Egg actually turned out to be a really cool venue for the show. The crowd was an interesting mix. A split right down the middle between white collar kids and white trash adults. One dude down in the orchestra pit was decked out in Green Bastard gear. There was also one kid who had shaved a makeshift horseshoe haircut and dressed up like Jim Lahey to rile everyone up. That’s dedication.

I did adhere to the no photo/video policy, though I think I may have been the only one. I was there though…

And with a great seat! A 111 is the first row behind the orchestra pit.

* * *

The show began as an anti-drug and alcohol puppet show that the boys were meant to put on for community service hours in order to avoid jail time. That is, it began after the sound of a bubbling bong roared through the auditorium and a huge plume of smoke came from behind the black puppet stage curtain. Not long after, the puppet show was abandoned and Ricky (“high as fuck”), Julian and Bubbles began an all over the place comedic performance that bordered on total absurdity but didn’t disappoint: a slideshow of how much of an asshole Ricky had been that day, a handful of Bubbles originals sung with guitar, a magic show and “The Biggest Party Girl in Albany” contest. Oh, and of course copious F-bombs.

The most surprising element of the show was the amount of interaction with the crowd. I had expected brief exchanges between the boys and the crowd, like Julian telling whomever called him “Patrick Swayze” to “Fuck off!,” but prior to intermission they had already gotten at least fifteen girls from the crowd up on stage to be “hippotized” by Ricky. Convinced that the entire audience was hypnotized, Bubbles ordered half the audience to chant “Cock!” and the other half “Tractor!” I don’t think I had ever heard an elderly woman scream “Cock!” at the top of her lungs and I doubt that I ever will again.

In the second half of the show, the boys recruited two guys to be their Cory and Trevor (lackeys). When Julian asked for a pasty, lanky 6-foot plus piece of shit (Trevor) I had my hand way up there, but unfortunately for naught. Julian and Bubbles constantly berated the two guys who were selected after giving them a doo rag and t-shirt/wig respectively. “I think they’re actually stupider than the real Cory and Trevor…” The lucky new Cory and Trevor spent the majority of the second half of the show helping the boys facilitate the live show.

The most entertaining bit by far was “The Biggest Party Girl in Albany” contest which Julian was capturing with a live camera. They assembled a couple of girls on stage for three rounds of competition. Round 1: Who can roll the best joint? The whole time Ricky joked about how women can’t roll joints, and truth be told, they were horrible. Round 2: Bobbing for Turds! Bubbles had come up with a game that he thought should replace “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” at kids’ birthday parties. The contestants had to try and bob for fun-size Milky Way bars in litter boxes filled with oats. Round 3: The Chug-Off. Ricky passed out tallboys of Miller Lite for the girls to pound as fast as they could. It was hilarious and painful to watch. One of the girls ran back stage to regain her composure (puke) and Julian tried to follow along with the “puke cam.” When the girl slinked from behind the curtain laughing, Julian told Ricky “How about normal beers next time you fucking dumbass?” The one one who managed to finish her beer was crowned the Biggest Party Girl in Albany and awarded some Smart Pop popcorn and a pack of gum.

* * *

Like I said, the show was all over the place, but it’s absurdity wasn’t a turn-off. The crowd was never sure of what would come next and when whatever it was did come (complete with a boat load of cussing) they found themselves laughing more often than not. And for what it’s worth, all three of the boys stayed in character for the duration of the show, even down to Bubble’s jaw-jutted singing of “Liquor and Whores.”

If the Trailer Park Boys are playing a live show near you, I wholly endorse buying tickets for you and yours, particularly if it’s a smaller venue. You might just end up on stage with Ricky, Julian and Bubbles!

Aside: I couldn’t stay out late as it was a Thursday night and I had work on Friday morning, but I’ve heard that the boys like to go out in town and party in character after the shows. I found fellow SHH contributor Andee at the show during intermission and we went out for a couple of drinks with some friends after the show. I’m not sure if the the Trailer Park Boys went out afterwards (there was another paid meet and greet), but who knows where the night could have taken us? Worst case scenario would have been jail and if the Trailer Park Boys have taught me anything, you can still party in jail.