The lovely Brinke Stevens and I are back from an evening in The Velvet Martini Room at Vitello's, one of the better Italian restaurants in our fair city. That room is the latest remodel/reconfiguration of their upstairs performance space and it's quite a beautiful location now, designed more like a plush living room than a theater. We enjoyed the fine Vitello's chow then saw three comedians — two opening acts and the headliner, Dana Gould.
A simple, no frills recommendation: If Dana comes anywhere near you — he'll be in Portand, Oregon this weekend — go see this man. It isn't just that he's funny, though that would be enough. But like most of my favorite comics, he's funny in a way all his own. It's a smart funny, based on the assumption that you're smart enough to get all the references and to appreciate all the weirdness he finds in the world.
Brinke and I laughed continuously his entire time on stage — and almost all of what he did was new to me, a devout fan of his work. I've been disappointed any number of times to go see a comedian perform live and what he does is everything that he did on his last special or album. We both had a real good time.