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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1999)
/VT|> j-HNTE rta1 n m F.NT Wttkeadn Preview The following is a briefguide to weekend events. Please call venues for more information. CONCERTS: Duffy's, 1412 O. Sl Sunday: Marlee MacLeod with Melee and Thomas Irvin Duggan ’v Pub, 440 S. 11th Sl Friday: Owen Mutch and the Debtors Saturday: Flyin’ Blind with Skinny Logan Knickerbockers, 901 O St, Friday: 6 to 9 p.m. Catch 22,10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Spelling Tuesday Complete 180° Saturday: Meelee and Picknee Mo Java Cafe, Suite D, 2649 N. 48th Sl Friday: 8 to 10 p.m. Mark Lowe The Royal Grove, 340 W. Cornhusker Hwy. Friday and Saturday: GesWerk Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St Friday and Saturday: Baby Jason and the Spankers THEATER: Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater, 12th and R streets All weekend: “Slam” Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P streets Sunday: “Easter Parade” starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland Lied Center for Performing Arts, 12th and R streets All weekend: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” Lincoln Community Playhouse, 2500 S. 56th SL All weekend: “Birth Mark” Star City Dinner Theatre, 803 QSl All weekend: “Closer Than Ever” University of Nebraska-Line oln, Studio Theatre, Temple Building, 12th and R streets All weekend: “Childe Byron” GALLERIES: Burkholder Project, 719 P Su Friday and Saturday: “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” “Places in Europe” Gallery 9,124 S. Ninth St All weekend: “Fruits of Passion” Haydon Gallery, 335 N. Eighth St, Suite A Friday and Saturday: “Jazz Photographers” Joslyn A rt Museum, 2200 Dodge St, Omaha All weekend: “Dali’s Mustache: A Photographic Interview by Salvador Dali and Philippe Halsman” Noyes A rt Gallery, 119 S. Ninth St Friday and Saturday: recent works by Amy Sadie, Carol Sexton, Steve Settles, John Gillett, Olive Bishop, Bonnie Goochey Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, 12th and R streets All weekend: “Icons of Public Memory: Photographs from the College of Journalism” Nebraska spawns own comic talent By Josh Krauter Staff writer Jim Kuddes saunters to the microphone. He's dressed in black from head to toe. A large, sil ver belt buckle reflects off the stage lights. He’s puff ing a cigar. One expects him to belt out “Folsom Prison Blues” or “Ring of Fire.” Instead, this bastard child of Johnny Cash and Robin Williams unleashes a string of jokes about politics, sex and the photographer taking his picture. Kuddes, who first started comedy five years ago, is now the first comedian on stage for Duffy’s Comedy Ryan Soderun/DN ARLO STONE OF OMAHA works the crowd Monday night at Duffy’s Comedy Night. Stone said he started in Omaha and is now working as a comedian in Los Angeles. Night, which takes place every other Monday around lOp.m. “I had been going out to Duffy’s with friends, and I was in the audience for three years before I got on stage,” he says. Comedy is just a hobby for Kuddes, albeit a pas sionate one. “I do comedy more as sanity maintenance,” he says. “It's a release.” That release may be needed from his day job. Kuddes is a self-described headhunter: He’s an execu tive recruiter for nationwide companies, such as Best Buy and Kmart. Kuddes is not the only career man in town moon lighting as a comic. Mark Patton, a special-education teacher at Lincoln Public Schools, has been gracing comedy stages off and on for the past 15 years. “It’s more of a sideline,” Patton says. “I’m not real ly interested in world tours or movie roles, but if some thing came along, I would explore it.” Patton’s stage demeanor is almost the exact oppo site of Kuddes’ swaggering confidence. He is self deprecating and makes fun of his own jokes when they bomb. His main target is himself and his sexual fail ures. Patton's casual street clothes and slight slouch in posture paint him as the “Everyloser” fans of comedy know so well. The loser disappears in conversation with Patton. He comes across as a genuine professional who can _ shrug off not-so-hot shows because he believes in his ability. His background in local drama led to an invitation to try comedy in a special production in the Haymarket. He’s been hooked ever since. The music man A guitar was Darrin Swanson’s tick et into comedy. When he first attended college, he would play his acoustic gui tar at parties. His song parodies got big laughs, and Swanson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln junior broadcasting major at the time, got bit by the comedy bug. He quit school but stayed with com edy. Now back at UNL, the non-tradi tional student has become a regular on the Dufly’s stage. “I’ve always used humor when I meet people, so I just decided to try com edy.” While his music act distinguishes him from the other comics, he manages to combine Kuddes’ confi dence with Patton’s average guy persona. Swanson’s act portrays him as a much more foul-mouthed and less nerdy “Weird Al” Yankovic. His parodies include odes to anal sex and hemorrhoids sung to the tune of the Kinks’ “Lola” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” respectively. “For me, (comedy) is just to keep the create.e process fresh,” he says. “I’m married. I want to finish school and do sports broadcasting. 1 do comedy on the side.” Not quitting their day jobs Keeping comedy a hobby and not a career is a pn “1 1 do comedy more as sanity maintenance. Jim Keddes onty for all three comics. They say they are satisfied with their day jobs and have no plans to change their lifestyles. They express interest in pursuing something if it dropped in their laps, but say they are happy where they are now. However, the comics still have to deal w ith the pit falls of the profession, including hecklers, bad venues and crowds who aren’t in nine with the material. “I was doing a bit about dating divorced w'omen with kids,” Knddes says. “This guy was drinking heav ily, and he somehow thought I was involved with his ex-wife. He started for the stage, and a couple of bar tendeis and comics had to restrain him.” Kuddes says his worst job was playing 1 ive-minute sets between dancers at The Night Before club in downtown Lincoln. The crowd was there to see the strip-tease acts, and a comedian was not the entertain ment they wanted. Swanson was once booked to play a country club in York, despite doing song parodies for audiences of a younger generation. He was assured the crowd would love his material but when he arrived, the youngest person in the room was 50. “I turned into Rich Little.” he says. “I’m terrible at impressions, but I was doing John Wayne just to get them to laugh.” Getting crowds to laugh is sometimes hard work, especially if a comic’s act is relatively gimmick-free. Patton’s simple stage show has been put to the test by competition from some wilder, hard-to-follow acts. “I’ve seen a guy smoke a tampon. I’ve seen a guy put electrodes to his groin,” he says. “One guy put vise grips on his genitalia at Noodles in Omaha.” All three comics have had to deal with hecklers, Please see COMEDY on 11