Shtupping the Light Fantastic

I'm not sure what to make of comedian Robert Klein these days.

Backtracking, I've always been a fan. I may have seen him perform in person close to a dozen times, although, truth be, I am counting the four or five occasions when I saw him star in my all-time favorite Broadway musical, "They're Playing Our Song." But, nevertheless, I've seen his stand-up a bunch of times and always enjoyed.

Indeed, I last saw him cracking wise down in San Diego a few years ago when he, Marvin Hamlisch, and Lucie Arnaz reunited for an evening of merriment and "They're Playing Our Song" memories. I recall that he was particularly on fire that night and I was in tears of laughter frequently.

So, last Saturday night, I went to see Klein at the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck, where he appears annually. Now, mind you, a friend who had seen him there previously gave me a warning.

"He gets a little too Jewish there."

Okay, message delivered.

And now that I saw it for myself, did he ever!!! Was this the Emelin Theater or the Improv of Tel Aviv?

I understand that he probably plays to the audience, which was your typical super liberal, Jewish, upper Westchester couple, out for the evening because they didn't particularly like what was in their Netflix red envelope at home. But, hello??? Or should I say, oy??????

Whereas I'm used to Robert Klein waxing funny on the human conditions and the little things in life like baggage handlers, supermarket packers, and Velveeta cheese, I got only a little of that Saturday night. The words "fuck" and "shtupp" were inserted into every punchline as if he was getting paid by the word from the Obscene Joke Society. Shtupp this. Fuck that. Shtupp her. Fuck you. It was like breakfast with Mel Brooks. There used to be so much more to Robert Klein than Borscht Belt comedy.

Now, I realize that he's an angry guy. I also know from people in the business that Klein is also not a very nice man. And he's gotten a lot worse in the past two decades since he had a very bitter and public divorce from that opera singer. But, still... The world is mad enough. We don't need more of it. And, while he's always been caustic, Klein now comes off as a bitter old Jewish man. Which he probably is in real life. The only problem is that doesn't necessarily make of a pleasant night of entertainment.

Another troubling side was a bizarre reliance on political humor, which I found a little offputting because that's never been Klein's forte. Clearly, he is liberal and played to the notion that the crowd was 100% sympatico. But, amazingly, most of those jokes landed with a thud. Sometimes a snicker, but never a guffaw. Were they also caught off guard by his humor? Or maybe the ultra-left-leaning throng is equally disturbed by the current Washington shenanigans and has gotten off the band wagon at the last stop? Or maybe, regardless of how you feel, the audience simply wants to go out for an evening of some angst-free entertainment. Who knows? But, there's nothing more unsettling than jokes that don't work.

I'm wondering now if Robert Klein is joining an ever-increasing list of things that just aren't as good as they used to be. Beats the shtupp out of me.

Dinner last night: Grilled hamsteak and salad.