Saving the planet one joke at a time

One of the great things about living in New York is the ability to choose among many, many fun ways to spend an evening on a moment’s notice. I was invited to spend last night with some of my favorite former colleagues who are in town for a few days. Though I really wanted to catch up with them, I would have had to do it at an MH-sponsored cocktail party populated with many of my former nemeses. Even with my friends’ presence, it sounded like a mild form of torture, so I had to wriggle free.

Instead, Jen and I took advantage of this opportunity to see our favorite Daily Show correspondent, John Oliver, performing at Comix. It was actually a Greenpeace event, so we got to pat ourselves on the back for our philanthropy while also being entertained. I take public transportation or walk everywhere I go, and now this: I’m practically Al Gore’s right-hand woman in saving the planet. Fuck the fact that I love my air conditioner and leave my cell phone charger plugged in all the time, letting it do its vampiric energy sucking thing day in and day out.

We actually saw five comedians for the price of one (that math works because we were really there for J.O. and would have paid the twenty-five smackers just for him). One brought me right back to my Xanadu: On Broadway experience, not because he roller skated or channeled Electric Light Orchestra, but because the rest of the audience found him very, very funny, while Jen and I sat there trying to figure out what exactly was tickling everyone so much. In fairness, thanks to our suck-tastic waitress, the rest of the crowd was two drinks ahead of us at that point. John Oliver was definitely the highlight of the night, but one other comedian, Aziz Ansari, was actually just as funny in a very mock-the-hand-that-feeds-you sort of way. He riffed on the gift bag we all received at the event, Greenpeace itself, and MTV, which hosts his show, The Human Giant. I can’t remember the last time I watched MTV and won’t go searching for this show; if I happen to stumble across it while channel flipping, though, I’ll give it a try. And, of course, I’ll continue to love every time The Daily Show is smart enough to have John Oliver on instead of Jason Jones or Samantha Bee.