Hog's Big Ben
01-12-2007, 01:35 AM
‘Rocky’ tirade lifts Burr to YouTube stardom (http://theedge.bostonherald.com/lifeNews/view.bg?articleid=176620)
There is no such thing as bad publicity. It’s a motto comedian Bill Burr has lived by for the past four months.
In September, as part of shock jocks Opie and Anthony’s Traveling Virus Comedy Tour, Burr - who plays the Comedy Connection this weekend - was booed by 10,000 hard-partying Philadelphians at the Camden Tweeter Center. Not content to stand there and take it, nor to get off the stage, the Canton native unloaded a hilarious, obscenity-riddled set decrying Philly history. Breaking from his usual material, he hammered anything that popped into his head, from the Eagles to “Rocky” to the Liberty Bell. Naturally, the next day a video of the tirade appeared on YouTube and has been watched about 150,000 times since.
“The crowd has been drinking for, like, two hours before the show even started and they booed the first guy off stage,” said Burr from his New York City home. “Even the comics that were doing well were getting boos from the back. The ideal comedy show is 90 minutes long and I went on three hours and 15 minutes into the show.”
While free-association tirades aren’t a standard part of Burr’s act, the tell-off has already achieved near legendary status. Since the YouTube video hit the Web, Burr - who is best known for his work on “Chappelle’s Show” and HBO’s “One Night Stand” - has gotten congratulatory backslaps and e-mails from fans, fellow comics and folks in the Philly crowd.
“Philly is hilarious because so many people there loved what I did,” he said. “So many people want to curse out their boss or somebody and that’s what I tapped into.”
But sadists hoping Burr will go off on them at his Boston shows will be disappointed.
“The whole Philly thing is not a good example of what kind of comedian I am,” he said. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me before.”
Sorry, he just likes his hometown too much to give us an earful.
“I still love Boston,” he said. “And I need my friends and relatives to understand that. No more asking me if I’m a (expletive) Yankees fan every time I come home. I hate the (expletive) Yankees. I go to Yankees and Blue Jays games just to root against the Yankees and for the Blue Jays and I hate the (expletive) Blue Jays.”
Bill Burr, today and tomorrow at the Comedy Connection, Boston and Saugus. Tickets, $22.50-$27; 617-248-9700.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. It’s a motto comedian Bill Burr has lived by for the past four months.
In September, as part of shock jocks Opie and Anthony’s Traveling Virus Comedy Tour, Burr - who plays the Comedy Connection this weekend - was booed by 10,000 hard-partying Philadelphians at the Camden Tweeter Center. Not content to stand there and take it, nor to get off the stage, the Canton native unloaded a hilarious, obscenity-riddled set decrying Philly history. Breaking from his usual material, he hammered anything that popped into his head, from the Eagles to “Rocky” to the Liberty Bell. Naturally, the next day a video of the tirade appeared on YouTube and has been watched about 150,000 times since.
“The crowd has been drinking for, like, two hours before the show even started and they booed the first guy off stage,” said Burr from his New York City home. “Even the comics that were doing well were getting boos from the back. The ideal comedy show is 90 minutes long and I went on three hours and 15 minutes into the show.”
While free-association tirades aren’t a standard part of Burr’s act, the tell-off has already achieved near legendary status. Since the YouTube video hit the Web, Burr - who is best known for his work on “Chappelle’s Show” and HBO’s “One Night Stand” - has gotten congratulatory backslaps and e-mails from fans, fellow comics and folks in the Philly crowd.
“Philly is hilarious because so many people there loved what I did,” he said. “So many people want to curse out their boss or somebody and that’s what I tapped into.”
But sadists hoping Burr will go off on them at his Boston shows will be disappointed.
“The whole Philly thing is not a good example of what kind of comedian I am,” he said. “Nothing like that has ever happened to me before.”
Sorry, he just likes his hometown too much to give us an earful.
“I still love Boston,” he said. “And I need my friends and relatives to understand that. No more asking me if I’m a (expletive) Yankees fan every time I come home. I hate the (expletive) Yankees. I go to Yankees and Blue Jays games just to root against the Yankees and for the Blue Jays and I hate the (expletive) Blue Jays.”
Bill Burr, today and tomorrow at the Comedy Connection, Boston and Saugus. Tickets, $22.50-$27; 617-248-9700.