I ’m not asking this because of the random psychotic email blast or prevailing demeanor of online commenters (please keep brightening my day!), but does anyone in Boise have a sense of humor?
Laughter, it seems, is bad business in this town.
First, the Funny Bone Comedy Club withered away. Then its Downtown replacement, Hijinx, shuddered and croaked. And now, in a development nearly as predictable as a Dane Cook skit, Chuckles Comedy Cabaret has flatlined.
Chuckles, a modest, one-day-a-week set-up at nightclub China Blue, 100 S. 6th St., was launched in March. The last comic was yanked off stage by the proverbial cane two weekends ago.
“I was frustrated with the talent,” owner Ted Challenger says. “There were some (comedians) where I’d watch a show and they wouldn’t even get a laugh.”
Oh, so wait: We Boiseans do have a sense of humor. It’s the comedians that stink. This is actually more than a little plausible, considering that Chuckles’ comics were routed through town by an out-of-state agency.
“They seemed to bring all the same Northwest comedians,” Challenger complains.
To make business matters worse, Boiseans historically are a tough crowd to lure to a live comedy show.
“We tried everything to sell tickets,” Challenger says. “Group rates, Living Social, buy-one-get-one-free. Still, it was always a lot of work.”
China Blue still will book occasional touring performers such as J. Medicine Hat — gotta admit, I don’t get his act at all — and other special events. (The Chippendales are coming in October, girls.) Which brings us to the explanation for the ridiculous headline above this column ...
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Flaaaavor Flaaaaav! Yeah, that guy. The hype man with the gold teeth, clock necklace and failed fried chicken restaurant. The scrawny dude who had a special connection with Amazon woman Brigitte Nielsen. The star of reality-TV shows “The Surreal Life” and “Flavor of Love.” And member of a little rap act called Public Enemy.
He’s headed to China Blue.
Flav will emcee the club’s eighth anniversary bash Sept. 17.
What will Flav do besides strut around for three hours shrieking his name? Probably not much. That said: Yeaaaaah boooooooy!
Tickets are $20. Call 384-5653 for tickets and table reservations.
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So where’s everybody heading in Boise to tie one on these days?
That would be China Blue and its downstairs pal Dirty Little Roddy’s, according to the Idaho State Liquor Dispensary’s annual bar sales report. (Yeah, I know, what is this, the official China Blue column?)
The liquor dispensary’s assessment of fiscal year 2011, which ended in June, tracks money spent and number of bottles sold. Beer and wine aren’t part of the equation, but the report still definitely sheds light on which bars are jamming through drinks and making bank.
China Blue/Roddy’s spent $270,218 — the most in the Valley — on 18,172 bottles of booze to serve its happy customers.
The report also illustrates which bars serve hangover-in-a-bottle booze vs. snobby premium liquor. For example, the Cactus Bar spent $102,911 on 11,537 bottles. Conversely, The Matador scratched a check for close to twice that much for just 9,408 bottles.
If you want to dissect the entire statewide breakdown of bar purchases, check out the 20-page report on my blog.
A few weeks ago, when I noticed that instrumental-rock band Explosions in the Sky was performing on Sept. 11 in Boise, it dawned on me that it might be a good time for the group to take a day off.
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In Boise, it might not raise much of a fuss. But NBC New York posted an online article about it this week, including a photo of the marquee at the Egyptian Theatre.
What do you think? Should the band cancel its show? Should the promoter cancel the show?
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Here’s the short version of what I posted recently on my blog about the spring Arbitron radio ratings, which measure listener share: Country station 97.9 KQFC finished No. 1 in the bragging-rights category, listeners 12 and older. Mix 106 took No. 1 in the demographic coveted by advertisers, listeners 25 to 54.
Michael Deeds co-hosts “The Other Studio” at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM “The River”; he appears Thursdays on Channel 6 News. Twitter: @IDS_Deeds
