Brad Garrett’s stand-up falls flat at Fallsview Casino
NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Standing tall at nearly 6 feet 9 inches, comedian Brad Garrett performed his stand-up act at the Avalon Theatre in the Fallsview Casino Resort on Thursday night, though I think we all would have been better off if he hadn’t.
Garrett’s role on “Everybody Loves Raymond” as Robert Barone, the deep-voiced, self-pitying brother of Raymond, won him three Emmy Awards. Over the course of the show’s nine seasons, which were beloved by fans and critics alike, Garrett made audiences fall in love with his character. But the Garrett that audiences saw Thursday night at the Fallsview was dramatically different than the one they know so well from “Raymond.”
Gone was the lovable, sad brother from the famed sitcom, and in its place was a crude, obscene and unlikable man. Garrett’s act relied heavily on jokes about gender, age, sexual orientation and, most frequently, race. While these are subjects that most comedians derive material from, Garrett simply took it too far. If you make a career out of being funny, you should hold the ability to find material that isn’t based on tired stereotypes. Not only was his act offensive, it was simply not funny.
Though he warned the audience a number of times about his style, (“I’m not going to be p. c., we’re all flawed.”), he failed to display any respect for the crowd. He actually began patronizing a Chinese man in the audience. I can’t say for sure how the man reacted, but I was certainly turned off.
When Garrett learned the man was Chinese, he first asked him where his camera was, and then asked what he did for a living. When the man told Garrett he owned a business, he responded with: “What? Massage? Rubby Rubby? Lovey Lovey?”
What concerned me more than Garrett’s hideous act was how much some audience members seemed to love it. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed to be sitting among so many people who were happy to watch other audience members be ridiculed.
The few funny moments of the night were stolen by Garrett’s spot-on impression of his old co-star, Ray Romano.
“You know what he told me the other day? He said ‘You look like Greg Brady and Herman Munster had a child,’ ” Garrett said in his best Romano voice.
He then, however, quickly returned to the dull drone that characterized the evening.
“I rented that movie where
the plane crashes into a mountain and they resort to cannibalism,” Garrett said. “Every time I’m on a plane now, I look around to see who I’ll eat first. That’s why I hate those flights to New York. How many nights can you eat Chinese?”
While a large portion of the audience ate up the act, there were many who seemed taken aback. An elderly woman in the audience caught the attention of Garrett.
“She’s like, ‘Where’s Robert? I thought we were seeing Robert,’ ” Garrett said of the woman. “Robert’s dead, ma’am.”
Too bad.
REVIEW
WHO: Brad Garrett
WHEN: Thursday night; another performance at 9 tonight
WHERE: Avalon Theatre of Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, Ont.
