|
|
Review - The Marijuana-logues March 2, 2012 7:30p.m. Published in the April 2012 RTT
Let’s just dive in and talk about the ‘Logues, starring Rob Cantrell, Dan Gabriel and Tony Camin. Was it good? I don’t know. The lover in me wants to say Yes! I really, really do! I just had a lot of trouble with parts of it and the consistent weed clichés--most of which I’d heard before in my personal life—and not emanating from a theatrical stage. I’ve lived it at points in my life. Hell, I remember when my great grandma got glaucoma and my mother tried to get her to smoke pot. Mom even gave her pot brownies to alleviate the pressure. But my grandma refused and told us she couldn’t [do it] because it was illegal. We’re talking Kona Gold here. I lived in Hawaii, in the 70’s as a kid. I know--trust me. I didn’t feel the need to join in the laugh track as most of the audience did, including a guy who looked like John Coffey from the movie The Green Mile. You know big, black, bald with a deep laugh that he used frequently. I really love all three of the comics that performed. Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing) is a white guy with an afro that will keep you laughing with his dry wit and scathing observational humor. Dan Gabriel, who told us his Facebook page profile picture was of a 13 year-old girl, has almost wholesome feel while making your skin crawl. Oh Tony Camin, where do I start? One of the original writers of The Marijuana- Logues, this Italian New Yorker will make you laugh your ass off. All the comics did mini-sets prior to The Logues that showed us just how funny they were. But once the actual show came on [heavy sigh] I just didn’t vibe it. I was even under the influence and still found that the weed innuendo wasn’t fresh to me. I did get some new names for weed like “Harry Potter,” “Mr. THC” and “Henry the Eighth.” But as far as the pace and tone, It felt kind of stale. I wanted to hear more of the good weed does; not that I worry about my pot dealer changing his number while living at his mom’s house, or a bad parent who would rather smoke weed than handle their child. I think shows like this make people who don’t smoke think all weed smokers do is slack off and get the munchies. Cheech and Chong is another example of bad weed connotations, suggesting that smoking weed makes you an irresponsible loser. History teaches us that some of the most productive innovators of our times smoked the sweet leaf: George Washington, Ben Franklin and Carl Sagan are great examples of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Einstein smoked the Mary Jane. I know for a fact that smoking weed sometimes makes things amazingly fun and gives you the insight and ability to see things in a new, fantastic and colorful light. I felt that all the praise for weed in this show almost made it sound cultish, and a cult of lazy isn’t something I want to join. 3 out of 5 Pez |
||||||||||||||||
