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When a man walks on stage to AC/DC, it’s probably going to be a good show. Bob Marley didn’t disappoint with his performances in Hauck Auditorium on Tuesday night.
Marley played two shows, the first in Orono at 8:00 p.m. and then at 10:00 p.m. after shooting driving and ice-fishing scenes from a pilot he’s filming in Saco, Maine.
After a brief introduction from Student Body President Steve Moran, opener John Cail warmed up the crowd telling jokes about his domineering mother and urban myths about masturbation – adding, in reference to the myth, that he didn’t care if he turned into a “Ray Charles Sasquatch.” He later discussed the disturbing/sensual dichotomy experienced while watching “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,” the popular show on the Oxygen network with an aged sex therapist.
“John [Cail] has a hard job,” Marley said while Cail delivered his set to the audience during the second show. “But the crowd is good.”
When Marley finally unwound himself from the stage curtains and made his way to center stage, the audience was sufficiently lubed-up and ready for a good time.
Marley supplied a mix of new material and old favorites in his act, discussing the perils of Maine winters and losing the “clicker” on a regular basis. He also – early in his set – referred to his wife as “The Princess Dale Earnhardt” while trying to extricate her car from a snow bank. What was surprisingly absent from Marley’s show was an excess of Maine humor. “I try not to at college campuses,” Marley said about the content of his act. He mentioned that people come from all over the country. “That was a set I’d perform anywhere in the country.”
One bit many may have recognized was the “Drinking in the Woods” routine – where Marley explains what it’s like to enjoy a Maine pit party. “It’s like my ‘Freebird,’” Marley said of the joke. He called the routine “a little anti-climactic,” in the sense that the crowd almost mimes along in time with Marley, anticipating the moves he makes.
Marley didn’t think highly of the intelligence needed to find the comedic value in his own act. “If you don’t get me . you’re pretty dumb,” Marley said. He mentioned how he found a list of jokes he performed when he was younger, playing mainly college campuses. “I think college kids are smarter now,” Marley said, pointing out that, had he delivered the jokes from his early career, he would have bombed.
Although most know that Marley grew up in Maine, few realize he graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington with a degree in community health education. “I got out of college thinking I was going to teach,” Marley said.
He related a tale of when he was 24 years old, just beginning his comedy career, still a senior at UMaine Farmington and playing a show at the Bear’s Den here in Orono. The man in charge of security at the time – nearly twenty years ago now – wouldn’t let Marley in the doors, even after Marley explained he was the act. The bouncer later apologized, “I thought you were one of those college kids.” Marley noted at the time, “I was one of those college kids.”
Marley had a bit of advice for aspiring comedians: “You have to be funny,” Marley said. “You can’t teach it . it would be kind of like teaching someone how to be short . You need to write your jokes down and keep trying them . go get your ass kicked . you have to be hungry,” Marley said of persevering in the comedy field, even in the face of ridicule. Marley suggested staying away from being a shtick comedian, “You need to be a real person [on stage] or people won’t get it,” adding that it takes awhile to find yourself. He also expressed the importance of staying fresh and relevant when he said, “I’m always writing.”
Marley explained what it’s like to have a good show. He pointed out how important it is to be spontaneous. He compared it to a night out with friends. When it’s planned for weeks in advance, it never compares to the buildup; when friends “pick you up after work at 10, and you haven’t showered, and they throw you a beer . it turns out to be the best night ever,” pointing out that he switched out one bit he had planned to perform in favor of another after feeling out the audience.
Marley – as well as his opener, Cail – had successful shows Tuesday night that pleased approximately 1,000 people. The shows were not without their setbacks. In the early show during the iPod giveaway, the person sitting in the selected seat failed to find the ticket to claim their free iPod. Apparently, the hidden winning note was tucked away a bit too discretely. Marley made it a point to educate everyone on the whereabouts of the ticket in the second show, but it still took several minutes and a detailed description of the seat number for the occupant to find their spoils.
After the winner got a bit tetchy when ribbed by Marley for her slow finding speed, Marley – jokingly – told her to stop being a “bitch” adding, “I just gave you a free iPod.” Add to this mix the fact that one gent decided five minutes before the end of Marley’s second set would be a good time to lose his lunch – perhaps from laughing too hard – onto several girls sitting in front of him, it made for an eventful evening of ups and downs.
Bangor Daily News