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BY BRENDAN WORK

In print | October 5, 2006

Humor has been called the lubricant of life’s machinery. But on a campus long on cogitating and short on comedy, maybe we’re using the wrong stuff. Amusing though they are, oftentimes Swarthmore’s sketch comedy group and improvisational group aren’t enough to lighten this college’s famously heavy load. So where’s a humor-starved Swattie to turn? Well, stop searching for Chappelle’s Show reruns on YouTube and head into Philly. The comedy scene might be better than you thought.

The N Crowd

Dressed to impress in all black, Philly’s The N Crowd short-form improvisational comedy group was first on the list. Performing at the perhaps deliberately unfurnished Actor’s Center on North Third Street, this troupe of 11 theater company graduates and acting students made quick work turning audience’s suggested verbs, nouns and other choice words into hilarious short form comedy. It was a poorly lit act, and poorly attended to boot, but the N Crowd itself was anything but poor quality. Their first act, called “166” (start with “166 anythings walked into a bar … " and go from there), broke the ice for a whirlwind of audience participation comedy only a few quirky Canadians away from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?” eminence — from “Alphabet,” a game of conversation, to “Two Minutes in Hell,” where the N Crowders put the funny on fast forward, it was a grand night for laughter on the fly, culminating with the peculiar catchphrase of “jazz hands, homos!”

“We dress in black and we want to do great short form comedy,” Artistic Director and N Crowder Jessica Snow said. However, as the audience of about a dozen filed out of their folding chairs, it became clear that simple philosophy might not be good enough to gain the N Crowd permanent repute on Philly’s stage.

“Every improv group has a mindset, and our mindset is still being created,” Kristen Schier, the co-artistic director, said. “We’re still babies.”

“And babies are delicious,” N Crowder Brandon Libby added.

The N Crowd (http:// www.phillyncrowd.com www.phillyncrowd.com), directed by Ray King Reese, performs every Friday night at the Actor’s Center on 257 North 3rd Street at 8 p.m., charging $10 for 90 minutes of laughs. They recently performed for Eastern University, and an effort to get them onto Swarthmore campus is underway.

The Laff House

Head down to South Street for a more upscale - and more expensive - comedic outing: a night at The Laff House, Philly’s “Original Comedy Club.” Just steps from restaurants, bars and clubs on the rest of South Street, one of Philadelphia’s most popular social scenes, this comedy club provided a taste of the higher echelons of comedy. It had a bar, more than 70 tables (each with a tablecloth and candle), waiters walking around with drinks and food menus and caricature posters of former guests lining the walls — some of whom were of national renown.

The Laff House’s first guest, Stacey Carver, bore an uncanny resemblance to Eddie Murphy and hit just as hard, in much the same way. He wasn’t too edgy, but he still managed to double the audience over with his impressions of family life, all part of his Married with Kids Comedy Tour. Of course, jokes dealing with marriage and raising kids might not fly so well with Swat’s childless crowd.

The second guest was a special event: Gary Owen, the first white performer to make it onto BET’s Comic View and a distinct change of style from Carver. After detailing his own mother’s adventures in promiscuity and telling about his work in B-class comedies starring Martin Lawrence, he went on to fling humorous barbs at the audience, which were taken with some hesitation.

The Laff House (http://www.laffhouse.com) proved to be no less than the quintessential comedy club experience. It has performances on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at 221 South Street. Tickets are between $12.50 and $17.50.

WHERE TO GO

The Actors Center
257 North Third Street
(215) 925-7060

Laff House
221 South St
(215) 440-4242

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