Crowd gives standing O to anti-PC comedian

~ The Show Me Center audience went wild for Larry the Cable Guy.

In one sentence Saturday night, Larry the Cable Guy summed up his massive popular appeal and the reason he had the Show Me Center crowd in stitches.

"Political correctness is killing this country."

The Cable Guy is the anti-PC, with no subject taboo, from feces to fat people in thongs. He's crude, he's rude, and as the crowd of 2,100 found out, those traits make him extremely funny.

Larry's humor isn't sophisticated, nor is it child-friendly. Any group or individual can be his target, be it Mexicans in a clown car, the Rolling Stones as animated corpses, Lee Greenwood's penchant for cashing in on war, Oprah Winfrey's affinity for ice cream cones, or even the Cable Guy himself (think inbreeding).

The Show Me Center audience went wild for Larry throughout his performance, some of them even giving him a standing ovation when he came on stage. Cable Guy fans can be as devoted as rock groupies, and several women in the audience expressed a desire to retire to Larry's private quarters.

And while Larry got the crowd roaring, he did have some help to get the audience warmed up. A young comedian named P.J. Walsh opened, getting some huge laughs with his physical, Dane Cook-style delivery.

Like Larry, Walsh has an obsession with human waste and bodily functions, and sex, along with a red-state revulsion for the French. Walsh's hyperactive stage antics were the perfect complement to The Cable Guy.

When Larry did come on, after Walsh called him the man who should be the next president and the rabid Cable Guy fans agreed with shouts, the big man in the sleeveless shirt commanded the room.

From the first "Git-R-Done" to the end, there was no boredom, no end to the laughs.

The Cable Guy's delivery was perfect, with just the right rhythm to keep the laughs constant and just enough accent to become his own redneck stereotype.

Larry knows how to work a crowd, responding to any shouts he hears and engaging the audience completely in his routine.

His warning just after taking the stage was true, "This is going to be the dumbest show you've ever seen in your life."

Dumb it was, and hilarious. Those who are easily offended would whither in horror at the Cable Guy's brand of humor, but apparently they weren't in the crowd Saturday.

Larry knocked the Show Me Center's socks off, showing Cape Girardeau why he's the most famous fat redneck comedian ever.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182