Now Appearing: Riviera Comedy Club packed with lots of laughs

Joe Delaney

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 8:54 a.m.

The Riviera Comedy Club is one of the best in town. This week's lineup contains four names that this critic had never seen before. We usually try to pick a week with several proven names. If there are three acts, one is a true headliner. If there are four, three are there for the cost of two.

Not so at the Riviera this week. The 75 minutes we spent with master juggler, magician and stand-up comedian headliner Todd Paul, Canada's Bruce Clark, Amy Barnes (once an aerospace engineer) and host-opener Tom Simmons was top-notch comedy and variety throughout. The crowd was close to capacity, which was equally true of the laughs' quantity and quality.

Simmons' 15 minutes was a welcome departure from the usual cookie-cutter comic who asks "How're you doing?," "Where're you from?" and "Who's winning?" The Atlantan has an off-putting style, soft delivery and a rapier-sharp mind, mining laughs out of politics, organized religion, outer space and the Middle East situation. Funny stuff, yet never offensive.

Barnes starts slow, establishing her own pace and timing, then takes off on a variety of subjects including the disadvantages of being a "space chick" -- good crisp material that sets up two off-the-wall original songs, "I Settled For You" and a ditty dealing with leprosy that you will have to experience for yourself. If she writes her own material, she could make it big.

Clark is brusque, at times appearing hostile, and works almost entirely off the audience. You will find no jokes or stories here. He worked one corner with success but borderline excess. He achieved his quota of laughs for his quarter-hour, the same time allotted to Barnes before him. I kept feeling that Clark is capable of much stronger outings.

Paul apparently can do it all. His poise, presence and comedy timing belies his admitted 31 years of age. He is equally proficient at magic, juggling, stand-up comedy and working ad-lib with audience members, even while performing magic on a unicycle. Similar to Danny Gans, Paul first built a following playing corporate events for the likes of Pac Bell, GTE and Georgia Pacific telephone companies.

This bill closes Sunday. The audience laughed hard and a lot. I did as well, and I think you will, too. Catch them.