Laughs abound at Tropicana Comedy Stop

Joe Delaney

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 8:52 a.m.

Bob Kephart's Tropicana Comedy Stop is a model of comedic consistency week after week. The current lineup with John Joseph, Johnny B and Phil Palisoul, through Sunday, is really a three-headliner show, rather than the usual headliner, second act and an opener who doubles as emcee. It was a capacity crowd at the show caught earlier this week. The laughs were frequent, loud and long.

Joseph is a multitalented performer, here recently in support of Julio Iglesias at Paris Las Vegas, his eighth year with Iglesias. John Babillaro, aka Johnny B, referred to as the "King of the Piano Bars," actually opened for Joseph and later worked with him as a comedy and musical duo. Similar to Joseph, he is a multitalent -- musician, singer and comedian.

Palisoul opened the show and did 25 productive minutes of familiar material, made to sound fresh, into his allotted time.

Areas of truth told funny were gambling; "Where are you from"; going to the gym; fast food; quality vs. quantity; TV game shows; wanting to be bigger, better and stronger; growing up; stuttering; road rage; growing old and his parents.

Johnny B performed at the piano, garnering laughs and using Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" to set the mood for Joseph's entrance after 15 minutes well spent. Joseph has the musician's sense of timing and had no trouble making his 50 minutes feel like half that, with a nice assist from Johnny B, especially during the musical segments.

Joseph told his life story: Marriage, children, two daughters, and spent the first part of his performance on the battle of the sexes with a particularly funny comparison of the difference in behavior between men and women in public bathrooms. Equally effective was his depiction of Iglesias and Antonio Banderas.

When Joseph picked up his guitar, he took the show to a still higher plateau with original, made-up-on-the-spot lyrics, especially one that covered his performance up to that point. Takeoffs on Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson and Iglesias were high spots, along with a country medley. His old showman selling pretzels and telling a joke was a classic closer.

It's very seldom, after all these years, that I get to laugh out loud and that often.