At festival, a buffet of humor: Bawdy, irreverent or clean

By Jerry Fink

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Here are some of the other performers at the fourth annual Comedy Festival:

Andrew Dice Clay

Ribald stand-up comedian Andrew Dice Clay says he’s looking forward to the Comedy Festival.

“I’ve never done a comedy festival before, but I love Vegas,” he says. “I’ve been a headliner there for years, but this is a little more special. The network is really promoting it. It’s more of a hangout for me.”

He knows some, but not all, of the comedians.

“I don’t follow what any comic does. That’s not what I’m about,” he says. “I know who’s who and what they’re doing. I know who’s hot, like Dane Cook for instance.”

Through the ups and downs of a 20-year career, Clay, 51, hasn’t changed his act.

“I don’t get into politics,” he says. “I’m more street level than that. I tackle all kinds of stuff. I’m into what goes on in relationships. I like to find a couple in the audience who have disdain for each other.

“Yes, the language does get filthy. Trust me, I know what I do.”

Anjelah Johnson

Big crowds don’t fluster Anjelah Johnson, who will perform as part of the Caliente Comedy show at the festival. The 26-year-old comedy ingenue is a former Oakland Raiders cheerleader.

“I always say it’s a really easy transition into telling jokes when you cheer for the Raiders,” she says.

Johnson set out to be an actress but put that aspiration on hold when comedy came calling.

“I took a joke-writing and stand-up technique class about four years ago and at the end you had to perform your material at a comedy club” on the Queen Mary, which is permanently docked at Long Beach. “I wasn’t really trying to do a lot of stand-up. I only did comedy once a month, but then a video of my act was on YouTube and things took off.

“Right now comedy is driving my career, but my goal is to be more of an actor.”

She says her comedy is mainstream observational.

“I do a lot of characters and voices and make observations that have to do with me and my life.”

Ralphie May

Rotund comedian Ralphie May may be the most politically incorrect performer of the new crop of stand-ups.

He jumped into the national spotlight on the first season of “Last Comic Standing.” His first CD, “Just Correct,” quickly went platinum, and he became a favorite on Comedy Central.

May, 36, began developing his humor when he was growing up in Clarksville, Ark.

“I was 9 when I was finishing jokes for Johnny Carson,” he says. “My grandmother let me stay up late and watch his monologue. I’d have something funny to say and I made the family laugh.”

He honed his craft in local talent shows at church and school and won an amateur night comedy competition. He began playing comedy clubs in Texas. At 17, he opened for Sam Kinison, which may explain a lot about May’s brand of comedy.

“I’m politically incorrect, irreverent as hell and racially insensitive,” he says. “For a long time I wanted to be clean. It’s a lot easier and you make a lot more money doing that. I mean the clean comedians work everywhere. But I can’t do that. It’s not me. I’m not that clean of a guy. I’m a filthy animal, but at least I’m self-aware.”

Jeff Dunham

Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his roster of hilarious dummies put on a relatively clean act.

“I would say the show is PG-13 — if parents don’t mind an 11-year-old hearing a word here and there,” says the 45-year-old comedian, who first performed in Vegas in 1988 at the Riviera but hasn’t performed here for seven years. “I’m looking forward to coming back. I love the city. I love playing there. There are such diverse audiences.”

Dunham has toured regularly since the ’90s, but seems busier these days. Ventriloquists are riding the success of Terry Fator, who won “America’s Got Talent” last year.

“Absolutely Terry Fator had an impact,” says Dunham, who had been performing in comedy clubs and large theaters. “Now I’m doing big arenas, 5,000 and 10,000 seats. It’s going nuts. I don’t know how long the 15 minutes will last.”