Friends of Bob and Tom visit Sangamon

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

If jokes about masturbation and getting stoned are the height of entertainment to you, then the Sept. 23 Friends of the Bob & Tom Show Comedy Tour at the Sangamon Auditorium would have been for you.

Starring four reoccurring guests from the syndicated radio show, the tour started with Drew Hastings, a 6'6” man who really had a penchant for telling jokes in which the main character was his penis. But hey, who doesn't enjoy hearing about the genitalia and sex life of a man my father's age?

To be fair, Hastings covered a wide variety of subjects in his jokes from Viagra, to his reluctance to have children, to his 30-year-old girlfriend. “I'm a Pisces,” said Hastings , “and she's a cancer, or some other life-threatening disease.”

He told a particularly inappropriate and offensive joke about how they shipped recalled tampons to Columbia , where the FDA has no jurisdiction. Hastings said he didn't see the problem in Columbian women getting toxic shock syndrome since so much cocaine comes into our country from Columbia .

The next comedian to take the stage (and I'm using the word comedian very, very loosely) was Dwight York. His opening joke informed us that he recently became a member of the “Mile High Club.” Apparently he just had sex on a bus while driving through Denver . At which point I said to myself, “I am going to kill my editor come Monday morning!”

York 's set consisted of one-liners that ranged from pot-smoking jokes to jokes about women's breasts to douche jokes, followed by gynecologist jokes. I'm not going to waste any more column space on York except to say I spent the majority of his set alternately grimacing and blushing.

Hands down the highlight of the show was Jimmy Pardo, a very angry little man with a definite Napoleon complex (I'm talking about the French emperor, not Napoleon Dynomite… get some culture, people!). He made fun of Springfield and picked people out of the audience to mock. The audience loved it!

“I'm not gonna lie,” said Pardo. “This is a shit gig for me.” I thought, “Me too, Jimmy, me too.”

Pardo made fun of Canada , people in Subways, Abe Lincoln and had a very funny section about pot pies: “Pot pies are like soup with a roof.” Of course he had to demonstrate to the audience that he could make masturbation jokes with the best of them, but other then that I found him very original.

The show closed out with Pat Godwin, who combines jokes with music. He did an excellent job of tailoring some of his jokes to his audience. He mocked horseshoe sandwiches saying, “That's a (vulgar adjective) heart attack!”

Godwin also did musical impression of U2's Bono and Bruce Springsteen. Both were well-executed and very funny.

There was relatively good turnout for the show but the crowd was not overly diverse. Let me just say, before the show started I played a little game called “Count the Mullets.” All in the all, the show seemed ideal for its audience. Unfortunately for me, after the 47 th erection joke, I tend to lose interest.

Step 'In Her Shoes' at the theater

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

“In Her Shoes” is an incredibly charming film about two sisters who are complete opposites yet neither makes sense without the other.

Based on Jennifer Weiner's second novel from the same title, “In Her Shoes” is a clever and heart-wrenching story.

Occasionally, however, the film was a tad slow and the camera angles and shots were a little shaky and distracting.

Rose Feller (Toni Collette) is a responsible, plain woman who is professionally successful. A Princeton-educated lawyer with an elegant apartment, low self-esteem and an extensive romance novel collection, Rose collects gorgeous shoes that, sadly, never see the light of day.

Younger sister Maggie Feller (Cameron Diaz) is the consummate party girl who cannot keep a job and can barely read. Sexy and confident around men, Maggie is constantly crashing on her sister's couch and stealing her shoes.

The sisters have a major falling out and Rose kicks Maggie out. The rift between them leads each to find themselves away from one another. Along the way they discover how important the other is to them and a maternal grandmother neither knew about.

Shirley MacLaine plays Ella, their mysterious grandmother who lives in Florida . By the end of the film, Ella, Maggie and Rose make peace with one another and themselves.

Author Weiner said, “some of the questions I had when I started writing the book were: How can people who come from literally the same place, who grow up in the same house, go on the same vacations and eat the same food for dinner, wind up being totally different people with different interests, different attitudes, and different looks? What do they still share? What are the bonds that exist no matter where their lives take them?”

I read “In Her Shoes” when it first came out and was very impressed with the book. When faced with the film adaptation I was filled with trepidation. What if they messed it up? What if they cut out important parts? What if they don't get the right actresses to play the main characters?

Luckily, they didn't disappoint me on any counts. All the pivotal parts of the novel were present in the film and several lingering questions I had from the book were answered in the film.

Diaz did a wonderful job playing Maggie. She was irresponsible and selfish. I enjoyed disliking her until that key moment when she became lovable. Collette is a very competent and likable actress and she played the frumpy, bitter Rose to a tee.

Rounding out our female leads is MacLaine, who does an excellent job playing a lovely grandmotherly figure. All the characters have tremendous chemistry with one another- Ella and Rose, Ella and Maggie, Maggie and Rose. The supporting characters are also very realistic and well acted.

Mark Feuerstein plays Simon, Rose's incredibly sweet and charming boyfriend. Ken Howard plays Rose and Maggie's meek father whose life is run by their bossy step-mother Sydelle (Candice Assara).

All in all “In Her Shoes” is a wonderful movie about hope and love. It is rated PG-13 for thematic material, language and some sexual content and is 130 minutes long.

Grade: A

Friends of Bob and Tom visit Sangamon

Step 'In Her Shoes' at the theater