Double the comedy at Latte Landing

by Alice Nelson
The Latte Landing has never had so much laughter as the night of Friday, March 16, when comedians Katie Grady and John Keating gave performances.

Grady was up first, and started by announcing she had recently celebrated a "big" birthday, and was thrilled she had been carded for cigarettes. Thrilled, at least, until the clerk looked at her license, swore, apologized, and finished it up with a "maam."

Gradys self-deprecating humor was delivered slowly, piece by piece with significant pauses to let it slowly sink in. Then, she would hit her audience with a punch line when they least expected it. In this way, she had a group of mostly college students laughing along with her about impending menopause, waitressing at a Friendlys and the dating pool at 30. "We were on a highway to hell," she joked about her use of drugs and alcohol in college. "Apparently I made it."

John Keating took the stage next. He didnt waste any warm-up time, instead immediately slamming into jokes about Maine. He steered clear of making fun of Farmington, instead joking, "Ive been to Caribou, Im happy to be anywhere."

Keating was not content simply to tell jokes up on stage. He involved the audience almost immediately in his routine, and never stopped. It gave the impression this show was just for this audience, and in a way, it was. When he commented on going on route 4 and how you "take a right for three hours," the audience howled. He might have switched back to jokes about his being raised by Catholic grandparents then. Instead, he mentioned a sign several miles away indicating Farmington. "They tease you with it," he joked, and the room howled and whooped.

Keating mentioned that his grandfather was a fireman, but not the kind, gentle sort the audience may be used to. When cats were stuck in trees, he joked, his grandfather said "Tony, get me the hose." A female audience member reacted with horror, so he assured her, "No cats were actually harmed in the making of that joke."

Keating started drawing his material directly from the audience then. When told that this school was mostly about education, he joked, "Wouldnt that be the goal of any college?"

He went on to interview audience members directly, especially a young woman who told him she was writing a novel, and wanted to be a truck driver. Keating looked at her for a few moments, his very expression earning laughter. Keating said, "I gotta process this one," and took a seat for a few laughter-filled moments.

Keating was on such a roll that even he couldnt help himself, and broke down with laughter in the middle of his routine. He apologized with, "I never think my stuffs funny," but kept laughing. Keating assured us he wasnt on anything after composing himself, and continued on with the show.

More information about John Keating can be found on his website, www.johnkeating.net.