20th
Richard Cheese Incident
I can see where people get offended by Richard Cheese. I have seen him live before and the role he plays is always intentionally confrontational, rude and raunchy. But that is his act. The same show every time he plays. Its a character.
It is very much like Andy Kauffman’s Tony Clifton. It is all shock value. Every time Richard Cheese puts on a show, he gets really “close” to the crowd and does stuff like that, makes crass comments, cracks dirty jokes, etc.
But I do not want to belittle anyone’s anger. I would be angry too, especially if my camera was tossed too. And to be honest, it isn’t really my type of humor either.
I was surprised to hear Richard Cheese was booked at the New Media Expo. IMHO, his core fan base ( wild crazy party people) and the attendees of the Expo are very different. When I saw him in Chicago a while back, he did the same show, but he had the right type of crowd to appreciate his style of rude comedy.
He was probably not the right act to be booked there, but that was a decision the organizers made I guess. I wonder if they knew what they were getting into.
I also know that he is currently filming a movie about his tour and knowing how movie studios get with leakage of footage, I can see why he must keep a tight lid on what comes out. When he filmed the show I saw in Chicago, it was legit and the audience was instructed that it will be in the film.
I perform 4 nights a week, and at times a crowd makes me a bit frustrated, but I do know the line to be crossed and I myself do not feel comfortable crossing it. That is just me. Others, like Richard Cheese are cool with that and have built an entire career on that character.
Oh well. I hope I just come across as being level headed in this post. If I ever get to play a show near where you live, I will always treat the crowd with respect and hope to gain new friends each time I play.
For me, I just let the music do all the talking. I mean I let the music do all the ROCKING.
