Mark's Friggin' Night at the Millennium Comedy Club New Year's Eve Comedy Show - December 31, 2002

I don't usually go out on New Year's Eve but this year was different. I missed out on a big comedy show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia earlier in the month and I'd been kicking my self over that screw up for weeks. Then Reverend Bob Levy (who'd recently just won the ''World's Meanest Listener'' contest) asked me to go to this New Year's Eve show he was doing down in Clementon, New Jersey. Of course I accepted the invite.

My girlfriend and I headed down to the Millennium Comedy Club which is under the New Century Diner in Clementon, New Jersey. We'd been there once before so we knew what to expect. We got there much earlier than we expected but it was perfect timing because the R.E.V. was just seconds from arriving. He pulled up about a minute after we got there. He brought us into the large banquet room where they were going to be performing. This time it wasn't just a comedy show though. They had a DJs (with speakers the size of a small car) and a buffet set up so it was going to be quite a party.

No one else had shown up yet so we hung out with Bob and the DJs who were setting up their equipment. Greg the banquet manager was also there so Bob introduced us. While we were talking Greg made a comment about how quite a few banquet managers are gay. He's not gay but it was something Levy just couldn't leave alone. He cracked a bunch of jokes about the subject and had some fun with Greg while we were hanging out.

The booze showed up a short time after we got there so Bob got his bucket full of Heinekin's and sat down to bullshit with us while we waited for people to show up. Not long after that Mutt from SternFanNetwork.com, his girlfriend and Joey Boots showed up. This was the first time meeting Joey and I'm happy to say he was a really nice guy. He didn't have his buddy High Pitch Eric with him though. Believe it or not I was hoping he was going to be there so I could finally meet him. Not long after that former intern Carrie showed up. I'd met her the month before at a comedy show in Headliners in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania but I didn't recognize her when she sat down. How friggin' dumb can I be? Carrie was an intern for the Stern Show about a year and a half ago. I was lucky enough to have her sitting next to me the whole night. She turned out to be really fun to hang around with and talk to.

The DJs had started playing the usual wedding reception music collection that you hear at every wedding. Carrie the former intern wanted to hear something a little heavier so she requested some Marilyn Manson, Disturbed and some other stuff that they never got around to playing. It probably wouldn't have gone over very well with the older folks who were there but it would have been fine with me.

Dinner was served buffet style and the food was great. After that, sometime around ten o'clock, the comedy show got started. First up was this guy Joe Kearney who I'd seen many times back stage at the comedy shows I'd been going to over the previous 7 months. I had no idea he was a comedian. I though that he was like a roadie or security for the other guys. I later found out he's been doing stand-up for about 6 months. He did a quick five minutes or so before bringing up ''Round Boy'' Jimmy Graham. Jimmy's family was there so it was interesting to see him do some of his drug and sex humor in front of them. Reverend Bob Levy was up after Jimmy. He told us before the show that it wasn't going to be easy working the crowd from the dance floor but he handled it just fine as far as I could tell. He kicked ass as usual goofing on people in a fun and entertaining way.

Everything went great for most of the night. There was one incident at our table that was kind of annoying but it didn't ruin the night. There was someone there who probably had a little too much to drink and wouldn't shut up during Levy's act. For some reason she was bugging Joey Boots and Carrie the former intern for a few minutes. Someone eventually took her out of there and things got back to normal.

After the comedy show was over we had about 25 minutes until midnight rolled around. The DJs continued to blast their wedding-reception-songs until it was time to celebrate the new year. Once midnight rolled around everyone sipped their champagne and all of that crap.

Most of us hung around until two o'clock or so talking and enjoying Bob's smart-ass humor. Most of the people who came to the show were gone about a half hour before that. The DJs eventually played some decent music but never did get to Carrie's requests of Marilyn Manson. The whole night was great and everyone I met and hung out with were great. There was even one 50 year old woman who told me she visits the site quite often because she's been a Stern fan for 18 years. She somehow found out I was there while talking to my girlfriend in the bathroom.

I've said that these shows are always great and the same goes for this one. Levy won the ''World's Meanest Listener'' contest for a reason. He's mean, he's a listener and he's friggin' funny.

Here are links to the web sites for some of the people who were at the show:

• RevBobLevy.com - Bob Levy
• JimmyGraham.net - Jimmy Graham
• SternFanNetwork.com - Mutt