Wayne Brady greeted the UB masses Saturday with this basic question:
"You guys ready for some improv?"
As an ecstatic response rolled through Alumni Arena, Brady kicked into his routine of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" fame. Improvisation is what the audience got, and lots of it.
The night began punctually with a quick warm-up.
Next, he asked for "words that could not be found in a rap song." The suggestions Brady received consisted of various food products, which he put together in a rap, while imitating the role of a chef. It was funny; despite the fact that he should have kept in mind that "chicken wing" has been used in various rap songs ("Ain't no thing but a chicken wing").
It was humorous to hear how he accentuated the words he was given; it showed how effective he was working them into a song on the spot. But through no fault of Brady's, on occasion it was impossible to figure out the exact words coming out of his mouth. The sound engineers who worked the show need to find new careers. Brady's accompanying band sounded crystal clear, but at the detriment of the comedian. As a result, the two competed for volume, and Brady's voice often sounded garbled.
But Brady struck gold following the rap. When requesting his first of several volunteers from the audience, he came upon Lucy, a UB student's mother who just happened to be a part-time tap dancer. As Brady serenaded Lucy, she broke into an impressive little jig, complete with the Shirley Temple-trademark double-arm windmills. Brady momentarily joined, humorously showing his own prowess, which of course was no match for Lucy.
"You'd better get off this stage," Brady said to her with a smile.
Neither of the supplementary volunteers could match the tap dance. After busting one woman for being on a cellular phone during his performance, Brady brought up a member of UB's track and field team, who introduced himself as Todd. His job was to add sound effects to a skit that Brady was conducting. Brady repeatedly bombarded him with several themes, saying,
"There should be a sound that goes along with this motion."
But Todd made the best of it, adding unexpected creativity with his sounds, prompting invisible characters to spit in the comic's face, punch him and run away, and kick him in the rear.
For the final third of the show, Brady sang songs chosen by the audience. His sidekick for the show introduced himself:
"Hi, I'm Carson Daly . and I have no discernable talent," to which the audience howled with laughter.
"Carson" introduced fan titles such as "Don't Spank the Monkey" and "You've Been Flushed Down the Toilet O' My Heart." Brady polled the audience for suggestions to determine which genres of music he should sing them to, although he ignored all he did not feel comfortable singing, including heavy metal, punk and German industrial. The one genre he decided to perform that was even remotely unusual was "drunken Irish folk song."
Other moments seemed rehearsed. He substituted the fans' requests with classics like Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and James Brown, all of which were superb impersonations, but certainly not improvised.
Not that it mattered in the end. Brady finished his routine utilizing Jackson's infamous glove and crotch-grabbing tendencies. In his act, the glove had a mind of its own and tried to grope the comedian's private parts, despite Brady's protests. But the glove eventually got what it wanted.
