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Stand-up Mon Aug 08 2011
Cameron Esposito's "Side Mullet Nation"
By Dyan Flores
The page in my notebook where I took notes for Cameron Esposito's "Side Mullet Nation" is covered in jottings that I hoped would help me remember her funniest jokes. The notes started out fairly detailed, such as with "Life was his perpetual keg stand and nobody had to hold his feet," a clever aphorism that Esposito used to describe an ebullient ex-boyfriend, but they quickly devolved into nonsensical scribblings, such as "drest" and "polish-carrying a lot of meat," as I struggled to keep up with the breakneck pace at which Esposito brought on the laughs.
Esposito is warm and likable from the get-go, and as she spins tales that span from her Catholic upbringing to her experiences as a vest-wearing cycling lesbian, it feels more like you're listening to stories from a (very hilarious) old friend instead of stand-up comedy. Her timing and delivery are impeccable, but you never see the wheels turning as Esposito seamlessly transitions from topic to topic. Very few performers could successfully navigate their way from a tale of playing Mass as a child with banana slices as Eucharist wafers to an outbreak of facial ringworm, but Esposito does.
"Side Mullet Nation" is playing at The Playground on Fridays at 10pm through August 19th. Tickets are $10 and available online or at the box office located inside the theater at 3209 N. Halsted St. in Chicago.