By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Brandon Inn was the setting for some raucously racy humor on Saturday night as the Boston Comedy Club brought a three-comic show to town.
The evening was sponsored by Foley Brother’s Brewery, who donated all the money it made on beer sales that evening to the nonprofit Brandon Children’s Music Fund. Foley Brothers has sponsored the Boston Comedy Club at its Quechee location, but this was the club’s debut in Brandon.
The show got off to a tentative start as the first comic, Rollin Atkinson, tried to read the sold-out room. Just how far could he push this small-town crowd? Atkinson started his set with a few tepid jokes about the long trip from Boston to Vermont, but soon enough he threw caution to the wind and jumped right into the raunch. Fortunately, the (majority of the) audience jumped right in with him, and we were off to the racy races. Not much of what he said is even printable here, though if you ask anyone who was at the show, they’ll likely remember a favorite line or two. Just don’t ask if you’re the blushing kind.
Next was Tim Champa, who dialed back the bawd a notch or two. A self-professed nerd, there was a geekier cast to his humor. One of the few bits that can be recounted here revolved around Champa’s love for action figures and frustration with kids who don’t play with them logically. But Champa didn’t sanitize his set completely. He definitely waded into some pretty blue waters as well. And again, the audience happily went along for a swim.
But the third act, Franco Danger, took things to another level of lewd. By the time he came onstage, we’d already heard some pretty colorful stuff and were braced. Danger tiptoed into it, though, with some amusing yet tame observations about Vermont culture (he’s originally from New Jersey). He teased the audience about all its flannel and then discovered, with amazing luck, that two of the people sitting right up front were a cheesemaker and a barn builder (“That’s the most Vermont thing I’ve ever heard”).
But after that safe entrée, Danger let it fly. He touched on race (he’s Latino), politics, and, of course, sex. A comedian can tell they’ve landed a good joke when the audience repeats it to themselves in disbelief. Danger scored a few of those moments…none can be repeated in these pages. By the end of his set, even the most resistant members of the audience were laughing along at jokes they’d never dare tell themselves.
For those who like randy laughs, the show was a riot. For those who prefer their yuks with less salt, it would not make much sense to attend the Comedy Club’s next presentation at the Inn, which is scheduled for March. If the shows continue to sell out, it may well become a monthly event at the Inn, according to Sophia Bloomer, Inn manager.
The Inn now has a full bar and a restaurant, both of which were open the night of the show.
