Al Lubel Good Times Article

FREELISTING FOR YOUR BAND

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Al Lubel

Gateway To Comedy Ronkonkoma

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A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

the

twenty

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musician’s Talent & Services Directory • Fall 2008

Published November 2008

Good Times is compiling its most complete listing of New York’s performing musicians and bands. If you’re a performer or if you have a band, this annual special issue is your chance to get noticed - and best of all It’s free!

The Musician’s Directory is mailed to Club Owners in Long Island, NYC, New Jersey and to A&R Reps & Indie Management Executives

FREE Listing for your band

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Our 39th Anniversary Year! M

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12 • Good Times Magazine - October 28 - November 10, 2008

s a comic who works both clean and quiet, Al Lubel is such a rarity he may be covered by the Endangered Species Act. Unremarkable in both manner and appearance, he is, in an industry filled with shiny patent leather and fuck me pumps, a plain brown shoe. As with all shoes, though, looks are far less important than where they take you. Comedy is all about the unexpected; a skilled performer will guide an audience down a recognizable path before ending on the unanticipated. It’s the turn that makes it all worthwhile. Watching Lubel is like taking a blindfolded roller coaster ride with George Carlin. Admittedly neurotic and a more than a bit of a hypochondriac, Lubel is a thinking man’s comic who'd prefer that you focus your thinking on something of consequence – like Al Lubel, for instance. Lubel is more than just a keen observer of the absurd; he seems to have no natural defense against it. When this was suggested to him after the show, he began to explain his process in the Freudian language of ego and superego. When his mind was likened to a perceptual industrial drier which, when opened during operation, tosses out data in a new recombinant form, he laughed. “Maybe that is a better description,” he agreed. Al Lubel is a worrier; when told that the odds of a particular event are less than being struck by lightning in a field or bitten by a shark, his anxiety is still not assuaged. “I want to hear the odds are like being bitten by a shark in a field,” he complains. He can, however, be surprisingly optimistic at times. He finds an ironic silver lining in the eventuality of having only six months to live. “The good thing would be looking at my $20,000 bank account and thinking ‘I’m set for life!’” Lubel seems particularly drawn to signage. Commenting on a fruit stand marker that advertised bananas for a quarter each or four for $1, he notes, “There’s no discount, but there’s free math.” He decries the wordiness

of traffic signs. Of the ubiquitous “No Parking Anytime” sign, Lubel says “What about just ‘No Parking’? What are they afraid of? Do they think people are going to look at the (No Parking) sign and ask ‘But what about 4:30?” What’s good for the goose is good for the gander in Lubel’s mind. “Why not make all signs wordy?” he suggests. Why not ‘Stop. Right here. Every time.” An excellent question, the answer to which the apparently clinically

Al Lubel

obsessed Lubel has dedicated himself to finding. The most fascinating aspect of Lubel’s show is his use of repetitive sound as a score for his performance. That the repetitive sound happens to be his name is inconsequential. He likes saying it, you won’t mind hearing it, and it works well in an act that is as interesting as it is funny. This evening of comedy was hosted by Nobody Listens To Us.com, Long Island’s underground comedy resource. Host Rob Cioffi got more than his share of laughs while keeping the show apace; Marcus, Rob White, and even intern Danny Karron were all well received. Evan Weiss had a strong night, allowing the audience to identify with him by bearing his insecurities. The outrageous Tim Thomson continues to write jaw-droppingly funny material (“Women always ask questions. ‘Who are you? What are you doing in here? Where’s the rest of my cat?’”) and has true breakout potential. Mike Dillon’s burgeoning Gateway To Comedy club is the best-kept little secret by Macarthur Airport. If this venue continues to present shows of this caliber, it won’t be a secret much longer. – Michael Lee