Doug Stanhope & Andy Andrist
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle
Royal Oak, Mich.
Wednesday, October 1
Stand-up comic Andy Andrist had the line of the night.
“Don’t put good drugs in bad heads.”
That sums up the feel of Doug Stanhope and Andrist cruising into town to perform at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle, one of the first comedy clubs in the country and one of the handful still standing.
There’s this charming degenerate thing that both of these comics possess. Stanhope in his signature vintage used car salesman suit. Andrist dressed like a poorly disguised undercover agent trying to bust a bar known for drug-smuggling in the Bahamas.
“When my life flashes before my eyes, it’s going to come up heavily redacted,” joked Stanhope.
That schtick worked. There were not a lot of casual fans at this sold-out show for two comics who are popular enough to sell out a room with more than 600 people but are still considered “fringe” or “alternative” by most measures.
These fans are devotees, who have likely seen Stanhope multiple times in decades-long career of playing every shithole venue know to man. (He joked that he was finally allowed into Ridley’s Comedy Castle, which is considered a legendary venue amongst comics and comedy fans alike.)
Like most comics, they quickly realized Ridley’s is in a suburb of Detroit -- not the city itself.
“This is way whiter than I imagined Detroit being in my childhood dreams,” joked Andrist. “People said be worried about Detroit, but I’m from Portland, Oregon,” before launching into a topical bit about President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Portland being a war zone.
A few years ago, I saw Stanhope perform in New York City. It was a captivating, 90-plus minute set that I consider one of the best stand-up performances I’ve ever seen.
While this most recent show was hilarious, it was a far cry from that NYC show. This was Stanhope and Andrist touring the country as friends, approaching each show far more casually than they normally would, sharing the show at the end of the stage and basically just vamping on whatever came into their minds.
One of the best bits of the night came when the two of them recounted a trip to Ukraine after a New York Times writer informed Stanhope that a lot of the stand-up comics in Kyiv are huge fans of his. The trip ended up with the two comics on the frontlines of war, firing off heavy artillery into the night and wondering if they “actually did kill anyone.”
I also loved Stanhope’s takedown of therapy culture, relating it this way: “Describing your mental illness is as boring as talking about your dreams.”
Knowing his audience, he quickly adjusted.
“I love all you mentally ill people.”
Excited to see these two come back to town – and it will surely sell-out again. But hoping it’s a bit more buttoned up than this approach. Either way, I’ll be there.
