Helium Comedy Club with J.B. Smoove (6.20.2008)

WHAT DO YOU GET when you cross pop cultural events with environmental awareness? The whole point of this site, dummy. What’s more, you get an exclusive sit-down with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s standup guy (he plays Leon) and far-out green advocate, J.B. Smoove.

Our journey takes us back to Friday night at Philly’s Helium Comedy Club. Bounding onstage to the tune of Tony Yayo’s “So Seductive” comes our trusted comic, live steppin’ with more feral energy than a teenage tweaker. He staggers around, swaying violently to the beat, until an unseen sound guy “in the back” finally heeds his plea to “Turn that goddamn shit off!” Everybody laughs, a surprising number applaud, and we settle back in our seats for the show.

Two minutes in, the “Seductive” call to motion blares once again. Insane dancing ensues. It’s hilariously familiar now; and yeah, sure, that much more familiar and more hilarious overthe next fourteen.

Personally, I couldn’t understand most of what he was saying. But a couple things were clear enough: Smoove’s act consists largely of jerky, physical-type humor, including a cheek-to-the-wall “confrontation” with an arresting officer (ad lib: “Who’s gonna call the cops on the cops?”) and sounding “Pyoon!” of his Road Runner-styled escape. “Pyoon!”, in fact, became the standard byword of the night, resurfacing to mimic a myriad of effects from shotgun blast to… even more running away.

Inarguably, J.B. Smoove is one of those charismos whose spastic, wait-for-no-man leaps in character will bring a crowd to their knees. You could hear laughter ringing out a solid three seconds after every quasi-punchline, about 85% of the time. He jumps and they laugh. He’s just so damn fast.

We got to shoot the environmental shit with Smoove after the show. He comes off as a good, reactionary sort, one who takes his relative celebrity – and whatever ethical responsibility comes along with that – to heart.

When asked about his own contribution towards sustainability, the primetime comedian, who counts Curb star/creator Larry David as a partner in the cause, kept up his enthusiasm (get it):

“I’m a 75% vegetarian. My wife has been a vegetarian for years… she got me into it. We eat a lot of soy products. I also want to get solar panels installed in my house, but that’ll have to wait a while…“

Hopefully, amid whisperings of him getting his own show (he’s thinking a variety special), that wait won’t be very long. For now, though, he’s just taking it a day at a time – and encourages you to do the same.

“Do little things. People need to know that every step adds up.”

“The environment is a real serious issue. I think a lot of the weather changes we’ve been having lately are because of global warming. I’m pretty sure that every time a rocket takes off, you know, takes off into space, the weather around it changes too.”

Yeahhh. Beanstockd.com can’t back that last claim (common fucking sense forbids it), but we heard the underlying message loud ’n’ clear: don’t overhaul your life, just do the little things. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to dream big. You might just get a crowd of your own.

See exactly what I’m talking about here, and watch this freakin’ hilarious scene with Larry David from Curb.

Then celebrate J.B. Smoove John Mayer here.

Sharon Margolis

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