Comedy Under the Tap Benefit Delivers Laughs and Love

If laughter has the power to heal then Comedy Under the Tap Oswego’s was awash in healing energy last Saturday night.  

CUTT held a benefit for Lindsey Jones, CUTT bartender, and her mother.  The Jones’ house burned down on March 20 due to a faulty clothes dryer.  In the aftermath of the fire, Jones' friends at CUTT wanted to help in any way they could.  During a meeting after a Tuesday night show, the idea for a benefit show was born.  The Tap House Grill agreed to let CUTT stage a Saturday night show with all proceeds going to the Jones family.

Saturday night’s show began with a opening musical act—a departure for their usual line-up.  Nik Scott, an Oswego native recently returned from working the cruise ship circuit, performed an acoustic set on the guitar.  Scott’s wide repertoire ranged from Ring of Fire to Billie Jean and included classics like Tempted by the Fruit of Another and Bad Jokes from the Prairie Home Companion. Scott’s sonorous voice makes each song his own and his dynamic performance keep the audience smiling until the comics could take over.

Host Matt Drufke kept the smiles going with is raucous humor about college, college basketball and his fellow comics. Drufke, a CUTT regular, was one of the forces behind making the benefit happen. The jokes Drufke aimed at his fellow comics allowed them to fire back in kind.  The first to shoot back was Lewis Rine. Rine got the audience laughing not only at Drufke, but himself and geeks in general.  He explained the ‘degrees of nerd-dom’ as well as how to dress in ‘fat chic.’  

Next on the playbill was Mat Elfring.  Introduced as the sweetest guy in comedy, Elfring lived up to his reputation with great jokes about junior high Bible camp and misspelled signs on the college campus.  

The show stealer of the evening was the comic billed as the “Out of Work Court Jester” complete with harlequin make up and jester’s hat.  Ed Hanson’s hysterical character interspersed jokes about the Jabberwocky and the Queen’s croquet game with tumbling feats and acrobatics.  

The Court Jester was a hard act to follow but Steve Long did and did it well.  Long, a stay-at-home dad who’s been married for nine years, proclaimed that he could shop for any feminine product his wife needed.  He was unafraid to buy anything. He’s unafraid to joke about anything.  Kids, wife or women’s menstrual cycles, he joked about them all!

After Long came Jeff Hansen.  Hansen’s humor pushed the edge of politeness especially when talking about the dangers of insane groupies.  Joe Motisi’s quiet laid back humor finished the show with a refreshing contrast to earlier comics. Motisi joked about his own bad break up, the fun of ‘dating’ again and certain celebrities in the news.

The show was a huge success both in terms of laughter and help provided to the Jones.  Jones was overwhelmed by the kindness and love expressed by her friends and co-workers.  

“I just want to say ‘Thank you’ to everyone.  It was a great night," she said.

Want to help the Jones family, but didn’t make it to the benefit?  Donations are still being accepted via PayPal at paypal+jonesbenefit@comedyunderthetap.com.  CUTT will be back on their regular Tuesday night cycle next week.  Reservations can be made at comedyunderthetap.com.