Electric Study Break
By Jerome J.J. Leslie
December 12, 2008. Inside TT & the Bear’s Rock Club, down a side street off of Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a decent crowd of around fifty give rapt attention, responsive laughter, and warm camaraderie to Rob Cantrell on stage headlining his show “Electric Study Break” Outside, it’s a cold, rainy December Wednesday. Cantrell is selling a joke about lasers that takes an unexpected turn.
“Everything sounds better if you add the sound of a laser.” He says making a cool laser sound, “Give me any classic rock song.”
He points to an audience member who sputters “Ah, Jimi Hendrix’s Fire?”
“Awesome. Crap, that’s a hard one…” Cantrell starts laughing to himself.
The crowd laughs with him. It’s bold to risk that level of suggestion. But, Cantrell is in his element. He is having a lot of fun. He doesn’t give up on the suggestion and improvises the lyrics hitting the laser sound effect at a key moment to a roar of laughter and applause. The rock club crowd loves the effort the comedian is making.
“This show is really an experiment. Don’t expect it to be like a normal comedy show…” Cantrell said while mingling with the crowd earlier. He had been spending the last few weeks making the interview rounds for Boston media outlets promoting his concept performance merging comedians, music, and short film in an offbeat setting. He had already been interrogated with every question about his background that I could ask him. Born in Washington DC, raised in Virginia where he first saw Eddie Murphy’s Delirious, college educated at Denison University, and landing in San Francisco where he worked as a teacher and performed comedy. He was on the “Dat Phan” season of Last Comic Standing. He made Joe Rogan laugh while judging him on the walk-on auditions. He surfed that wave, but turned down bigger offers to start looking for his own place in comedy. Landing in Brooklyn, he was first embraced by weed culture, promoted by High Times, and he is working with and touring with Doug Benson and the The Marijuana Logs. He’s also started working with Flight of the Conchords. He’s finding his place in the New York comedy scene, while finding a place for his own comedic ambitions.
“Electric Study Break is just really a workshop for the ideas at the moment. I like the guys we’ve brought together. Greg Barris, Mike O’Rourke, and DJ tha Itch have a lot to bring to the stage in terms of unique creativity. They come from their own places. Greg has the “Heart of Darkness” show, (a similar comedy experience, housed in New York, with strong ties to San Francisco and Florida) which is amazing. Mike is a part of that and has his own thing. Itch spins at clubs and is so eclectic that he has everyone from rock bands to afro beat bands wanting him in opening slots.” He gives me his drink ticket, a comp that the club gives all the performers. “I don’t drink, man. You have it.”
Rob’s smile and good spirits before the show held in the balance a lot of the pressure to make a show work. He kept checking the crowd and going over the technical aspects of the show, and checking his fellow performers. He greets members of the audience, but then finds he has to make a last second adjustment to the location of the projector. At the beginning of the show, and during the DJ set, a video streamed Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids. I watched the cartoon fanatically before I even knew who Bill Cosby was. Watching the short episodes with their strong moral or ethical lessons, mixed with cartoon hilarity created an atmosphere within the audience nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons. Rob switched video streams to The Electric Company. In terms of education television, it truly always stood very much in its own place. Cantrell’s choice of video seemed to reflect what he wanted ESB to be like. “I hope people want to be open and to listen, even if it’s not the easiest idea to digest.”
Cantrell has been outspoken in interviews about holding a balance with his comedic material between regular hilarity, and succinct social commentary. He promotes ideas on personal freedom, the social and economic benefits of smoking Pot, and the emotional implications of choices, decisions, and judgments. He is not one to force his point of view onto the audience, but he hopes to find those willing to listen if not judge themselves. “I was so impressed by Boston’s willingness to listen and be part of the event.” he said after the show. “It’s something I hope will spread. We are pitching touring ESB across the country, with a sponsor that promotes Green Energy.”
DJ Tha Itch opened the show with a 45 minute set that mixed rock, funk, reggae, and electronica in a seamless, upbeat, groove heavy beat. His mix techniques moved between turntables, sampling with a keyboard and laptop, and adding his own guitar riffs live. It created a big, bass-heavy, energetic sound with a mix of known songs, and cool, hip unknown tracks that seemed to sync up perfectly with Fat Albert’s Junkyard band. Cantrell pointed it out to anyone nearby. Simple details in situations bring out the creativity in Cantrell’s comedy, and this one of those supremely unique little details that he enjoyed.
Audience milled throughout the bar area, pool tables, and the back of the stage area. There was a familiar camaraderie seemed to flow between them. TT & the Bears is a unique rock club. The small venue holds 200 people packed wall-to-wall, and has been a venue for up-and-coming bands since 1989. I’ve seen the White Stripes, and the Strokes play early shows before hitting it big. The main concert hall was a cave to one side of the bar and pool hall. It is a great venue with no bad sight lines, but far from your typical comedy venue. TT’s and it’s monolithic neighbor, The Middle East Club, have been kind to support comedy acts trying to work different venues; having hosted shows by Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry, Stella, Human Giant, as well as local Boston acts like the Walsh Brothers, and Robbie Roadsteamer.
Greg Barris hosted the show after an extended DJ set. He hit the stage looking like a bearded young Syd Barrett, and was backed by a bass guitar and keytar player playing atmospheric rock behind his monologues. He built his fifteen minute set from tentative steps of audience engagement, drawing the audience into a world view of harmonic dissonance that built with the music behind it to an explosive ending. The enigma behind the Heart of Darkness show, his comedy walked lines of challenging thought, and catastrophic comedic release. Paced to an evolving backbeat, it grabbed rapt attention from the audience for both its originality, and astute wit.
Mike O’Rourke was introduced to the stage, and he brought the true spirit of the Bronx with him. He worked the audience over with acerbic one liners, rolled full of thought, attitude, and wit.
Cantrell’s headlining set was greeted to uproarious applause and rapt attention. His stage presence ran between happy stoner, rapt philosopher, and intelligent humorist. His mind and his storytelling combined situation humor with an eye for the minute comedic details that feel real, and almost like uncanny bits of fate.
Topics ranged from life being in your 20s versus life in your 30s, smoking weed and drinking coffee all day, to the epic story about busted smoking weed with a classical violinist by a cop, having to go to the police station, and get bailed out by his fiancée. The set peaked with Rob taking a seat behind his Yamaha DJX beat machine. The near novelty gift presented ample opportunity for Cantrell to melt all the disparate elements of the night together, rapping over beats, using sound effects to emphasize “alien communication through sound”, and emphasizing the freedom of creation. He was in his element – having fun making comedy, and bringing together elements of music.
Jerome J.J. Leslie is a writer and comedian
from Boston. Visit jjlesliecomedian.com.