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Flip out: Acclaimed comedian R. Bruce has two weekend shows. / Photo by Alex Russell, fredericksburg.com
/ Photo by Alex Russell, fredericksburg.com |
Comedian R. Bruce has learned one thing about the public’s sense of humor: It’s no different in America than it is in the United Kingdom, Grand Cayman or Canada.
That said, the Fredericksburg resident—who has performed his stand-up musical comedy act in all those countries—should have no trouble inspiring Australian audiences to laugh when he performs at the prestigious Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March.
But some of his comedic references may go over their heads.
“U.K. people really like my show, but ‘Aunt Bee’ is a reference they do not get,” Bruce said, referring to a character from the U.S. television series “The Andy Griffith Show.”
That show has never aired in the U.K.
Bruce said that he tweaks the content of his comedic songs for international audiences—but noted that, ultimately, he doesn’t have to change much at all.
“People always ask me, ‘How does their sense of humor differ from ours?’ And the answer is, it doesn’t,” Bruce said.
This will be Bruce’s first time performing Down Under, although his popularity among Australians began some eight or nine years ago when several of his recordings received play on a Melbourne radio station.
He’ll travel more than 20,000 miles round-trip—barely half of the 50,000 total miles he traveled across the United States while performing last year—to perform alongside several other American comedians, among them Demetri Martin, Joan Rivers, Pauly Shore and The Amazing Johnathan.
“It’s a very complex bunch of hoops to jump through to get it set up,” said Bruce of applying for admittance to the festival. Bruce’s stepson Rob, a Melbourne resident, helped him with the application.
Bruce doesn’t know for sure if the festival will be a big break.
“In a very Zen way, I try not to have attachment to outcomes,” he said. “But the exposure from this could help me to get to Edinburgh.” Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe is prominent among international comedy festivals.
Bruce’s domestic shows have already taken him to nearly every corner of the United States, but never California or New York City, where he said the comedy circuits are hard to break into.
“California is full of people working on TV stuff, and that mass of talent goes up and down the state doing gigs. And in New York City, there are people there who pay to go on stage,” Bruce said.
Nevertheless, Bruce seems content with where he is now, having once been compared to Bob Dylan by Roger Glover, bassist for the classic rock band Deep Purple.
In a MySpace blog entry, Bruce recounted the experience.
“He said, ‘You’ve done that. You write songs that we all know the words to, we sing them to our friends, we play your albums. Just like Dylan.’”
Bruce’s response?
“Well ... I thought there would be more money.”
Lauren Jergensen: 540/374-5000, ext. 5617 ljurgensen@freelancestar.com
