By Glenn Ferrara
The idea was to raise money for the well-known Gay Men's Health Crisis by staging a benefit comedy show at Queensborough Community College in Bayside. On hand would be Dave Labaraca and Steve Marshall from The New York Comedy Club. Tickets would be reasonably set at just five dollars. And the venue was large enough to support an ample turnout.
The show was also held on the very day of the mammoth Gay Pride parade (June 24). Gay Pride, Gay Men's Health Benefit – a perfect match.
So where was everybody?
The event's organizers, Ha Ha Ha, got plenty of their friends to show up, but few more. In all maybe 30 or 40 people came out, which was really too bad. Not only because the charity was so worthy, but also because the show was so entertaining.
While the organizers may have struggled with publicizing the event, they had no problem when it came to the selection of the comedians. Both Labaraca and Marshall, along with M.C. Ozzie Baez, did a superb job – especially considering the less-than-desirable working conditions.
Watching them perform, you couldn't help but feel sorry for the comics. The sound system was on the fritz, nobody showed up, but, God bless them, none of that seem to faze them. David Labaraca and Steve Marshall attacked the crowd with full energy. Well, not literally attacked,
at least not in Marshall's case. Labaraca came out and dove right into the predicament with gusto. “Isn't this exciting, there are 25 of us in a room that sits 700.”
Then it was “Let's get personal,” needling patrons right and left like a lanky, and slightly kinder, Don Rickles. Who can blame him for holding back? – there weren't any bouncers to protect him.
Labaraca's frantic set was followed by a more relaxed and refined segment from Steve Marshall. The two styles couldn't have been more different. While Labaraca seemed to throw his routine out the window when underwhelmed with the turnout, Marshall stuck to his script and worked the room as if it were packed. Marshall mostly stayed away from the audience, riffing about his childhood in Brooklyn and his seemingly limitless problems with women. Talking about questions girls shouldn't ask an honest guy like himself: “Don't ask me if I fantasize about your girlfriend –
