love the Army, love that vordville

On Saturday night, I entertained the troops at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn. The audience was actually largely full of families (not stalwart young soldiers in uniform), making the gender, age, and racial composition of the crowd roughly similar to that of a black church. My Navy brat jokes went over well, along with "powder your nose," "pigeons," and a new bit about getting hit on in Spanish Harlem.

I didn't realize until I arrived that it was more a vaudeville-variety show than a comedy show. The person hanging the sign didn't so much realize that it was a "vaudeville" show either:


They did post my headshot in the lobby, which was sweet, and I signed a number of autographs.


Boxer Smokin' Joe Frazier was swamped by autograph-seekers, and the audience was initially extremely enthusiastic about his appearance ... until he started to sing.


The audience giggled and twittered throughout his rendition of "My Way." Mr. Frazier had changed some of the lyrics to be about boxing, and in some of the lyrics he simply skipped entire words because he couldn't hit the notes.

Afterwards, we were invited to mingle at the Officers' Club, which was quite beautiful and well-appointed. I posed for some photos and, I think, agreed to come entertain during some sort of intramural Army basketball game halftime show.