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Arts & Entertainment

Funniest Mom, Festival Winners Toss One-Liners at Camino Real Playhouse

Second Stage Stand-Up will repeat Feb. 12.

A few of the most notable humorists working the circuit today chucked comedic fast balls, sliders, pop flies and curve balls to an enthusiastic crowd as Stage II at  was transformed into a comedy club.

If you missed last Saturday’s one-night performance, take heart. Second Stage Stand-Up will return Feb. 12 with a fresh crop of comics. Ron J. Ruhman and Tom Riehl, who themselves are professional comics, co-produce the monthly series.

The lineup included Barry Weisenberg, winner of the Las Vegas Comedy Festival; Eric Hunter a participant on TV’s Last Comic Standing and the Boston Comedy Festival; and Vicki Barbolak, winner of Nick at Nite’s Funniest Mom in America title.

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Weisenberg took the stage first. Short, wearing glasses and baggy clothes, he let loose a barrage of rapid-fire one-liners, showing how he won the title “king of the one-liners.”

He claimed he was a graduate of UCLA, where he carried a 4.0 ... alcohol level. He said he majored in communications ... but never told anyone.

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He confessed that “there’s a woman at work who undresses me with her eyes, but she has a lazy eye, so it takes forever.”

 Weisenberg talked about how challenging it is to work as a comedy writer during an economic downturn. “So far I’ve sold two things: my house and my car,” he said.

Hunter comes across as a really nice guy. So nice that he offered belated holiday greetings. He wished all the Christians in the audience a merry Christmas. He wished the Jews a happy Hanukkah. “And if you’re aethiest,” Hunter said, “I hope you had a nice day filled with random, chance events.”

Hunter later announced his availability to all of the single women in the audience, revealing that he “loves to cook, clean and lose arguments.” He said he would be out at his van in the parking lot after the show, should you want to “just hang around and talk.”

Hunter wrapped up by reminding everyone about all of the things they hated as young children. “Remember when you were a kid and you hated taking naps?” he asked. “Now it’s kinda rough staying awake.”

There’s no missing headliner Barbolak in a crowd. She said she stood out a bit as she crossed the street to get to the Playhouse, tottering in heels, wearing an above-the-knee, animal-print dress and sporting a shiny, blond wig and a big-baubled necklace.

“They were staring at me like they never saw a trophy wife before,” said Barbolak, who is one of the most visible comedians today as a member of Jay Leno’s Laugh Squad.

Barbolak often is referred to as the next Roseanne, and it’s easy to understand why as she finds the humor in the small dramas of everyday life—family relationships, raising kids, earning a living.

She said she turned down her friends’ advice to have a long engagement because “I can only hold in my stomach for two weeks.”

But Barbolak was no slouch when it came to one-liners.

“My last husband was a Walmart greeter—he had me at 'hello,' ” she said.

“My daughters turned out good—people think they’re adopted.”

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