To say that the ventriloquist "team" of Otto & George works
blue is to say that the Devil dabbles in mischief. On stage, Otto Petersen
(ostensibly the human half of the duo, though this may require further substantiation)
is in a constant struggle to rein in the twisted, profane rants of his wooden
counterpart, George. His efforts fail miserably, and the result is a bawdy
and raucous show that scales rarely explored heights of outrageousness and
displays questionable taste. It’s also one of the funniest acts you
will ever see.
JFK
and JFK Jr. Jon Benet Ramsey. Michael Jackson. Jeffrey Dahmer. Carnal knowledge
of Miss Piggy. Profanity, obscenity, and scatology — all were suitably
and hilariously probed by a relaxed and confident Otto at his most recent
show at The Brokerage Comedy Club.
“I’ve played on Long Island a bunch of times,” said Petersen. “It’s like home.”
Indeed, the home crowd was happy to follow where Otto and George led, particularly during a blazing opening 20 minutes that seamlessly mixed familiar material with new riffs. Otto’s response to the crowd? “I felt great. I felt like I was in control.” It was particularly important to him to have a good show going into a break before resuming both his normal schedule and joining up with Opie and Anthony’s Traveling Virus Tour, which will stop at Jones Beach on June 16. “I needed that last show to be good just for my sanity,” he said.
At any moment during an Otto and George show, you may hear an equal mixture of laughter and groans. Such was the case with some of the more graphic humor at this performance. “I guess they’ll either think I’m an (expletive deleted) and a monster for saying it, or they’ll just think it’s funny and go ‘That’s the sickest (censored) thing I ever heard, you’re off the hook’ … I’ll take a stampede over silence.” As for the ability of the act to provoke such a wide reaction, Otto expresses amusement. “It’s funny to me, that a puppet could have that power.”
Since his last appearance in Long Island, a series of earthquakes has rocked
the entertainment world: Don Imus and his producer, fired; J.V. and Elvis,
fired; Opie and Anthony, suspended from satellite radio; Luis Jimenez, suspended
by Univision Radio. For an act that works the way Otto and George does, it
would seem that this change in the comedy atmosphere would be ominous.
“My take is that when you apologize at any point that it just makes
their point stronger," he said. "They should always just go ‘It’s
a comedy show — if you don’t like it, don’t listen.’…
They’re trying to control thought and what you say and what you hear.”
And just who is responsible for trying to exert this control?
“There’s like this invisible power that you never really know
who’s actually doing it, whether it’s the FCC, or there’s
just too many f****** people without a sense of humor wasting so much time
on a talk radio show. Who cares what’s said or heard? It’s a bunch
of balloon heads listening to the radio. They’re not complaining. It’s
somebody that doesn’t even listen to the show that usually complains.”
The spread of the sanitization process to a private pay service like XM is
of particular concern. “It’s like somebody orders Cinemax After
Dark and then complains they saw a nipple on the screen.”
Otto & George will be busy this summer with area shows, a smattering of national appearances, and The Traveling Virus Tour. If The Brokerage show proved anything, it is that the duo’s comedic chops are in excellent shape for whatever awaits them. As for Otto’s state of mind at this point in his career? “I don’t know where these dark thoughts come from,” he said. “They just gotta come out.”
Here’s hoping that they continue to do just that.
(For all things Otto and George, visit ottoandgeorge.com; for information
on The Brokerage Comedy Club, including a calendar of events, visit brokeragecomedy.com.)
