Last night I went to see local comedian Kermet Apio at Laughs Comedy Spot in Kirkland. It was the best show I have watched at this venue.I first heard about Kermet back in the late '90s, through my buddy Bert Vance. Bert, like me, enjoys the dubious distinction of having as Western-sounding a name as one can have, despite being from India. Bert told me about this up and coming comedian and said I should definitely go see him if I ever got the chance.
The next time I heard about Kermet Apio was back in the day when Saturday Night Live on television was followed by a stand up comedy show hosted by Louie Anderson. I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the show, but I don't suppose that's really important. I happened to be awake the day Kermet was on that show. I quite enjoyed his routine. I did happen to come across him a couple of times on television. He was really funny every time.
I hear that Kermet moved to Seattle to go to the University of Washington. If I were born and raised in Hawaii, I am not sure I would move from year-round sunshine and sunny beaches to the Pacific Northwest that sees gray skies and rain eight out of twelve months in a year. When Kermet moved here, he brought a piece of Hawaii with him which his lucky audience got to experience at the Seattle Folk Life Festival during the Memorial Day Weekend. I watched Kermet on stage with his guitar, singing a Hawaiian song called "Kahealani". I was stuck by his soulful voice and his skillful guitar accompaniment that held the audience rapt. Wow, just wow. This guy was very, very talented. I never thought that the first time I got to watch him live, it wouldn't be his comedy but his singing I would get to see. I decided that no matter what, I was going to do whatever I could to watch his comedy live as soon as I possibly could. Every time I tried, something happened that prevented this from happening. I even e-mailed Kermet to find out when his next local show was going to be. He e-mailed me back saying that he didn't think he was going to perform locally the rest of the year. What a bummer!
That is why I was surprised and very delighted to hear that he was going to be at Laughs, where I didn't have to dress up all fancy like I have to do when I go to Parlor Live in Bellevue. My friends and I decided to go to the 8:00 pm show on Saturday. It almost seemed like I wasn't going to be able to make it again due to car trouble, but one of my wonderful friends volunteered to drive out of their way to pick me up and drop me off home. We got to Laughs and settled down with our drinks and our sweet potato fries to nosh on. There were three separate opening acts, none of which really made much of an impression on me. One of them used the f-word way too much and totally unnecessarily. Another talked about bowel movements and farts. Somehow, that made me not want to eat any more sweet potato fries.
Then it was time. Kermet Apio came on stage.
The first thing that strikes you about him is that he is really tall. He's not actually skinny, which may be attributed to his love of pie, but he isn't really big either. In his words, if he went to a Big and Tall store, he would be considered petite. He talked about what it felt like to grow up with a name that he shared with a frog. That was the only part of his routine I had heard before, but when one is named Kermet, he can be forgiven for repeating that joke. Without giving away too much of his routine, one can relate to pretty much everything he talks about. He talked about listening to a Walkman and the challenge of trying to find a specific song you wanted to hear. He talked about what it was like to be a father, driving a purple car with two booster seats in the back and stickers all over the windows. One thing that you come away with from listening to Kermet talk about his family is that he really enjoys being a family man. I have seen and heard comedians really disrespect their spouse and children just so they can get a laugh, which makes me cringe. Not so in this case.
I really want everyone to go watch Kermet if he happens to be in your town. If you happen to go see him, I want you to enjoy his set, so I don't want to talk too much about his jokes. What I can say is that I guarantee you that you will find him really, really funny. He has a stage presence and ease of delivery that comes from years of experience. His comedic timing is perfect. From watching and listening to him, you get the feeling that overall he's very humble and is a really nice guy. If you get a chance to, go see him! It will be worth your time and money!
Thank you for the laughs, Kermet. I can't wait to see your show again. The next time I'll bring you a pie!
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