Finding the Funny
by Bob Howard

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HandlebarJ’s

Location, Contact Information, Parking: HandlebarJ’s is located at 7116 E. Becker Lane, Scottsdale, (480) 948-0110, www.HandlebarJ.com. There is plenty of free parking on the surrounding side streets.

Show Times and Tickets: The show is on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m., at least that is what they tell you. The night I was there, the show did not start until 8:30 p.m. There is no cover charge or admission.

Beverage and Food Service: HandlebarJ’s is more of a bar than a restaurant, but there is a selection of barbeque items and appetizers that are reasonably priced. They had a full staff of servers on duty and there was no problem getting served. The bar did a great job of supporting the show and any opinions reflected below should not be taken as a reason to avoid HandlebarJ’s. It is a classic country western bar, and the help was extremely congenial.

The Venue: Though it is a bar and not a comedy club, the venue actually lends itself quite well to a comedy show. The stage is usually used for a band, but works just as well for comedy. Acoustics and lighting were fine and there were no television screens working as a distraction. Chairs were set up around tables on the dance floor and the regular dining area as well as the bar.

I would estimate capacity at around 100, but the host advised me that he was getting 40 to 60 for the Monday night shows.

The Comedians: The show has been going for several months. The night I was there, they were toward the end of a 10 week comedy contest. The basic idea was that nine to ten comics would each do eight minutes and then the audience would be given a phone number to which they could text their votes for their favorite. The winner from each night advances to the finals where there is a $500 prize. (Full disclosure: I participated in the contest and did not win.)

This show is booked and hosted by David Mendelsohn. It really should be called the David Mendelsohn show because he probably did about 50 minutes on stage that night. Usually a host will do eight to ten minutes at the beginning and then he simply becomes a traffic cop between the comics, saying one quick line and bringing up the next comedian. David felt a need to do five to six minutes between each comic. Unfortunately, it was not that funny and this had the effect of dragging out the show so that they did not get to the voting until 10:40 p.m. By the time the final results were announced, it was just about 11p.m. Staying late is not bad if the comedy is great. This was not the case. Most of the comics used foul language repeatedly to try to give their jokes some bite. Instead of entertaining the audience, it became a matter of water boarding the audience into submission. A significant portion of those who came, left early without voting because the show was just that bad.

Rating: c- This is not a show I would attend again. The quality of the comedy is just not there. The venue is great and I would go there for drinks or food, but don’t go on Monday night unless you want to be bombarded by obscenities in a failed attempt at being funny.

(Note: Ratings are based on the overall quality of a club. CCC=best; CC=above average; C=average.)

Bob Howard is a full time family law attorney in Scottsdale and a part time comic. If you would like to contact him, send your email to rhoward@jekel-howard.com.