CLEAR WATER COMEDY PRESENTS: NEIL HAMBURGER LIVE AT THE PLUS with special guest CHRIS CROFTON

THURSDAY, MAY 16th

208 South Barstow Street

Eau Claire, WI

General Admission | All Ages (18+ recommended)

DOORS FOR DINNER SERVICE OPEN AT 6PM

DOORS FOR SHOW 7:30PM | SHOWTIME 8PM

All tickets $25

Artist presale begins January 10th at 11am Central

Public onsale begins January 12th at 11am Central

ABOUT OUR HEADLINER

“America’s Funnyman” Neil Hamburger has worked every imaginable stage, from New York’s Madison Square Garden, to a show in pitch black darkness at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest. He has performed countless American, Australian, British, Irish, and Canadian tours, as well as in Norway, New Zealand, and the Bahamas, alongside acts ranging from Faith No More to Robin Williams.

His TV credits include Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Tom Green Live, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. His Live At Third Man album was produced by Jack White in Nashville; an earlier Hamburger effort was included in SPIN’s “40 Greatest Comedy Albums Of All Time.” The feature movie Entertainment, a dramatic look at Hamburger on- and off-stage co-starring John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, and Michael Cera, premiered at the Sundance and Locarno Film Festivals, and was released in 2015 to rave reviews. His recent Drag City album of lavishly-produced song, Still Dwelling, featured a memorable trio version of Jesus Christ Superstar's "Everything's Alright" with Neil singing alongside Mike Patton and Jack Black.

Quotes

“A phlegm-filled sack of putrid self-loathing, Neil Hamburger is the perfect satire of a slick, professional nightclub comedian. If you’ve ever suspected that behind the glossy veneer of fake bonhomie of those perma-smile acts lies an ugly, embittered, grotesque soul – well Hamburger is that demon made flesh. In some living Sisyphean hell, every night he dons his tuxedo, greases down his hair and ploughs through the vile set that disgusts even him, just so he can earn a three-piece chicken dinner. His contempt for his own pitiful existence is surpassed only for his contempt for the audience who compel him trudge through his despicable cavalcade of jokes. And my, these gags are certainly not for the faint of heart, as he plumbs the depths of depravity for the sake of a laugh.” –(Chortle (U.K.))

“Hamburger is the clapped-out husk of a decorous Southern gentleman, now coughing in painful hacks, suppurating filth through his tuxedo, and her to tip a slurry of abuse all over celebrity and modern life...a combination of malignance and desiccated vaudeville.” (The Guardian)

“Neil Hamburger remains the greatest comedian I’ve seen the greater majority of an audience walk out on....No one was leaving their seats this evening though, as this peerless performer shocked and delighted in equal measure...On the road for 12 years with scarcely a day off, Hamburger is a condemned showbiz lag, doomed to perform his antagonistic anti-comedy to potential hostility forever.” (The Scotsman)

“A brilliantly awful persona of an old-school, C-list funnyman—the kind with an ill-fitting tuxedo and an enormous, greasy combover—on a very bad night. Neil Hamburger toys with an audiences’ expectations (and patience), and indeed his act is a kind of rude commentary on stand-up comedy altogether.” – (New York Times)

ABOUT OUR FEATURE

Chris Crofton started performing comedy after he graduated from college in 1991. He moved to New York City from Connecticut and appeared at open mics around the city: Stand Up NY, The West End, Rose's Turn, New York Comedy Club, The Village Gate, and Gladys's Comedy Room at Hamburger Harry's. Crofton was also writing songs at this time. Following the release of his critically acclaimed first album, The Alcohol Stuntman, on Stylus Records, he moved to Nashville to pursue music.

From 2001 up to the present, he has performed and recorded with Chris Crofton The Alcohol Stuntband. Known as much for Crofton's between-song comments as the music, The Alcohol Stuntband has played with The Black Keys, Rocket From the Tombs, Richard Lloyd, Lucero, Danko Jones, The Paybacks and many, many, more. From 2005 to 2009 Crofton hosted the now-legendary "Best of Bread" radio show on Nashville's WRVU, a weekly program in which he and his brother Greg mixed topical and absurd commentary with 70s soft-rock classics. Crofton is also an award-winning actor who has appeared in numerous independent films.

In 2006, a local comedian asked Crofton to try standup again for fun. After performing for 10 years with The Alcohol Stuntband, Crofton had developed a remarkable ease onstage, and his topical palette had expanded dramatically. These qualities combined with Crofton's unique perspective to create a comedy monster. His style mixes the social commentary of Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks, the absurdity of Steve Martin, and the pacing and stage presence of Lenny Bruce. In 2007, Crofton was invited to open for Neil Hamburger in Nashville. Hamburger was impressed with his set and arranged for him to open a show for Bob Odenkirk and Louis CK at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles. In 2009, after seeing his standup, Harmony Korine cast Crofton in his film Trash Humpers and brought him to select cities to perform comedy prior to screenings. Later in 2009, after WRVU's lamented demise, Crofton adapted the Best of Bread broadcast into the popular weekly podcast "The Chris Crofton Show."

In May 2012, Chicken Ranch Records released Crofton's debut comedy album, "Pearls Before Swine: Live at The Springwater, which, according to Nashville Scene editor Jim Ridley, captures [Crofton's] nervy, abrasive act on crackling vinyl before an audience that s by turns incensed, indifferent and doubled over in hysterics."

OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS

-Online sales close at 6pm the day of the show. Tickets can be purchased at the door following this time. The show is not- we repeat, NOT sold out unless there is a separate announcement. If you miss the window for online sales, just arrive when the doors open to assure your entry. Please do not call the restaurant.

-The Plus is a full service restaurant and is wheelchair accessible. Drinks and food are available and can be ordered before or during the performance.

-All advance tickets are will-call, print at home, or e-ticket. No physical tickets will be printed or provided. A list will be present at the door to assure your entry when you buy in advance.

-Clear Water Comedy and The Plus reserve the right to remove or deny service to anyone who engages in disrespectful, unruly, or disruptive behavior. Unless spoken to by a performer, no talking, heckling, texting, or recording is permitted during the performance. If this takes place, you may be required to leave the show. No refunds will be provided in this event.