What I liked
So much of what makes this show work is Blaha’s relationship with the crowd. Whether the audience was guffawing or just listening, the jokes kept coming and he kept his amiable nature throughout.
My particular favorite joke of the evening deals with him being asked if he had a “rubber in his briefcase.” Of course, the dirty-minded audience (aka, everyone) appreciated the humor of this request when, in actuality, his guest was asking for an eraser, not a prophylactic.
Blaha is definitely a guy you can like and even one with whom you’d want to travel! That is saying something.
What I didn't like
The director in me just has a few comments for Mike ponder:
1) Stand-up is raw and rough and I could tell that he had jitters at the top of the show.
2) Beware the pacing and fidgeting (particularly with the microphone cord). What would happen if you stood still and could use your hands to aid in the joke telling?
My overall impression
Global traveler, Mike Blaha delights in his stand-up comedy fringe show, International Joke. In it, he shares various jokes he has learned from each country he’s visited whilst sharing humorous events that happened in multiple locations.
Ever the calm, cool intellectual, Blaha is matter-of-fact in his delivery. He lauds his life as a “Digital Nomad” which afforded him a new life away from California in Albania.
With a full zest for adventure and a thirst for a new fringe show, he abandons portraying a character to be… himself, joke teller and all. And he is quite the storyteller to boot.
