BRIAN REGAN definitely looks at the world from a unique perspective. Unfortunately, the off-kilter spin he puts on his comedy is often lazily labeled “observational humor.” Perhaps this is because Jerry Seinfeld considers Regan one of his favorite standup acts, but in any case it doesn’t do much to adequately define the wordplay and surreal tangents in Regan’s bits on topics as varied as learning Spanish, kidnapping Russell Crowe and writing banana jokes for Planet of the Apes. Another curious quirk of Regan’s reputation is the media obsession with the fact that he doesn’t curse or do lewd material in his act. In fact, it’s difficult to find a story about him that doesn’t make it seem as if his lack of profanity is just as—or even more—important than his jokes. “I cringe when I read the ‘clean’ headline in a newspaper. I feel like it oversimplifies what I’m trying to do,” he told me. “I don’t sit down and think, ‘Man, I’m going to write some clean jokes!’ It’s like someone looking at an Ansel Adams photo and going ‘Wow, those are black and white! Look how black and white those are!’ It’s like, yeah, but aren’t they pretty good photographs too?”
Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose
Saturday, 8pm
$38.50
