Barry Fresh

If you don’t know who Todd Barry is, you should. The twenty-year comedy vet has performed all over the world, honing a dry, deadpan delivery that has allowed him to say things about himself such as “The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen said I was the best comic once” and “I have a cool, erudite following that has allowed me to go to sweet places like Edinburgh, Melbourne, Vancouver and Kilkenny just to tell jokes!” As a comic, these are pretty choice things to be able to say. But Barry can also talk about his numerous and far-ranging television credentials (Wonder Showzen, Sesame Street, Chappelle’s Show, Sex and the City, Hot Off the Grill With Bobby Flay, plus one of his more recent stints on the tube, as the insane bongo player who nearly breaks up the band in the season finale of Flight of the Conchords), which have made him more recognizable than ever before. The Oriental Theater, in its continuing commitment to bringing off-the-beaten-path, brilliant comics to Denver, will present Todd Barry tonight at 8 p.m., with tickets and more information available at 303-455-2124 or www.theorientaltheater.com. The Oriental is at 4335 West 44th Avenue, and tickets are $15. Matt Vogl and I are opening for Barry; I was able to trade e-mails with the comic fresh off a five-show stint across the pond, which you can read here.
Thu., July 10, 8 p.m., 2008