Qatar is no secret.
Qatar is flashy. Qatar is in your face. Qatar is the rooster strutting through the hen house with it's chest puffed and ruffled. It's shiniest feathers on display.
With visits and performances in the recent years by everyone from the A- List to the Z- List... it is home to one of the world's most confusing and "WTF?!" evoking events calendars.
From a film shoot by Kanye West to a beach party with Sisqo.
Juwan Howard watching Oscar Pistorious race a horse.
Bryan Adams selling out shows and Arrested Development playing a golf course.
Harlem Globetrotters in a shopping mall to no-name WWE wrestlers duking it out in a Burger King parking lot to Macy Gray playing a private party.
Events are often ill planned, ill promoted and ill choices.
But sometimes, there is the event that pops up and sparks my interest just enough to get me in the car, pushing through hordes of the same faces, and into a seat.
Chris Tucker at the Sheraton was the event last night.
Now... don't get me wrong... I do have a soft spot in my heart for Chris Tucker.
Smokey is undeniably one of the greatest characters in a stoner comedy ever.
His early years of stand up are hilarious. His Michael Jackson impressions are spot on.
His character and hair in 5th Element... well... that's a whole other story.
BUT... with all that said... My expectations were VERY low.
There is no denying what an appearance by Chris Tucker in Doha means.
He's broke.
It's no secret why wash ups and has beens flock to this part of the world.
But in their defense... Isn't that why we are all here?
We arrived 30 minutes early and waded through the sea of casual, red faced expats sipping Heineken bottles in the lobby. Every 9 steps stopping to say hello or casually head nodding at a friend, acquaintance or occasional person that I thought looked like someone else.
Entering the colossal auditorium space, it became evident to me... it didn't matter what you paid for your tickets. Every seat was equally shit and we all ended up watching the giant, poorly white balanced "live feed" monitors above the stage. Staring at the monitor for so long also made me forget at times that Chris Tucker was actually on that "stage" in the front of this room.
A warm up act (totally forget his name) took the stage and immediately set the tone for "no rules apply here tonight". Cocks, balls, Viagra and even some talk about church got the crowd remotely warmed up.
As he left the stage, people smiled at each other with the accepted and unspoken "Yeah. This is pretty cool, huh" face.
Then, with the microphone still on backstage, the opening act muttered some things and opened the side door to the stage. We all expected a "And now ladies and gentlemen.... CHRIS TUCKER!" but instead we got "Uhhh... What?... Uhhh....Ok.... Ladies and gentlemen... there will now be a 15 minute intermission".
A collective "HUH?" mummered across the auditorium.
Why have a warm up act and THEN an intermission? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
The flood lights switched on like they had corralled all the vampires of the world into one place under the guise of a comedy show just to lock the door and melt them with the UV bulbs.
People got up and headed out of the auditorium and back to the bar, outside of a smoke, or just left altogether.
We stayed sitting as Christian rock music blared out from the sound system.
Our eyes darted around the room to see if anyone else was hearing the calls to "Jesus on high" and "My God, an awesome God".
Was this some kind of subliminal brain washing technique? Were we all being subjected to a cleverly disguised sermon?!?!
Finally... The lights dimmed and a video presentation of all of Chris Tucker's starring roles played on the monitors. Out of synch and poorly exported, the video had as much effect as if someone just took the mic and said "Now ladies and gentlemen... take our your iPhones and youtube your favorite Chris Tucker moment!"
He came out to a roar of applause as he shrieked and squealed into the microphone. The sheer volume made my ears feel like they were dripping blood. He wasted no time setting the tone. Cocks and balls and thobes.
As he rambled through a pretty disjointed and seemingly unprepared set, some things became clear:
1- His impressions are still bang on.
2- His jokes went on just a bit too long.
3- His financial situation became a bit depressing and slightly echoed the late days of Lenny Bruce.
4- Blatantly stole jokes from Chappelle and Aziz Ansari.
5- His suit pants were just not made for shining lights and big screens.
6- Probably shouldn't have ended the set with rape jokes... but hey... it was a long night.
7- He gave people their monies worth staying on stage for what felt like 2 hours.
8- The man is indeed gifted and can still bring a smile to my face.
All in all... Going into the night with low expectations might have been the best thing I could have possibly done. Had I hoped for the Chris Tucker of the past... I may have been disappointed or saddened by the shadow of his former self strutting across the stage.
As we walked out chuckling, I snagged a 4 per page flyer from under a Hummer's windshield.
Yet more proof of Qatar's "WTF?!" event calendar:
THE SUPREMES AND THE TEMPTATIONS LIVE IN QATAR
But I will give credit where credit is due...
Qatar is trying.
Qatar is flashy. Qatar is in your face. Qatar is the rooster strutting through the hen house with it's chest puffed and ruffled. It's shiniest feathers on display.
With visits and performances in the recent years by everyone from the A- List to the Z- List... it is home to one of the world's most confusing and "WTF?!" evoking events calendars.
From a film shoot by Kanye West to a beach party with Sisqo.
Juwan Howard watching Oscar Pistorious race a horse.
Bryan Adams selling out shows and Arrested Development playing a golf course.
Harlem Globetrotters in a shopping mall to no-name WWE wrestlers duking it out in a Burger King parking lot to Macy Gray playing a private party.
Events are often ill planned, ill promoted and ill choices.
But sometimes, there is the event that pops up and sparks my interest just enough to get me in the car, pushing through hordes of the same faces, and into a seat.
Chris Tucker at the Sheraton was the event last night.
Now... don't get me wrong... I do have a soft spot in my heart for Chris Tucker.
Smokey is undeniably one of the greatest characters in a stoner comedy ever.
His early years of stand up are hilarious. His Michael Jackson impressions are spot on.
His character and hair in 5th Element... well... that's a whole other story.
BUT... with all that said... My expectations were VERY low.
There is no denying what an appearance by Chris Tucker in Doha means.
He's broke.
It's no secret why wash ups and has beens flock to this part of the world.
But in their defense... Isn't that why we are all here?
We arrived 30 minutes early and waded through the sea of casual, red faced expats sipping Heineken bottles in the lobby. Every 9 steps stopping to say hello or casually head nodding at a friend, acquaintance or occasional person that I thought looked like someone else.
Entering the colossal auditorium space, it became evident to me... it didn't matter what you paid for your tickets. Every seat was equally shit and we all ended up watching the giant, poorly white balanced "live feed" monitors above the stage. Staring at the monitor for so long also made me forget at times that Chris Tucker was actually on that "stage" in the front of this room.
A warm up act (totally forget his name) took the stage and immediately set the tone for "no rules apply here tonight". Cocks, balls, Viagra and even some talk about church got the crowd remotely warmed up.
As he left the stage, people smiled at each other with the accepted and unspoken "Yeah. This is pretty cool, huh" face.
Then, with the microphone still on backstage, the opening act muttered some things and opened the side door to the stage. We all expected a "And now ladies and gentlemen.... CHRIS TUCKER!" but instead we got "Uhhh... What?... Uhhh....Ok.... Ladies and gentlemen... there will now be a 15 minute intermission".
A collective "HUH?" mummered across the auditorium.
Why have a warm up act and THEN an intermission? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
The flood lights switched on like they had corralled all the vampires of the world into one place under the guise of a comedy show just to lock the door and melt them with the UV bulbs.
People got up and headed out of the auditorium and back to the bar, outside of a smoke, or just left altogether.
We stayed sitting as Christian rock music blared out from the sound system.
Our eyes darted around the room to see if anyone else was hearing the calls to "Jesus on high" and "My God, an awesome God".
Was this some kind of subliminal brain washing technique? Were we all being subjected to a cleverly disguised sermon?!?!
Finally... The lights dimmed and a video presentation of all of Chris Tucker's starring roles played on the monitors. Out of synch and poorly exported, the video had as much effect as if someone just took the mic and said "Now ladies and gentlemen... take our your iPhones and youtube your favorite Chris Tucker moment!"
He came out to a roar of applause as he shrieked and squealed into the microphone. The sheer volume made my ears feel like they were dripping blood. He wasted no time setting the tone. Cocks and balls and thobes.
As he rambled through a pretty disjointed and seemingly unprepared set, some things became clear:
1- His impressions are still bang on.
2- His jokes went on just a bit too long.
3- His financial situation became a bit depressing and slightly echoed the late days of Lenny Bruce.
4- Blatantly stole jokes from Chappelle and Aziz Ansari.
5- His suit pants were just not made for shining lights and big screens.
6- Probably shouldn't have ended the set with rape jokes... but hey... it was a long night.
7- He gave people their monies worth staying on stage for what felt like 2 hours.
8- The man is indeed gifted and can still bring a smile to my face.
All in all... Going into the night with low expectations might have been the best thing I could have possibly done. Had I hoped for the Chris Tucker of the past... I may have been disappointed or saddened by the shadow of his former self strutting across the stage.
As we walked out chuckling, I snagged a 4 per page flyer from under a Hummer's windshield.
Yet more proof of Qatar's "WTF?!" event calendar:
THE SUPREMES AND THE TEMPTATIONS LIVE IN QATAR
But I will give credit where credit is due...
Qatar is trying.
This post makes me miss home. x
ReplyDeletefinally read this, i miss smokie,
ReplyDelete