When we were putting together the Mercury sponsored show, The Court of I, Anonymous, frankly we didn't know how it would turn out. The idea was to take some the wildest I, Anonymous submissions from the past few years, read them on stage and let a panel of comedians judge how fucked up the person was. I suppose the worst that could happen was that it would be boring—but happily? It was a goddamn 100 percent hoot. And it was in thanks largely to the always snappy, hilarious, and on-point hosting job by occasional Mercury columnist Bri Pruett, and the smart-as-a-whip panel consisting of Greg Behrendt, Clare O'Kane, and Curtis Cook.
Bri read each I, Anonymous submission with comedic vigor—especially those that involved a person being caught masturbating by the pizza delivery guy, the revolting use of shared toothbrushes, and an Angelina Jolie super-fan who was most impressed that she has her own "jet pilot's license." Of particular note was Clare O'Kane's sharp deadpan observations, which seemed to fluctuate wildly on the "morality" scale, Curtis Cook's admission that he likes to "ridge" his girlfriend (lick the ridges on the roof of her mouth), and Greg Behrendt's oh-so-funny justification of people who heckle during terrible movies ("If you do, you better bring your A-game!").
And the house came down when Bri and the panel performed a particularly braggy I, Anon submission (from a dude who wants to seduce and steal your woman) as a '90s style R&B jam. A++++ would love to relive that again!
In fact, the set was so good, I couldn't help but think how it would make a fantastic regular podcast... so who knows? If we're all lucky, the Court of I, Anonymous may one day be back in session.
LOOKING FOR GREAT BRIDGETOWN SHOWS TO SEE TONIGHT?LOOK NO FURTHER.