The second in the new wave of comedy shows by Bootsie?s Theatre was, in no uncertain terms, thoroughly entertaining.

The usual suspects (Bootsie, Nadanja, Gina Love and the esteemed host Jah) showed up and delivered the laughs with interest, and the international players simply slayed the near-capacity crowd.

The venue was the Liberty Theatre, and the audience was festive, jovial and quite ready to laugh ? and laugh they did! In fact, there was one particular fellow who laughed louder and more hysterically that anyone else; oh, and he heckled too ? bad idea. Each comedian dealt with the local loon accordingly and we all benefited from his obnoxious approach to enjoying a comedy show after all ? funny!

Jah hosted with style, flair and a heaping helping of hilarity; Gina Love gave twenty or so minutes of adult reasoning with a grace not seen since she last touched the stage; Nadanja exploded repeatedly and sent us into uncontrollable convulsions of laughter; and Bootsie offered a few minutes of Cosby-esque amusement. Then there were the Tonys.

Tony Scofield from Chicago was first up. Now this guy was just plain, old fashioned silly; but in a really, really good way. He started his set by clowning the venue and the way in which planes land and taxi in at our airport to great effect.

Then he went on to explore the uproarious intricacies of technology, bills, reality TV, drugs and the freakish physiques of professional basketball players. Mr. Scofield played an outrageously good hand on Friday night, and had the crowd eating out of his palm by the end of his forty minute set. Folks keeled over, gasped for air, pleaded with him to stop and just straight fell out while Dr. Scofield operated. Needless-to-say, the operation was a rousing success!

Closing out the night was the internationally renowned Mr. Tony Woods. Mr. Woods was in Bermuda about five years ago. He did a show at the Clayhouse Inn. A group of friends and I were sitting at the front, near the stage. He called us the broke Fugees. Said I had a laundry bag on my head (I had dreadlocks back then). He clowned us throughout his set back then.

It was all quite good natured and funny, but still, we sat at the back this time. Woods remembered that show quite well too, and used that trip and experience to launch into one of the most sublime comedy sets most of the audience members will ever see live.

The set was far too raunchy to go into detail here, but suffice it to say that this man could make the most pious man alive bust a gut with his brand of audaciously indecent humor.

His style was relaxed, confident and charming; and his material was absolutely top shelf adult fun. He covered such diverse topics as drug dogs, depression, death and angels, on the job antics and, of course, sex.

The set as a whole was quietly brilliant and the entire audience was at this man?s mercy throughout the forty or so minutes he stood before us and delivered his wares. In fact, many of us were begging for mercy by the time Mr. Woods decided to wrap it up and bid us adieu for the second time in the last five years. Thank you Tony ? it was just beginning to get painful (physically!).

In the final analysis, this show was absolutely fabulous. The quality of the comics involved with Bootsie?s Theatre is pretty high at the moment, and if you haven?t been to see one of these shows, you?re gonna wanna get to it sun! Support this, people. Bootsie is doing good things right now ? let?s keep him rolling.