Norbert Leo Butts

The people from Beechwood and Viv and I went to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood last night to see the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Norbert Leo Butts. I was not overheated about seeing this show. It has one song that I was familiar with and it's a great and very funny song. It's called Great Big Stuff. It's a list of stuff Butts' character will be able to afford after he's swindled everyone in sight ("I can afford a Broadway ticket!").

The show was a laff fest. Puns, blue humor, clever schtick, muggings, and world class physical comedy, nearly all executed by Butts. The beef jerky bit had us in tears. Butts spent about twenty minutes trying to eat a piece of beef jerky that evidently came from a free range cow: it was tough. And he was having seizures trying to gnaw it. No words, just him rolling and twitching and contorting all over the stage.

The songs, though really good, seemed nearly irrelevant next to Butts' antics. The guy is in the same class as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

Go see this show, especially if Butts is in it. It'll be at the orange County Performing Arts Center soon. Check Pollstar.com for dates.