The lovely and talented Judith and I went to see comedian Dave Attell ("Insomniac" -- Comedy Central) at the Orpheum Theater here in Madison last night.

I love going to see comedy. Laughing out loud is one of the great pleasures of being alive. And I think a lot of cartoonists possess the same kind of envy of stand-up comics that I do. It's the envy that music writers have of rock bands: the acknowledgement that *I* could get up there and do that kind of thing, were it not - say, for example - for a complete lack of spontaneous wit, a singular absence of charisma in front of a crowd, zero material and a paralyzing lifelong case of stage fright.

Comics were the kids in school we thought were SO freaking cool, standing up at the front of the class, making fun of the teachers when they weren't around. We cartoonists, on the other hand, cowered at the back, viciously caricaturing the same teachers, but with none of the instant feedback and peer acclaim our gutsier brethren at the front would garner.

Anyhoo, Attell is a comic Judith and I have wanted to see for a couple of years now. His last few appearances here in Madison hit when I was on the road. So here was a side-benefit of my self-imposed three-month home stretch: I get to see some shows!

Unfortunately for us, Dave Attell has hit the big time in a major way. This is great for his sake, mind, but it meant that instead of seeing him in a small club (where comedy is at its best), we were packed in with over 1,000 other fans at a theater that -- lovely though it is -- is hardly a great comedy venue.

It was also, unfortunately, a very "Man Show" kind of crowd, and apparently the organizers were unprepared for this. The crowd was massive, boisterous and (in many cases) heavily inebriated. Booze flowed freely. Audience members would walk up on stage, unchallenged, handing Dave a drink, prompting him at last to ask "where's the #$@!%^@ security?"

Early on, it seemed as if Attell abandoned his regular routine just to try and keep the crowd in order.

On the plus side, it was still funny as hell. Still, I feel bad that we never got the chance to see him in a small club, though. Now with his burgeoning fame, we probably never will.

But damn, laughing out loud is a GREAT way to spend an evening.

Dave Attell's website is http://www.daveattell.com . His upcoming schedule is full of some smaller clubs. Check him out there while you can, but get your tickets now. I'm sure these will all sell out.