Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus

There have been a number of major comedy tours over the last few years, offering something for everyone, whether it be rednecks (The Blue Collar Comedy Tour), indie rock types (The Comedians of Comedy), or college girls (Dane Cook's Tourgasm).

But since its initial run in the summer of 2006, there has been something unique about the Opie and Anthony Traveling Virus Tour. The brainchild of co-host Greg "Opie" Hughes, the tour showcases the comedy of many of the stand-ups who are regular guests of The Opie and Anthony (O&A;) Show, which is syndicated throughout the US and heard weekday mornings from 6 to 11 AM EST on XM Satellite Radio Channel 202, The Virus.

With shows mainly in the Northeast, fans have traveled from around the country to be a part of the Virus, which often includes football-game like tailgating parties hours before the event; the O&A; Village, with a "human petting zoo," and other areas where fans can mingle with show regulars; and meet and greets with the comedians. Event locations have ranged from indoor arenas to outdoor venues, with thousands of people in attendance.

Typical crowds have been described by Opie and Anthony themselves as "sausage fests," swarms of men — usually a bit on the chubby side, with shaved heads and goatees — shouting at any female spotted among them to show their tits. They are sweaty, screaming 20 and 30-somethings who will boo instantly at the unfamiliar and/or what they deem unfunny. And what is funny are jokes like: "It's not rape if she blinks twice for 'yes.'"

What the comedians on these shows have in common, with each other and with O&A;, is performing something called "cringe comedy" or "cringe humor." Hughes coined the term "cringe radio" years ago, and the genre took off from there. It's a brand of comedy that is often either offensive or vulgar, or that perhaps creates awkward, uncomfortable situations, leaving audiences a bit uneasy, but laughing, if sometimes out of this uneasiness.

The comedy team of Otto and George, consisting of Otto Peterson and his ventriloquist dummy George, are a perfect example. One of Otto's most cringe-worthy jokes is the following:

George: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Otto: I don't know. Why?
George: He wanted to skullfuck the rotting corpse of JonBenet Ramsey.

Cringe humor is often nonsensical , sometimes not necessarily even funny, per se, but often exists merely to obtain a reaction. Positive or negative, to the comic it hardly matters.

In the past the Virus tour has attracted quite a bit of star power as lineups have included the likes of Tracy Morgan, Lewis Black, Carlos Mencia and Bob Saget. But, overwhelmingly, it's the regular guests of the radio show that hardcore O&A; fans come to see. This year, after two summers of seven or eight-show tours, the troupe is putting on just one show at the PNC BANK Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on August 2. Performers will include longtime Virus vets Jim Norton, Robert Kelly, Rich Vos, Patrice Oneal and Otto and George, plus Virus newbies Mike Birbiglia and Greg Giraldo.

It's these acts, plus Opie and Anthony, and a couple others who won't appear this summer, such as Bill Burr and Louis CK, that fans want to see. Anyone else is likely to get booed right away by the unruly crowd unless he (God forbid a female comic — even Sarah Silverman herself — appear on the tour) goes right into jokes about AIDS, rape, cancer, race, sex — anything that will cause a reaction anywhere from people squirming in their seats to leaving in complete disgust. If you've ever seen the film The Aristocrats, a Virus show is like watching that two or three times in a row.

One of the old stand-bys from the '06 and '07 shows is Robert Kelly, who occasionally sits in for Jim Norton, the third man on the O&A; show, and was also a member of Tourgasm. Kelly's act focuses on relationship humor and is sometimes graphically sexual, such as when he describes trying to have sex in a hammock or how having sex with a large woman is like "fucking an upside down canoe."

Kelly says the Virus show is a whole different animal from other comedy shows.

"Virus is an event," Kelly said. "The other shows, the people are just there to see the comedy. No one has been able to pull this off on such a big scale." Sure, there have been comedians — from Richard Pryor and Steve Martin to Andrew "Dice" Clay to Dane Cook — who have performed in arenas, but the Virus is a sort of Lollapalooza, with eight to 10 comedians, each one filthier than the last.

"Comedy was not supposed to be done in front of 12,000 people," Kelly said. "I have to give the fans credit for making it work because they love comedy and know comedy. And most of them are there to laugh."

Kelly, who released a comedy CD/DVD combo in April called Just the Tip through Comedy Central Records, has been affiliated with O&A; for years. He knows that, whether it's in the parking lot outside before the event or inside during the show, the O&A; fans are known for being very loyal and sometimes incredibly rowdy. At the Opie and Anthony Animation Festival in New York in June, at which the best contests entries for O&A; radio bits animated by fans were viewed and voted on, comedians Dan Naturman and Russ Meneve, both relatively unfamiliar to the crowd, performed and were booed immediately and incessantly simply for being new.

"These were a couple of new guys to the show," Kelly said. "In my opinion, two very funny motherfuckers. I don't get why fans boo comics. It's not like they're giving their political views up there or trying to teach them English... To be honest, it wasn't all the fans, just a few. But like laughter, boos are contagious."

A legendary Virus show moment, that has been viewed on YouTube by fans ever since, occurred in Philadelphia in 2006 when fans booed both Jimmy Schubert (unfamiliar) and Dom Irrera (perhaps too old in an 80s way). The next comedian was someone the crowd was quite familiar with, O&A; regular Bill Burr. He proceeded to berate the crowd in an adlibbed rant that went 15 minutes, as he wished heart disease, cancer and AIDS on the audience, made fun of their shaved heads, lack of intelligence and "man tits," and trashed every "pussy" sports team in the city. As the crowd alternated between boos and laughter, Burr told them, "I hope you all get in your Ford Focuses and fucking drive off the side of that faggot-ass Ben Franklin Bridge, you fucking one bridge-having piece of shit city that no one gives a fuck about."

This chastising has not stopped fans from booing, as, in 2007, other comics such as Rick Shapiro (new) and Frank Caliendo (hacky impressionist) both received the same treatment from fans in Boston. This has left some comics, Naturman and Meneve included, to shy away from the tour in 2008.

"[At a comedy club] there is a spotlight on the comedian," Kelly said. "And if anyone is talking or being too loud, there is someone who tells them to shut the fuck up and if they don't, they get kicked out. Now, take all that and throw it out the window. Add half naked chicks, a deejay, drugs, alcohol, and people getting pigs blood thrown on them, and make it an all day event, and that is the Virus show."

Kelly began some of his 2007 sets by announcing his upcoming wedding, to which some fans booed, and others applauded. "Boo is right," Kelly responded. "Anybody who applauded, fuck off. You don't know her. She could be a twat. Why would you applaud?" The winning animation in the O&A; festival, which can also be viewed on YouTube, features, among other characters, an exaggeratedly enormous Kelly naked and washing himself in a bathtub.

"There are [fans]," Kelly says. "A small percent that don't get it and just scream and yell because they're drunk and just see someone up there talking, ruining their buzz. They just want to see some tits and someone eat some kind of shit. But the true fans that came to see the show usually tell them to shut the fuck up. So you got to love them."

Kelly does another bit about asking his girlfriend who she thinks about when she masturbates. "I only think about you," she says. Kelly replies: "Are you fucking out of your mind? She only wants to fuck me. Either she's lying or she is a fucking loser. If this [pointing at himself] does it for her, fuck her. I have no respect for her whatsoever. She is a piece of shit as a human being. She should kill herself."

If part of the genius of Seinfeld was that it turned the belief that characters have to be likable completely around, presenting four unlikable characters in a classic sitcom, then O&A; have taken it a step further. Featuring comics who verbally, and viciously, attack fans, as well as hosts who openly admit their fans are scumbags, the Virus has become sort of an anti-Woodstock. No peace or love here. When Scottish comic Billy Connolly first appeared on the radio show, he marveled at the relationship between O&A; and their fans. "That's fucking brilliant," he said. "You hate your listeners."

Patrick Milligan founded CringeHumor.net in 2001. The site celebrates comedians who embody the spirit of cringer humor, including many of the Virus regulars, plus others, such as Dave Atell, Judah Friedlander and Jim Florentine. The site also lists "The Legends of Cringe," comedians who performed what could have been called "cringe humor" at the time. These includes comics from Carlin, Pryor and Lenny Bruce to Hicks, Kinison and Chris Rock.

The site's sub heading is "Comedy that questions your morality."

"Cringe Humor is all about featuring comedians who are genuine on stage," Milligan says. "They don't rely on gimmicks or props to be funny. They are truly their deviant selves behind the mic."

Although he performs at some of CringeHumor.net's comedy shows, Peterson is not listed among the "featured comedians," due to his use of a puppet. Another O&A; favorite not listed on the site is Stephen Lynch, who plays the guitar and sings songs with topics like trying to terminate a girlfriend's pregnancy:

I could kick you in the stomach
and catch you unawares.
I could swear to God you
accidentally fell those flight of stairs.
When I tell you that I love you,
I will look you in the eye
as I slowly slide the hanger up your thigh.

Initially an Opie and Anthony fan forum, CringeHumor has gone on to produce its own radio show, plus comedy shows at some of the top clubs in New York.

"The brand was initially influenced by many of the performers featured on Opie & Anthony before they were kicked off of WNEW back in 2002," Milligan says. "During O&A;'s departure, the site evolved into featuring comedians who regularly worked the world famous Comedy Cellar, and were featured on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn."

Milligan's site even keeps up-to-date on comics he considers "Up & Coming Cringe" and the "Next Generation of Cringe."

It also has a section called "Awful Comedy," which lists reasons why a comedian might be considered unfunny, such as being a "traditional" or "gimmicky hack," "ethnic garbage," or simply "female." Comics listed include "Last Comic Standing" Season 1 winner Dat Phan, Wanda Sykes, Ant, and, a performer during the 2007 Virus tour, Carlos Mencia, plus another friend of the Opie and Anthony Show, Jay Mohr.

"Cringe Humor now focuses on up and coming talent in the NYC scene," Milligan says. "And promote as many acts years before they debut on O&A.;"

Based on the consistent turnout, fans of Opie and Anthony, and the comedians, will continue to attend the annual event, no matter how many there are in a given year.

"The Virus tour was amazing," says Joe Lyga, a New Jersey O&A; fan who will be attending this year's show. "I went to the shows in Jones Beach and Camden last summer. It was amazing to see so many of today's greatest comedians in one show, all absolutely killing."

Rich Vos, a longtime friend of the show who acted as the emcee during the two previous tours, is often jokingly called "a hack" on the radio show, but the fans truly appreciate his comedy as well. "O&A; fans are great," he said. "They know comedy." Vos does a joke about the Evolution of Man picture, saying that it's a photo of "a white guy being followed in Queens."

"It's just really fun working with your friends," Vos adds. "Being on the road with some middle act that runs to the stage makes me want to blow my brains out, or drink [comedian Jim] Norton's blood. To me the difference between these shows and theater shows, their are no rapes occurring during the theater shows."

There are always surprises at Virus shows. At least one unannounced comic will perform at the PNC. Past shows have included the radio duo introducing videos of from the show with sort of a "Jackass" feel… show intern Pat Duffy brushing his teeth with dog excrement, and O&A; super fan Pat from Moonachie winning an eggnog drinking contest and then vomiting said eggnog onto the face of — once again — intern Pat Duffy. The latter is known among fans as the "Baby Bird."

"It's rock and roll with out the bands," Kelly says. "O&A; got the funniest guys they know and put them on one show and told 12,000 of their fans to show up. There's nothing like it."

Vos, who finished in third place in the first season of Last Comic Standing, and released a DVD in 2006 appropriately titled Vos, just enjoys performing.

"I like the tour," he says. "I like theaters. I like clubs. Because I like doing comedy. Now go fuck yourself and leave me alone."