VIDEO: Rob Delaney's exclusive video for Phoenix readers
"Being bitter is poison and bitter will kill you. Bitter is a root that will grow a poopy tree of death." These sage words of wisdom flew from the mouth of comedian Rob Delaney, who appears this weekend at the Huntington Theatre's Calderwood Pavilion.
Delaney, a Marblehead native, is a triple threat of sorts — actor, stand-up comic, and Red Sox superfan. So much so, in fact, that one of Delaney's proudest accomplishments is having sung the national anthem (several times) at Fenway. "Singing the anthem is bigger than me and my stupid jokes," he says, "because baseball is important. My jokes? Not important. The first time I did it — total blackout. To be there was shut-the-fuck-up unbelievable, otherworldly. The best thing that could have happened to me after doing that would have been being hit by a car."
Lucky for us, Delaney has thus far avoided oncoming post-game traffic. Besides his current comedy tour, he's shot a new series for the Sci-Fi Channel called Outer Space Astronauts, and appears alongside Andy Samberg in Nate Pommer's award-winning short film The Nature of the Beast, which fuses film noir, comic-book aesthetics, and a giant red walrus. Because why not? Check it out at natureofthebeastmovie.com.
Rob Delaney won't sing the national anthem, but he will tell jokes on May 23, at 7 and 9 pm, at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. Tickets are $16. Local comedy darling Renata Tutko opens. Visit bostontheatrescene.com or call 617.933.8600 for more information.