Crash Course Caters to Hungry Comedy Lovers

GoldenGate Xpress : Mar '05

by - Maria Guevara : San Francisco,CA

What is the right meal to cook while your home is burning down?

A new comedy act answers that and many other unasked questions, while giving audience members a chance to taste unique treats like "Smoked Satan."

"I wanted to create a show that hasn't been done before," said Scot Nery.

Nery, 26, is the frenetic, hilarious creator behind the apron of an interactive cooking comedy show. Recently returned from a five-month gig in Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan, Nery is now producing his own comedy show, "Crash Course," at the Climate Theater in San Francisco.

This is not a normal comedy show, where audiences listen, laugh and head home. At "Crash Course," you may eat some Satan and go home wondering what you just witnessed.

Nery was bitten by the performance bug at a young age, doing magic tricks at 11 years old. After finishing high school he landed his first break as the opening act for Brooks & Dunn, a country music duo, for two summers in a row. Thereafter, he hit the streets where his first act, "The Pancake Show," was born.

"Working on the streets was hard - either people like you or they don't," said Nery. "I needed to be on-the-spot creative."

"The Pancake Show" is literally a sidewalk corner act where Nery makes a single pancake on a portable stove and then juggles it in the air and all around to hip-hop music. The show worked so well that Paul Nathan, director of the Climate Theater, saw Nery perform and asked him to bring his show and creativity to the theater.

The Climate is an old apartment building converted into a small intimate setting that seats fewer than 50 people. On this particular night the theme was "What to Cook When Your House Is on Fire."

The show began with a short Japanese video that showed a conversation between a mob boss and a chef. After the one-minute video Nery came out on stage, greeted the crowd and began to chop vegetables as he made up jokes. Nery's onstage concoctions adhere to his own vegetarian diet.

The evening's special guest, Nathan, did some card tricks and took shots of Jim Beam while the audience waited for Nery to cook his devilish delicacy.

"Satan" is boiled little balls of wheat gluten protein, which Nery drowned in hot sauce. But before he shared this "tasty" treat with the audience, Nathan lit a cigarette, blew smoke on the pieces and called it smoked Satan.

Midway through the show everyone in the crowd was laughing and having a good time. The jokes were amusing, as was the theme of the show. A couple from the crowd enjoyed a skewer of spicy Satan.

Wacky and nutty stunts from cooking strange items to roasting marshmallows from a flaming foot will have your belly aching and your mind questioning the purpose of this show all the way home. If you are lucky, you may even see Nery do a little juggling. Every week includes a different theme, an off-the-wall guest, and some new vegetable cooking. Don't cancel The Food Network just yet.

"I want everyone to escape the world and enjoy some laughter," said Nery.