Gallagher: smashing success at BayCenter

Fruit-smashing and trash-talking comedian Gallagher played to a full house at the BayCenter in Dewey Beach Saturday night.  The fundraiser for the Jefferson School and WBOC's Bless Our Children initiative helped fill the restaurants and bars of Dewey before and after the show.

The comedian, who collapsed on stage a few weeks ago from a heart attack in a performance elsewhere, showed no shortage of energy, fear of death, or lack of indignation in his Dewey gig. At one point, about a third of the way into the show, he tired of one or two people near the bar speaking at full throtttle while he was trying to exploit crowd silence for dramatic effect.  He halted his monologue, told them to shut up, and then started up again.  Well-liquored, the offenders didn't pay attention to Gallagher's pleas. A few minutes later, his blood pressure rising and feeling no humor, the comedian marched off the stage and waded into the crowd to confront the loud mouth.  A few minutes later, with frustration still breaking his rhythm, Gallagher appealed to the crowd.  BayCenter security arrived and with the audience singing NaNaNaNa, NaNaNaNa, hey hey hey, GOOOD BYE! they escorted a man out of the venue.  The crowd cheered and with that, Gallagher illustrated a lesson to the many young people who attended the show: behave or leave.

That's not all they learned either as the comedian leaned heavy into sexual material, political jokes, beat up on gays and lesbians, bathroom humor and whatever taboo subjects he figured the crowd might get squirmy about.

All of his joking and monologue, he said, were just a matter of foreplay for the grand, orgasmic finale when everything from canned corn, rice crispies, canned pumpkin, soy milk ("the doctor says I have to drink this since my heart attack but it's so bad I think I'll smash it too") watermelons, red fruit syrup, apples and apple sauce, chocolate syrup and peanut butter all came under the smashing wallops of his famous big hammer.

Giddy with excitement behind wide smiles, trash bags and great lengths of clear plastic, the audience in the first 50-feet of rows soon found themselves beneath a colorful shower to rival any food fight that ever broke out any where.

There was plenty of laughter.  It all looked like a great success.