“Weird Al” Yankovic

with Flip Schultz

Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, FL • May 19, 2000

Julio Diaz

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One of the best things about my recent move to Melbourne (aside from being able to plot world domination from the posh Ink 19 corporate penthouse suite) was that I’d get a second chance to catch “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Touring With Scissors” tour. Before I moved here, I was warned that there were rarely any good shows in Melbourne, so having one of my all-time favorite recording artists stop in less than a month after the big move was certainly a nice “Welcome to Melbourne” present!

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While Al and his band basically played an abbreviated version of the same set I saw them do in Tampa back in November, the show was by no means boring. For one thing, we had far better seats this time out, so we had a much better view of all the stage antics – we were even close enough to get “snowed” on during “The Night Santa Went Crazy”! Second, and more importantly, a lot of the video material broadcast during the costume changes was different from the last show – partly necessitated, according to Al’s Web site (www.weirdal.com), by a cease and desist order from the fine folks at MGM, who bought the rights to Al’s movie, UHF, when Orion went bankrupt (The UHF material has been replaced with some really funny material from Al’s most recent MTV special).

While I did miss some of the songs and routines from the show a few months back (especially the hilarious Truth Or Dare version of “Like A Surgeon”), I certainly have no complaints about the stuff Al and the band did play – a tight set comprised of some of Al’s best stuff, including “Dare to Be Stupid,” “One More Minute,” “Amish Paradise,” “All About the Pentiums,” and much more. As usual, Al closed the set in the infamous 800-lb. Michael Jackson suit for “Fat,” then returned for the crowd-pleasing sing-along encore of “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda.”

Ft. Lauderdale-based comic Flip Schultz kicked off the evening with a few minutes of funny and slapsticky stand-up. With his affable demeanor, rubbery limbs, and tall, wiry frame, he reminded me of a young Jim Carey, as he riffed wittily on subjects ranging from Publix’s “no tipping” policy for bag boys to Fox reality TV specials to Jewish cuisine. It was a nice warm-up for Al’s antics, and got the crowd into the right mood. All in all, a fun evening’s outing. A great show in Melbourne – who’da thunk it? ◼