(Image from Climateplegearena.com)
This past Thursday, I went with my boyfriend to see Adam Sandler’s You’re My Best Friend Tour. The comedy show was held at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center, home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and N.C. State Basketball team.
I grew up watching Adam Sandler movies. My dad and I bonded watching Sandler films like Happy Gilmore and Mr. Deeds. My mom and I loved Sandler’s rom-coms, such as 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer. My family pretty much snuck in Sandler movie lines into every conversation. I guess you could say Adam Sandler was part of the family, so you can imagine my excitement when my boyfriend surprised me with Sandler tickets.
At the venue, my eyes were on the crowds of people shuffling into their seats. My boyfriend and I sat close to the very top of the arena. I looked down at all the people dressed in their best “Sandler” attire: mostly basketball shorts and a baggy shirt or an orange Bobby Boucher Jersey straight out of The Waterboy.
I will make it a point to say that I had never seen Sandler’s stand-up aside from the skits and bits he did during his time at SNL. I was walking into a whole new Sandler experience I had never witnessed before.
The show began with a variety of stand-up openers, including Sandler’s longtime friends and co-stars, Rob Schneider and Kevin Nealon. Most of Sandler’s openers joked about their lives as 60-year-old men with wives and kids. Although I was not the target audience for their core material, I thought many of the jokes were funny and they did not diminish my excitement for the evening.
Finally, Sandler came out in black jogger pants and a worn-out green sweatshirt (you would expect nothing less), waving to the hyped crowd. Sandler’s comedy routine consisted of his complaints about getting older and conversations he would have with his wife and teenage daughters. Periodically, Sandler would burst into song, discussing topics such as socks being “too tight” and a hypothetical grandma being on Ozempic. Each song had animated background videos accompanying the music, with the visuals being comically crude. Live and in person, I realized that Sandler’s stand-up was slightly different from the family man he plays in films. His comedy was uniquely his, turned up to eleven.
In the third act, Sandler strummed his guitar, singing along with the audience. He points out different people in the crowd, showcasing their reactions on the big screen behind him. Sandler pokes fun with an older woman who was very happy to be there and called back to her throughout the rest of the show (most of the time apologizing for his own vulgarity).
Sandler ends the concert with a song dedicated to the late-great Chris Farley, Sandler’s good friend during his time at SNL, who passed away from a drug overdose in 1997. The concert ends, and people cheer, Sandler wishing us all a good night.
My boyfriend and I raced to the car and discussed our experience with Sandler’s performance. I thought some songs dragged on for too long, and not much of the comedy I could relate to, but I enjoyed the lively experience, nonetheless. I think the idea of a man complaining about his wife begging him to work out is overplayed, something the majority of the comedians griped about during their sets. My mixed feelings about the show’s content did not overshadow my overall enjoyment of the night, however, and I was happy that I went to see Sandler shine in what he does best: musical comedy.
Sandler’s tour continues, and I hope that audience members at his coming shows enjoy the tour like I did.
THE CAROLINIAN 