It's Sometimes Sunny in Seattle, Too

The Nightman Cameth on Seattle. He was sweaty, unorthodox, and crowded...but as expected, oh so funny.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been heralded as another one of the "funniest shows no one is watching." But with successful DVD sales, the premiere of their 5th season, and an immediately sold-out tour of 6 live performances across the country, this is quite obviously no longer the case.

The Moore Theatre was packed early and thoroughly. And yes, there was at least one guy in full Green Man attire. The nosebleed section in the second balcony was dizzying, with thin and muggy air. The crowd was packed with a number of bulbous, view blocking heads. Cue the opening band, New Americans. An audience of warm, impatient, obsessed fans is a very tough crowd to woo. Those capable of this level of nerdy fandom have, in all probability, very strong musical preferences spanning a wide variety of genres; in short, a crowd ripe with apathy. Poor kids. The band did just fine, it's just that...no one cared. Text messages were sent, Bookworm was played, and at last it was showtime.

Everyone seemed eager to determine just how this was going to go down. A live performance of a 23 minute television episode--how could that stretch to a justifiable $30 ($950 with convenience charges) ticket? Projector time! A clip from their new Christmas DVD was shown, chockful of petty arguing and--thanks to the lack of TV censors--an F-bomb and a not insignificant amount of blood. Merriment, indeed!

Okay, but now what? Since the projector was already up, why not an entire unaired episode from the upcoming season? Rejoice. Some of the jokes were lost to the sound of the crowd frantically laughing and applauding the joke prior, but the episode was signature silly, sordid, and fun. You really haven't lived until you've seen Danny DeVito in skinny jeans.

Finally, The Nightman! The leadup and production of the musical is a little longer and teased out, but remains pretty true to the actual episode. The main difference was frenzied fans screaming out lines and praise in a bid to prove they are in fact the most knowledgeable and worthy buff. But the energy was great, the show was hi-lar-ious, and the performers seemed tickled with the abundant love heaped on them. It seems part of the reason the show is so cherished is the obvious fun and good times the cast must have making it, and this was pleasantly amplified seeing them do it real time. They're living the dream, but at least they're giving us a peek.