Comedian Vince Morris thrives on energy from the Bloomington crowd

Vince Morris enjoys coming to Bloomington. So much, in fact, that he proposed a new motto for the city.

“Your signs should say ‘Bloomington: Absolutely nothing to do with Indiana,’” Morris said, a suggestion the crowd lauded with applause.

Morris said he couldn’t remember whether he’d been to the city three or four times — “Call it three and a half,” he said — but he was greeted by an enthusiastic audience that treated him like this was his home.

“I like this crowd, this is a hip crowd,” Morris said after firing off a series of jokes about punishing 8-year-olds with a trip to the electric chair. He then mocked earlier audiences for not approving of the joke: “I’m sorry honey, but that man is talking about
killing children!”

Saturday’s late show was a display of mutual appreciation. While the crowd howled, applauded and egged on Morris, he returned the favor with a healthy dose of banter and compliments.

“It’s a really receptive crowd, one of the hippest crowds. They get nuance and subtlety,” he said after the show. “I don’t have to explain any of the jokes, you know what I mean? It’s refreshing, and it throws you off sometimes not having to do that.”

Maybe the show’s biggest moment came during a segment about daughters.
Morris asked two fathers in the audience for their daughters’ names, and after it was learned both names began with “K,” he quickly spat: “One more ‘K’ and y’all can go to Martinsville.”

It was truly a showstopper, with applause loud enough for the act to be over and a din of laughter that made it difficult to hear Morris say, “God dammit that was a good one. I need someone else’s hand to pat me on the back.”

There were certainly a lot of those after the show, as at least half of the audience stopped by to talk to Morris following the performance. Travis Heine and Mike Getz, musicians from Indianapolis, thanked him for the set and agreed it was a
great show.

“I thought he was packed with energy. His facial expressions, movement, everything,” Heine said. “Even his off-color jokes were smart and really well done.”
Getz agreed, saying it was  their first live standup experience and they were not disappointed.

Morris said his time in Bloomington was equally well-spent.

“You know this place is a real comedy club,” he said. “It’s one of the few comedy clubs where you can perform comedy as an art form and they still get it.”