TNA wrestler Rob Van Dam performs a standup comedy routine, detailed report from a Dot Net reader who attended the show

Rob Van Dam at Big Mike's Headliners Only
At Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Universal City, Calif.
Report by The Young Senior Official and Voice of Juggalo Championship Wrestling Kevin Gill

I learned of this show through prowrestling.net and wanted to send in a report. I was a little nervous when I saw the amount of opening acts listed, but unlike many indy shows, these guys and girls kept it moving and no one overstayed their welcome, not even the promoter! Scheduled for a 9:30 door and 10:00 p.m. show, doors opened around 10:30-ish and they quickly go everyone in and seated.

The venue was great, with a cool Hawaiian theme with the best sound system I've heard in a comedy club in my life. Little Larry was our energetic and wrestling-centric host for "Big Mike's Headliners Only" and there was a very good turn out for the comedy debut of Rob Van Dam. A lot of talented, funny people on the undercard including the sexy Bethany Dwyer, a female comedian currently filming a movie with Eddie Murphy.

There was one unfunny comedian out of the group of six-plus, but the others more than made up for it. Very diverse show and audience with female, male, white and black comedians performing, and a similar audience with a healthy population of Latino ladies! A lot of audience interaction with the host and comedians and sitting up close meant you were involved in the show.

Also of note for those who prefer their reality with a healthy dose of scripting, the stars of TV's "Operation Repo" Matt Birch and Froy were in attendance and did a very funny standup set complete with a very cool "video skit" which they played on the big tiki screen. These guys also had a lot of fans in attendance and were very funny, but the true headliner tonight was RVD!

Rob hit the stage at 12:20 to close out the show wearing a shirt that said "I am more famous than you are." The crowd gave him a big response and he kicked things off with the Rob Van Dam laid back sort of delivery you would expect from this marijuana enthusiast. He obviously has the charisma and star power that many are lacking and he commanded the stage in his own unique way.

Van Dam compared himself to a Duck Billed Platypus, totally unique, but comfortable in his own skin. Over the course of his 15 minute set, he talked about his famous marijuana arrest that cost him the WWE and ECW heavyweight championships, as well as several other run ins with the law that weren't as well known. He didn't talk about wrestling outside of that, there was no mention of TNA.

Rob did a series of jokes about being honest to your kids, Santa Claus, marijuana, cigarettes, Michael Phelps, Geraldo and even kidded about how pissed off all the comedians were that "some wrestler" was headlining the show and joked that if he had more time he would have beaten them all down before heading to the stage. His beautiful wife Sonya was in attendance filming the show and joked that it was being filmed for.....youtube, if people around here get that channel.

RVD was a natural on stage, and got a great response. His star power, charisma, and unique humor style was very well received. He did end his set with his "thumb pointing routine" while the crowd yelled out his name. Rob was very accommodating after the show as many fans, older, younger, male and female gathered around to take photos with the man himself. He was very approachable and seemed thankful for the support, which is always cool to see.

After the show, while talking with fans, Rob was heard mentioning the Gathering Of The Juggalos 2011 which is well known for its comedy and wrestling performances, so perhaps we'll see the "highest flying" wrestler in the biz crossing paths yet again with the Insane Clown Posse this summer! If you get a chance to see the Battle Creek, Michigan native doing stand up comedy I recommend you check it out. If he incorporated wrestling stories (I can think of a few Sabu and Fonzie stories), he could easily double the length of his set, but nonetheless but a rock solid first effort from this versatile entertainer, and hopefully the first of many more to come.

Overall well worth the trip. The staff, performers, audience, venue, and headliner were all top notch! If your a fan of RVD, this is a no brainer. A lot of laughs, a lot of fun!