Having watched Mick Foley on TV for years, read his autobiographies and interviewed him a number of times, I always thought it would be fun to sit down with him one day, have a few beers and listen to him tell wrestling stories.
Wednesday night, I got to do it – along with about 300 other people. Instead of sitting down and enjoying a few beers, however, Foley was sipping from a bottle of water and standing up on a stage.The hardcore legend headlined two comedy shows that also included Colt Cabana (formerly known as Scotty Goldman in WWE) at the Baltimore Comedy Factory. I attended the later show, which was a good decision according to Foley, who said he didn't have to tone down his act like he did for the earlier show, which was open to all ages.
You could tell that Foley is not a polished stand-up comedian, and he doesn't claim to be (he told me in an interview last week that he had only done about five shows before his stop in Baltimore). However, he did keep the audience laughing throughout his one hour and 15 minute act with his ability to tell humorous stories.
Fully aware that he was playing to a wrestling crowd, Foley entertained the audience with stories and one-liners about such wrestling personalities as Al Snow – who has been the punch line to numerous stories in Foley's books – Vince McMahon, The Nasty Boys and Pat Patterson. One story involving Snow's mustache, his wife and a tuna fish sandwich was especially funny (although it cannot be told on a family Web site). But he also had some good non-wrestling material, including a funny story about his daughter's first date and a bit about Tiger Woods.
Audience members were not immune from Foley's witticisms either, as I can attest. Even though I've known him for years, most of our conversations have been over the phone or via e-mail. We've only seen each in other in person a few times, and on those occasions my hair was a different color than it is now. During the show, he looked in my direction, said I looked familiar, and then said in a suggestive tone: "If you have bleached-blonde hair and you're not a wrestler, well, I think there's something you could do for me after the show."
As for Cabana, his self-deprecating humor also was a big hit with the audience. Much of his act revolved around his less-than-memorable stint as Scotty Goldman in WWE, but he also had some aimed some zingers at Batista and Kelly Kelly that were hilarious (but also unsuitable for this Web site).