Live Review and Photos: Michael Showalter and Allison Gill at the Casbah, March 4, 2011

The Casbah turned into a comedy club Friday evening as it welcomed TV and film veteran Michael Showalter and local comedienne Allison Gill to its stage.

First, Gill warmed up the crowd with her delightful crassness, alternately wringing laughter and shocked groans from the crowd. She even included some guitar toward the end, launching into a country song that explained why fat girls are particularly skilled at administering oral pleasure.

Following Gill’s amusing performance, Showalter took to the stage in a flurry of manic energy. The State star largely ignored a pile of notes, opting instead for an improvised, stream of consciousness approach that ricocheted from one tangent to another, then back again, much to the puzzled crowd’s enjoyment.

Showalter repeatedly expressed an affinity for the city of San Diego, its people, and our remote casinos. Despite the airplanes that flew over the Casbah “literally every five minutes,” Showalter seemed happy to trade the airport noise for a chance to perform somewhere other than “the coat room at House of Blues” (a reference to his ill-fated 2007 show with Michael Ian Black).

During the performance, Showalter’s trademark combination of childlike innocence and darkness was on full display — everything from doody pants to suicide was discussed — and the audience seemed to hang on to every word.

Photos: Michael Showalter – March 4, 2011