Nothing enhances comedy like a little multitasking.Randy Liedtke wants us - "us" being Central Oregon - to laugh. And seeing as how the one place known to host comedy shows in town has been the butt of jokes, rather than the purveyor of jokes, it seems like we're in need of whatever Liedtke's got.
Liedtke, who has made some waves in the Northwest comedy scene in less than a year on stage, brings funny back to Bend with a series of comedy shows at the Summit Saloon and Stage with a host of other Northwest comics.
Rather than the rambling storytelling or day-to-day commentary that most mainstream comics dish out these days, Liedtke's comedy leans more toward well-crafted, albeit quirky as hell, jokes. Couple these one-liners with his penchant to include goofy musical elements as well as PowerPoint presentations into his show, and it starts to make sense that his talent is emerging so quickly.
For instance, when he appeared onstage at the Seattle International Comedy Festival, he said through his thick red beard in his standard dead-pan voice: "I usually do a juggling act, but I don't have the balls."
It took you a second there, but you get it - it's funny.
"I like things that no one's ever thought about. There's a lot of premises that have been touched, and I touch some of those too, but I like stuff that's been out there for everyone to have, but no one's ever come up with it," Liedtke says.
The Redmond native cites folks like Zach Galifianakis (with whom he shares a slight physical resemblance and musical style), Demetri Martin, and the late, great one-line master Mitch Hedberg as his favorite comedians. And this seems about right - hints of all three are present in his act.
When we put him on the spot and asked for a joke, Liedtke thought for a bit, wringed his hands and said: "I used to go to camp for kids with asthma. I met a girl at asthma camp, she took my breath away."
What? Ah, took your breath away. Nice touch. Even funnier - Liedtke actually did go to asthma camp.
