The Lobero Theatre presented “Viva Comedy” during Fiesta week, and boy was it different form the usual fare that pervades Santa Barbara’s annual celebration of our city’s Spanish and Mexican heritage. Comedians Phil Medina and Alex Reymundo regaled a whooping, mostly Latino and Latina audience with hilariously raunchy material. Medina was the (slightly) more self-deprecating of the two, but both men leavened their insults of audience members and others with stories of their own shortcomings and foibles, exploring their personal takes on Hispanic-American culture. Of course a lot of it had to do with sex. Headliner Reymundo walked a fine line between poking fun (pun intended…) and misogyny, and his female and male victims took it with laughing good grace. Probably helped that they were well lubricated, some with Reymundo’s own brand of Tequila on sale in the Lobero’s front patio vending carts. Made for a nice contrast to the tame and somewhat homogenized festivities in the rest of town.
