Unfunny Comedian on NA

[ithaca gal]

Just wondered if anyone else had experienced the "comedy" of Frances Dilorinzo onboard HAL ships.  We just sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam and were very underwhelmed with her set.  We loved comedians and were so happy to see two were scheduled to perform last week.  Sorry that I can't remember the man's name, but his humor was topical and funny.  We can't say the same for Frances.  I was mortified to hear her make a joke about the carpets in the elevators having the days of the week on them.  She wondered if maybe HAL thought ALL of their guests had dementia.  At other times when the audience didn't respond with a belly laugh to her comments, she said she would "slow it down" …. as if the audience was too old or stupid to "get" her humor ------ we "got it", it just wasn't funny.  Twice she mentioned being with us on the "Amsterdam" ….. she couldn't even be bothered to get the name of the ship right.  Hope we don't encounter her again.

[Cruzaholic41]

HAL isn’t exactly known for booking the best comedians. 

[ithaca gal]

1 minute ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

HAL isn’t exactly known for booking the best comedians. 

This is sometimes true but this one was a disaster.  In addition to being unfunny and insensitive, she was actually insulting the older audience members when they didn't react the way she thought they should.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

HAL isn’t exactly known for booking the best comedians. 

 

Ever seen Barnaby?

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL's entertainment is going down hill.

 

HAL needs to spend more money and get better comedians, etc.

[VMax1700]

Some of the comedians are a bit of a joke. 😉

[Cruising-along]

We had a really good comedian recently on the Koningsdam, his last name is Burkhart (sp ?). He was so good he got standing ovations and performed again later in the week. 

 

On the the other hand there was one who picked people out from the audience and made fun of their clothing and/or hair. NOT my idea of funny. 

 

[Mary229]

I prefer the comedians over much of the other entertainment.  Everyone has their own boundaries, I guess. I have seen people walk out over what I consider mild commentary, but Hey! I can't stand Disney's messages so I am not in the norm.   I am sure those entertainers are given "talking points" and I think the mild ageism humor is enjoyed by some as laughing at ourselves.  

 

PS - If you sit in the front row during a performance you should understand the rules.  

Edited November 4, 2019 by Mary229

[rucrazy]

Humor like most things is subjective. 

Joseph

[CJcruzer]

currently on the Nieuw Statendam, we also had Jeff Burqhart (spelling?) and found him quite funny.  There is another comedian I have seen on HAL a few times, Mark Robinson I believe?, ventriloquist/comedian (he comes from Halifax) and  he was top notch.   Last night we had Jo Little, singer/comedian - her songs were very good and suited her voice - but her comedy fell a bit flat.

 

Anyone heard of Pop Opera Princesses IDA - that is our entertainment tonight,  Sounds possibly like a female version of Cantare?

 

Carol

[DaveOKC]

SOme of HAL's comedians are quite good, while others not so (many times I think - I could do a better job than that!).

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

 

On the the other hand there was one who picked people out from the audience and made fun of their clothing and/or hair. NOT my idea of funny. 

 

We might have had this one on the Mexican Rivera. He used a large flashlight to search the audience and look for his victims....  he had lots of rude general comments about elders, disabilities, dementia, incontinence, and individual’s appearance. Then he started looking for minors and singling them out. I left (so did about 8 others around me) when he started on a teenager. 

[rucrazy]

5 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

 he had lots of rude general comments about elders, disabilities, dementia, incontinence, and individual’s appearance. Then he started looking for minors and singling them out. I left (so did about 8 others around me) when he started on a teenager. 

 

I thought Don Rickles was dead!?

[Cruising-along]

20 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

We might have had this one on the Mexican Rivera. He used a large flashlight to search the audience and look for his victims....  he had lots of rude general comments about elders, disabilities, dementia, incontinence, and individual’s appearance. Then he started looking for minors and singling them out. I left (so did about 8 others around me) when he started on a teenager. 

Wow he sounds even worse than the one we had. 

I understand about staying away from the first rows but it sounds like this one picked on anyone anywhere. 

[terrydtx]

Sounds like the terrible comedian we had on the Noordam in July. She made jokes about the day of the week carpets and having scooter races on the Lido deck. I found her comedy to be insulting too. Fortunately HAL entertainment is not the reason we sail with HAL. The whole week we only made one show and it was this terrible comedian.

[FRANKIEDNYC]

Yes Copper we had seen Barnaby. Many times over the years.  He was our all time favorite.  He and my wife and I developed a nice friendship. She cried when we heard he passed away.  Really miss that Kazoo!

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, rucrazy said:

Humor like most things is subjective. 

Joseph

 

Even more subjective than discussions of food.

 

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

We might have had this one on the Mexican Rivera. He used a large flashlight to search the audience and look for his victims....  he had lots of rude general comments about elders, disabilities, dementia, incontinence, and individual’s appearance. Then he started looking for minors and singling them out. I left (so did about 8 others around me) when he started on a teenager. 

 

Wow, that's a new low. I would have walked out and if he had turned the flashlight on me, I'd have waved goodbye as I walked out--and NOT in a friendly way. 😉

 

There was a comedian on the K last winter that I was fortunate to miss, but lots of people were talking about him the next day. Very "blue" and obnoxious. Many people walked out.

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I prefer the comedians over much of the other entertainment.  Everyone has their own boundaries, I guess. I have seen people walk out over what I consider mild commentary, but Hey! I can't stand Disney's messages so I am not in the norm.   I am sure those entertainers are given "talking points" and I think the mild ageism humor is enjoyed by some as laughing at ourselves.  

 

PS - If you sit in the front row during a performance you should understand the rules.  

I was on a Celebrity cruise a year ago and even that comedian had HAL passenger age jokes.

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, FRANKIEDNYC said:

Yes Copper we had seen Barnaby. Many times over the years.  He was our all time favorite.  He and my wife and I developed a nice friendship. She cried when we heard he passed away.  Really miss that Kazoo!

 

And his "it's all part of the act, folks" - He is missed!

[SharonN]

12 hours ago, ithaca gal said:

Just wondered if anyone else had experienced the "comedy" of Frances Dilorinzo onboard HAL ships.  We just sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam and were very underwhelmed with her set.  We loved comedians and were so happy to see two were scheduled to perform last week.  Sorry that I can't remember the man's name, but his humor was topical and funny.  We can't say the same for Frances.  I was mortified to hear her make a joke about the carpets in the elevators having the days of the week on them.  She wondered if maybe HAL thought ALL of their guests had dementia.  At other times when the audience didn't respond with a belly laugh to her comments, she said she would "slow it down" …. as if the audience was too old or stupid to "get" her humor ------ we "got it", it just wasn't funny.  Twice she mentioned being with us on the "Amsterdam" ….. she couldn't even be bothered to get the name of the ship right.  Hope we don't encounter her again.

We had her on the Maasdam earlier this year in Alaska and she was the absolute worst we've ever seen. We and many others walked out. Here's the entry my husband made about the show in our blog "We went to the show to see Frances di Lorinzo who bills herself as a Mommy By Day – Comedian By Night.  Here’s a news flash for her, and some advice:  She shouldn’t quit her day job!  She tried to find her groove for five minutes, struggling from one unfunny line to the next.  Grasping for help at one point she complained, “I’ve heard of a tough house before, but there’s no call for this.”  One of her problems was that an older person who lampoons themselves for being old, can get away with jokes about old people cruising with HAL; but those same jokes don’t work for someone who thinks of herself as a mommy and is in her early 40s at the most.  We gave her five minutes, four more than she deserved, and we didn’t need to see any more.  There is funny, and there is funny, and this wasn’t funny!  I’m just saying…  Later when Sharon was checking for our Kodiak picture at the photographer she heard Frances pondering, “What is it with these people, are they all engineers who don’t know funny when they hear it?”"

[Mary229]

It seems to my that I have hear the carpet in the elevator joke on every cruise I have been on. The rationale depends on the crowd

Edited November 4, 2019 by Mary229

[daisy-mae]

6 hours ago, CJcruzer said:

 There is another comedian I have seen on HAL a few times, Mark Robinson I believe?, ventriloquist/comedian (he comes from Halifax) and  he was top notch.  

 

Carol

 

We saw his show on our last HAL cruise and he was the best of the bunch that week. A very talented guy.

[Sun&Sand52]

Just off the Nieuw Amsterdam Saturday morning.  I did see her very first show and thought it was somewhat funny at times.  It was mostly flat and I agree she did a lot of poking fun at the main demographic of HAL.  Had never heard of her prior to our seeing her on NAM, but apparently (according to her) she is big on You Tube - for whatever that may be worth.  The only funny thing she did was her bit at the very end about the “boobs”.  It was a sight gag that she did at the very end of her show, which was funny.  And as stated above, humor is very subjective.  We did not find her entertaining enough to see her at the last show of the week when she appeared with the other comedian who I think is named Derrick (cannot remember his last name).  I did find him very funny and saw his first show earlirier in the week and did enjoy his comedy.  DH and I did a lot of laughing as we related to much that he said - being of a certain age as we are!  😆.  But Francis’ style of humor was not very good and was more mean spirited- which that part we do not enjoy.  
 

With all this being said, entertainment is all so subjective.  For example, we did not like the dancer show AT ALL and walked out of the show.  We found it terrible.  Many people do like that show.  And I am probably one of the few people on board who do not like the Billboard OnBoard piano players.  I think they are terrible.  It is just not my cup of tea.  But it is many others, because they always play to a large audience.  So all this is very subjective as to each their own.

 

I do really wish they would bring back the large production shows as some of those were great.  Some not so much.  I guess it is much cheaper for the cruise lines to book these comedians than do the production shows.  So it always just comes down to money.

[richwmn]

Since other comedians have been discussed, I offer my input.

Mike Robinson was mentioned. I have seen him on several cruises and always found him to have a good act. Each show has had a bit of repetition, but also some new material. I would be happy to see him again on a cruise.

 

Barnaby is another comedian I have seen at least once on a ship. I remember a good show and am sorry he is no longer around.

 

On the current Noordam cruise we have had two comedians that I enjoyed. Tim Kaminski and Darren Sanders both played to a full theater for the first show and I don't believe anyone walked out. The audience laughed at the right points and gave a good round of applause at the end of the show.

 

HAL has to fill 14 ships with entertainment 7 days a week. Some acts that have rave reviews are going to fall flat. Some are going to shine. I believe that HAL's World Stage entertainment has gotten better over the past couple of years, but maybe I have been lucky in that I happened to be on the cruises that had the best entertainment.

 

[Copper10-8]

9 hours ago, CJcruzer said:

currently on the Nieuw Statendam, we also had Jeff Burqhart (spelling?) and found him quite funny.  There is another comedian I have seen on HAL a few times, Mark Robinson I believe?, ventriloquist/comedian (he comes from Halifax) and  he was top notch.   Last night we had Jo Little, singer/comedian - her songs were very good and suited her voice - but her comedy fell a bit flat.

 

Anyone heard of Pop Opera Princesses IDA - that is our entertainment tonight,  Sounds possibly like a female version of Cantare?

 

Carol

 

Jeff Burghart and his Jack Nicholson imitation plus ventriloquist Mike Robinson and his buddy Terrence "Lemmie out, I can't breath"