Chris Bliss hails from the observational school of comedy. His smart, insightful humor touches on topics ranging from the horrible traffic in his home base of Los Angeles, to the Internet as a "time-sucking vortex from hell," to his solution on what to do with the expensive prison population. ("It costs more to send those people to prison for a year than it would to send them all to Harvard. Well, hey, send them all to Harvard. Shake up those Ivy League boys just a little bit. At the very least, you get a better-educated class of criminals. ... I think if you could be mugged with the proper grammar, you'd keep some of your dignity.")
But before Bliss embarked on a stand-up career, the former comparative literature student dropped out of college to pursue his dream of juggling. He abandoned the typical circus-style routine and incorporated modern music in a three-ball, fast-paced, tightly choreographed routine. Bliss became known internationally as a variety artist after opening for Michael Jackson during the pop star's 1984 "Victory Tour," but you probably know him from the widely circulated video of him performing to The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End."
You can enjoy his stand-up — which culminates with a grand juggling finale — this weekend at the Tampa Improv.
Chris Bliss, 7:30 p.m. Thu., 7 and 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun., Dec. 14-17; 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Centro Ybor, Ybor City; $14-$18; 813-864-4000, tampaimprov.com.
