Got Jokes? Entertainment and NOVA 535 hosted the season two finale of their Big Bang Show this past Thursday, June 3, with a lineup of five of the Bay’s most impressive talents vying for the $1,000 cash prize.
This reporter was sure that Mark Byrne “The Balloon Guy” secured first place when he climbed inside a six-foot-tall pink balloon and crawled out in a skin-tight pink jumpsuit. But the audience thought better when it cheered St. Petersburg jam/punk band Mighty Mongo (pictured) into the lead.
Mongo’s ten-minute set featured overtones of Sublime and 311 with a splash of Blink 182 and a djembe-playing friend in a gorilla suit who, strangely enough, didn’t take away from the band’s ability to hold its audience’s attention.
“We have high energy, non-stop,” says Lindsay Vitolla, the band’s bombshell lead singer and occasional keyboard player. “Our band is all about making sure that everyone is having a good time.”
Indeed, one could feel the good vibes just flowing through the room … dude. Mongo’s poppy hooks and slow, Grateful Dead-like breakdowns had everyone swaying their heads through the imaginary purple haze, including yours truly, who wrote down the following note mid-set:
Lots of good energy. Even if it’s not your kind of music, you have to like them, just because they’re likeable people.
Runner-up comedian Whodi had the audience rolling when he took the stage and immediately dropped the
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2010.