Stormy Daniels comedy review: She finds humor in everything from Trump to porn
In her 2018 memoir “Full Disclosure,” the award-winning adult film star and director Stormy Daniels describes Donald Trump’s "anatomy" as part Toad, as in the mushroom character from the Super Mario Kart video game series. She should know, having seen this mycological marvel up close during during an unfortunate 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, which led to an infamous $130,000 hush money payment, and ultimately, 34 felony counts heaped onto our next president.
Daniels had a lot to say about these matters (“You’re welcome,” she quipped about the charges), and more from her storied career in adult entertainment, with equal flair for colorful language during her comedic storytelling set Thursday night at the Comedy Plex Comedy Club in Oak Park.
“He can’t vote, but he can be voted for?” she wondered. “How is this possible?”
The same can be asked about the booking itself, which came about at the last minute. Marz Timms, co-owner of Comedy Plex, is old friends with the Denver-based stand-up comic Greg Studley, who tours with Daniels and opened for her on Wednesday night.
Why comedy? Daniels explained during her set that it affords the opportunity to speak her full truth — something that has incurred chilling vitriol and overly specific death threats. She added that she was recently doxed and now lives in an RV with her husband, adult film actor Barrett Blade.
Donning a sequined jacket, brandishing a bedazzled microphone and wearing what she deemed “Muggle underwear,” Daniels euphemized No. 47 throughout her set — ”orange turd,” “Voldemort” and a man "who lasted 90 seconds" — to an audience offering eager laughs, applause and woos.
Not that Daniels needed to lean on bronzed targets. She revealed a knack for comic timing, canny wordplay (she’s obsessed with the least titillating part of pornography: the dialogue) and presenting savvy stage pictures, regardless of topic. Joking about how her daughter could misinterpret her career, she mused, “‘Mommy’s a nurse!’ Yeah, on Pornhub. ‘Daddy’s an astronaut!’ Yeah, with two s’s.”
Despite claiming to be dreadfully uncomfortable with public speaking, Daniels commanded the stage. In a story about directing a porn shoot gone horribly awry, she mimed how the male actor simultaneously serviced himself and dined at the craft services table and weaved across the stage to mimic how her crew attempted to avoid vomit, balancing the frenetic physicality with pregnant pauses for effect.
It didn’t take long to win over the audience, who offered enthusiastic support when Daniels’ exuberance waned. Referencing the recent election, she lamented, “You all had one [f - - - - - -] job. I served that [s - - -] up perfectly; someone dropped the ball.”
“It wasn’t Oak Park!” a woman shouted back, to warm applause.
The show ended with a Q&A, during which audience members submitted questions on note cards.