Date: Fri 21-Jun-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-10

Quick Words:

concert-Sandler-Meadows-SNL

Full Text:

(rev Adam Sandler show @Meadows, 6/21/96)

Concert Review-

SNL's Sandler Is Still Funny

(with photo)

By Shannon Hicks

HARTFORD - Remember when "Saturday Night Live" was funny on a weekly basis?

When the show started, over 25 years ago, it was a new idea in television:

live comedic sketches presented by an ensemble of unknowns, many of whom over

time became household names, including Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd,

Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo. Not all cast members of "Saturday Night Live"

became household names, but many have cultivated followings of their own

through strong personalities and characterizations people identified with.

Dennis Miller may not be making a strong killing off the "SNL" stage these

days, but in his time as anchor of SNL's "Weekend Update," he was one reason

many tuned in each Saturday night.

Adam Sandler is another former SNL-mate (Sandler worked the SNL audience for

three seasons, from 1991 to 1994) who may not be a household name today, but

he certainly has a following who turn out to see him when he takes his comedy

on the road, which he did this week when he played at the Meadows Music

Theatre in Hartford on June 11.

Sandler, one of SNL's writers during his tenure with the sketch-performance

show, was always strongly associated with his talent for blending humor with

music. In this vein he was able to impersonate everyone from Bono and Bruce

Springsteen, to Eddie Vedder and Axl Rose, as well as create characters that

made the audience laugh, including Operaman, Cajunman, Lucy (a Gap girl), and

Brian (host of "The Denise Show"). Sandler's lamentations of "The Christmas

Song" and "The Turkey Song" changed the way thousands will forever think about

two of the year's biggest holidays.

Last Tuesday, Sandler brought his comic antics to the Hartford stage for a

show that lasted nearly two hours and blended his own music ("Lunchlady Land,"

"My Little Chicken," "Red Hooded Sweatshirt," "(I Wanna Be) Mel Gibson," "The

Chanukah Song") with some of Sandler's all-time favorites, like Led Zeppelin's

"Communication Breakdown" or Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."

The last time Sandler played Connecticut, a few years ago at the University of

Hartford, he presented a more traditional one-man stand-up comedian show. This

time around, he was backed by a full band and complete stage set. Of course, a

few things have changed since the last time Sandler was in the state: He has

been in a few films including a starring role in Billy Madison ; his first

album received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album in 1993; and of

course, he has left "Saturday Night Live."

Fortunately for the audience that turned out for Sandler's show last week, the

funnyman that caught our eye for three seasons on SNL is still as

oddball-funny as ever.