Wednesday, March 31, 2010 {1 he Blue Banner} Page 7
Legendary comedian headlines Asheville’s comedy club
{The Blue Banner}
By Josh Robinson
Staff Writer
JRROBINS@UNCA.EDU
B obcat Goldthwait, the crazed
comedian of 1980s Police
Academy fame, settled in to un
settle Asheville at Funny Busi
ness Comedy Club in a two-night
headlining performance last
weekend.
“Honestly, until 1 heard that he
was com
ing to town,
I thought he
was dead,”
said show
attendee Dan Jacobson, 32.
Far from dead, Goldthwait,
more commonly remembered
as Zed, the incompetent Police
Academy gang leader, spent more
time directing than acting in re
cent years.
Goldthwait, who directed three
films during the past decade, re
leased his most recent writing
and directing endeavor in 2009,
World’s Greatest Dad, featuring
longtime friend Robin Williams.
“Fm a huge Bobcat fan. I’ve
seen all of his movies, so when I
heard he was going to be here in
Asheville, I jumped at the chance
to come see him,” said 36-year-
old Florida native Sarah McCor
mick.
“1 went to see Jerry Seinfeld
when he came to Asheville and
paid $100 for my ticket. Obvi
ously, Bobcat Goldthwait isn’t
Jerry Seinfeld. When a big name
like that comes to town, it’s unbe
lievable that the tickets were only
$20 a piece,” she said.
There is certainly a difference
between the two types of comedy-
goers that showed up for Gold-
thwait’s performance Saturday
night. There were those who went
in expecting a rehashing of the
mid-pubescent Peewee Herman-
sounding routine Goldthwait did
in the 1980s, and those who were
more aware of Goldthwait’s evo
lution as a comedian.
For those not in the know, Gold
thwait does not use his trademark
voice anymore, although his com
edy is as dark as ever.
There was definitely a look of
surprise on a number of audience-
member’s faces when he sounded
normal speaking his first words
into the microphone.
“To those people who haven’t
kept up with him, they should
know that his style of comedy has
definitely changed,” McCormick
said. “I’d still place it in the same
genre of comedy, but Bobcat has
grown as a comedian and doesn’t
need that gag voice to get the
laughs anymore.”
Apparently, that gag voice was
enough to help him place 61st on
Comedy Central’s list of 100 best
stand-up comedians.
“I didn’t know whether I’d like
him or not,” said attendee Jeff
Hartsford, 22. “I remember see
ing one of his movies when I was
younger, but I’m a little young to
really have lived through the Po
lice Academy phenomenon.”
Hartsford said he thought it
might work to his advantage if
he went to the show having no
preconceived idea of what Gold
thwait’s comedy styling would be
like now.
“Really, I just decided it
would be a good opportunity to
see somebody who, maybe not
now, but at one point in time,
was a big celebrity,” he said.
Ian Shannon- Photography Editor
Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, famed by Po
lice Academy, performed a two-night stand-up
routine at Funny Business Comedy Ciub iast week.
Residents choose local food vendors in Asheville community
By Katherine Walker
'Staff Writer
KPWALKER@UNCA.EDU
After 12 years of farming experience
in Madison County, Carl Evans knows
the value of buying local produce out
weighs the importance of eating organic
food.
Evans and his wife, Julie Mansfield,
run Mountain Harvest Organics, a farm
near Hot Springs. They sell all naturally
grown vegetables and flowers, and con
duct most of their business at the North
Asheville and Historic Haywood Tail
gate Markets.
According to Evans, there is a signifi
cant difference between consuming local
produce and eating organically grown
food.
“I do feel that there are many times
when buying local, even if it’s not organ
ic, is preferable to getting things shipped
all the way across the country. When
both happen, that’s great, but I definitely
believe that supporting local is as impor
tant, if not more important, as organic.”
Due to his emphasis on locality, Evans
chose not to get his farm certified organic
when the federal government took over
the process.
“The use of the word organic is now
controlled by the federal government,”
he said. “Even though we do everything
we did when we were certified before it
became the USDA’s program, we are not
certified now.”
This is where knowing your farmer
comes in good use, according to Evans.
He said he talks to most of his custom
ers at the tailgate markets to clarify his
growing processes.
Local vendors like Evans supply food
to many area restaurants, including Early
Girl Eatery, which buys most of its pro
duce, eggs, cheese and meat from neigh
borhood farms.
“We believe that buying local creates
jobs in this area,” said front of the house
manager Georgia Smith. “It cuts down
on the negative aspects of shipping, and
it puts the money right back in the com
munity.”
According to Smith, Early Girl Eat
ery’s buying practices create a healthier
community.
“We have a commitment to healthier
food, which is definitely going to be food
that hasn’t traveled far or been picked
when it wasn’t ripe,” Smith said. “In
terms of meat, our fish has never been
frozen, so that’s a lot more nutritious and
better tasting.”
Like Early Girl Eatery, Moose Cafe
buys as much as possible from local
Asheville growers that sell produce at
legan Dombroskl- Staff Photograph
UNCA biology student Mary White, 19, shops for locally produced
fruits and vegetables at Greenlife Grocery in North Asheville.
nearby markets.
The restaurant, which opened 19 years
ago, often purchases from the WNC
Farmers Market on Brevard Road, ac
cording to Michelle Jackson, a Moose
Cafe employee.
“The man that opened the business was
actually a produce vendor at the market,
and he saw this open building and fig
ured he could use it to market the farmers
See local food Page 141