Live At The Lodge Room
YouTube · 2022 · 54 min
A loose, filthy stand-up hour about roommates, body image, and Tinder.
Stavros Halkias has a gift for making absolute degeneracy sound like a warm, communal experience. On stage, he operates with the loose, grinning confidence of a guy holding court at a bar, using his own physical dimensions and questionable romantic history to anchor an hour of crowd work and structured storytelling. His bits work because they skip any pretense of high-minded commentary in favor of blunt, visceral realities, whether he is describing the communal soundscape of a cramped millennial apartment or explaining why printing out a photo of WWE star Trish Stratus on an inkjet printer in the early 2000s taught his generation true patience.\n\nFilmed at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles, the special was released on YouTube in June 2022. It came at a major inflection point for Halkias, who had just departed the cult-favorite podcast Cum Town to establish himself as a solo headliner. The bet paid off. Released for free, the special racked up over a million views in its first four days, proving that his internet popularity could translate into a viable touring career.\n\nWhile the hour features plenty of the quick-on-his-feet crowd work that built his online following, the written material carries the show. Halkias finds plenty of traction mocking his own pandemic weight gain, detailing a bizarre 4 a.m. Tinder proposition that went sideways, and speculating on his Greek immigrant father’s inexplicable ability to cheat on his mother despite having no money and wearing a Costco leather jacket.
The set list
-
Gaining 45 pounds during the first half of the COVID pandemic and ordering food to combat xenophobia.
Frames excessive eating and heavy cannabis edible consumption as coping mechanisms, joking that ordering lo mein was a heroic effort to fight anti-Asian bias.
-
Millennials being the first generation destined to do worse economically than their parents.
Contrasts boomer platitudes about hard work with contemporary economic realities, mocking boomer advice and imagining flexing on his own future children.
-
Falling down the stairs at a subway station and receiving help from Black teens.
Laments that the teenagers expressed genuine concern and called him 'sir' rather than mocking or filming him, proving he was too fat even for teenage scorn.
-
An extended threesome story accompanied by crowd work.
Recounts sexual mishaps and interrogates an audience member about a disastrous 4 a.m. threesome fueled by Adderall.
How it plays
- Tone
- Irreverent, ribald, self-deprecating, and jovial.
- On stage
- Endearing, unapologetic, highly confident, and crude; embraces his physical appearance while balancing casual vulgarity with self-awareness.
- Pace
- Loose, laid-back, and energetic conversational delivery.
- About
- COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, weight fluctuations and emotional eating, millennial financial struggles vs. baby boomers, sexual escapades and threesomes, Greek family upbringing
What the critics said
Praised for his charm, natural stage presence, and quick-witted crowd work, though reviewer Tom Writes About Stuff felt the opening pandemic routine and ending threesome story were less effective than his family-based material.
In the room: Packed, receptive room responsive to off-the-cuff banter.
Backstory
Recorded and released following COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns; touches on his Greek-American upbringing in Baltimore and personal habits during quarantine.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- The Lodge Room, Los Angeles
- Runtime
- 54 min
- Where
- YouTube
- Director
- Stavros Halkias
- Topics
- After
- Fat Rascal (2023)
More from Stavros Halkias
-
Uncle Stav
Netflix
-
Fat Rascal
Netflix
If you liked this
-
Erik Griffin Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents
Comedy Central
-
Mike Finoia Live in Burlington
Comedy Dynamics · Album
-
Mike Cannon Traumatized Animal
YouTube
-
Hannah Berner We Ride at Dawn
Netflix
-
Adam Newman Fuzzies
Seeso
