Saturday, 04-08-2006 Comedy Troupers: Hub comics entertain soldiers in Iraq with their not-so-USO Tour Boston Hearald Article by Sean L. McCarthy Joey Carroll and Jim McCue can laugh about their tour of duty in Iraq. That’s OK, though, because Carroll and McCue are Boston comedians. They just got back from a second trip to Kuwait and Iraq to entertain American troops. “Last year, we did a show there for 500 Marines,” McCue said. “This year, we just stood around and joked with 50 or 60 soldiers that were building an ammo bunker. We were out in a field, just talking with them.” Comedy in an Iraqi field? “They had inadvertently canceled our show,” Carroll said. That’s how you know you’re not on the USO Tour. Another sign your comedic gig is different: “You’re used to getting heckled by people throwing words, not explosives,” Carroll said. “But you roll with it.” The two comics have visited military bases abroad several times since 1999 as part of AKA Productions. “We go for two weeks,” Carroll said. “Those guys (the troops) go for a year. It’s the least you can do to go over there and support them.” Their trip last month coincided with Operation Swarmer, a joint U.S.-Iraqi offensive near the northern city of Samarra. “We were a little trepidatious, given what we were seeing and hearing on the news,” McCue said. “We put our hands in a higher power, know what I mean? But it wasn’t that bad.” They said troop morale “was pretty good” despite the news and the continual mortar and rocket attacks. McCue and Carroll said they had to get used to that sensation. “It was shocking the first time it happened. But you follow the lead of the guy you’re with,” McCue said. “We were with a sergeant from Lowell. We asked him: ‘Incoming or outgoing?’ He said, ‘Incoming.’ We said, ‘What should we do?’ He said, ‘Keep walking.’ ” Their trip began near Mosul, took them to a base nicknamed “Mortaritaville” and to the Green Zone inside Baghdad, where they saw that the military turned one of the late Uday Hussein’s palaces “into a weekend R&R place for our troops,” McCue said, with two pools and a spa. They also performed a late-night show at a hospital for patients and staff. It put organizing the Boston Comedy Festival into perspective for McCue. “It’s hard to complain after that,” he said. The duo also performed a benefit show earlier this week for Boston’s homeless veterans. McCue said he is planning another military-related fund-raiser later this year. “People say they admire us,” he said. “But we admire them. They keep going back.”
Friday, 03-17-2006 Laughter in Iraq Category: News and Politics O.K., I've only been in country three days and we have completed two shows one in Al Asad. Al Asad is a pretty big base we had a great audience and the people on base could not have taken better care of us. We met some wonderful people. We did hear some activity off base and there was a lot of traffic in the not so friendly skies. I've got to get used to showering with flip flops again. Our next stop was Ramadi definitely had a lot of activity going on and around that base. We got the opportunity to go out on the firing range and try out the M9 and the M16 as well an other weapon mounted on the turret of a hummer. I don't think I'm a very good shot; I think I better stick to the jokes. We flew into Bagdad airport last night on a Black hawk. Today we flew out to another base I don't think I'm should tell you were until we leave. I performed here last year and I met an old MWR (moral welfare and recreation) friend I knew from Kosovo. It's a small world. That's about it for now, - Jim
Monday, 03-13-2006 O.K. after an eighteen hour flight. Jet lag has a new meaning as I finish my first day in Kuwait. I woke up after about five hours sleep and had a respectable breakfast. Our driver picked me and the other comedian Joey Carroll up at about 10:30 we were staying at a hotel in downtown Kuwait. Our first stop was a base called Afrif Jon (don't trust my spelling). We had lunch and picked up our sound gear. We had some laughs with Brody over last's years adventure which was being chased by a camel while trying to get some photos in the middle of no where. We went to camp Patriot next. We did a show there last year this time. The soldier gave us a tour of the base the weather was great 80's I think. The staff at patriot are top notch and did everything they could to make us feel at home. We don't know when we will be leaving for Iraq I think it will be in a few hours. They don't give us an itinerary for security reasons they are probably afraid we would post it in advance on a blog or something. That's it for now, - Jim
Sunday, 03-12-2006 Hello I have just finished and eighteen hour trip from Boston to Kuwait I will be doing a show here for our troops then next morning I start my second tour of Iraq. The tour will last two weeks then it's back to the USA. I don't have much to ad except 6' 6" guys are not built for air travel. I will try to log on my progress as I go. - Jim
Here is a review from Brandeis University: Jim McCue was the night's headliner, and deservedly so. In skill, he complemented Hirshon well. Hirshon was younger and had the advantage of being a Brandeis insider, while McCue, a veteran of both the Boston comedy scene and NBC's Last Comic Standing, knew just how to play an audience. McCue made reference to being known for his 'crowd work,' a technique which can often be degrading instead of funny when a comedian picks on someone who does not want to be picked on. However, McCue knew how to make the technique effective. As he mentioned in the act, no one was able to hide due to the small turnout, and there was a joke for every major and occupation in the room.