TOP TEN REASONS TO SEE GAG REFLEX 
By Gary Puckett, Copley News Service 

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that this review is just
another rip-off of the ''Top Ten List'' popularized on The Late Show with
David Letterman, the following explanation has been provided: 
                          
Since Dale Roe, Gag Reflex's co-founder, director and featured
performer, has a regular ''Top Ten List'' column in The Beacon-News
each Saturday, it seemed appropriate to use the format in reviewing his
company's latest production. Therefore, I am not ripping off Letterman. I
am, however, ripping off Dale Roe. 

10. Gag Reflex has funny titles. 
If you are going to produce original comedy revues, it is a good idea
to come up with funny titles, so people know right up front that you are
funny. Gag Reflex has come up with some beauties in the past (''Jurassic
Pork'' being one of my favorites) and this show is no exception. 

'' '96 Tears (or: It's My Sweatshop And I'll Cry If I Want To)'' is
even funnier when you see the cover of the program, which features a
picture of talk show host and clothing manufacturer Kathie Lee smiling
inanely. 

9. Gag Reflex performs in funny places.

If you have ever stopped by Foltos' Tonsorial Parlor in Batavia to
get your hair cut, you probably never guessed that it doubled as a comedy
club. Well, to be strictly accurate, it doesn't most of the time (although it
does feature an 'open mike' program once a month). 

But with the help of a few lights, a nice sound system and a whole
lot of folding chairs, it is magically transformed into -- a really crowded
barber shop. Actually, the setting is put to good effect. One member of
the audience is selected during the intermission to have their hair cut
during the second act -- for free. 

8. Gag Reflex has funny chicks. 

OK, that probably seems like a chauvinist remark. But when it
comes to ensemble comedy, the fact is that women are often fairly lame
(the original 'Saturday Night Live' cast being the obvious exception to
this). 

Gag Reflex is a very liberated group (either that or the men are
wimps) because the women have a large part to play in nearly all the
sketches. Kris Keef, Mary Ann Boyd and Maureen Gannon may not be
the '90s answer to Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain and Laraine Newman, but
they are very funny, nonetheless. 

7. Speaking of 'Saturday Night Live', Gag Reflex is funnier than
its most recent incarnation. 

Admittedly, this isn't saying much, but at least so far no one else has
suggested to Gag Reflex -- as Time magazine did recently to the current
edition of 'SNL' -- to ''please die.'' 

Did some of the Gag Reflex material bomb? Sure it did. Were some
of the sketches terrible? You bet. That is the nature of this particular
beast. But for the two and a half hours of the show, the winners far
far exceeded losers. 

And they don't have any commercials. 

6. Gag Reflex has Eric Schwartz and Eric Schwartz is a very funny
fellow. 

First, there was Belushi. Then there was John Candy. Now, there is
Eric Schwartz. What do these three people have in common? They are all
very funny character actors. What makes Schwartz stand out from the
other two? He's still alive. 

5. Gag Reflex has Dale Roe and Dale Roe is a very funny fellow,
too. 
First, there was Belushi. Then there was John Candy. Now, there
is... but you get the idea. 

4. The other guys in Gag Reflex are funny, if not quite as funny as
Schwartz and Roe. 

Please forgive the continuing references to 'Saturday Night Live',
but it serves as a kind of shorthand. if you want to know what function
Greg Ledford, Tim Nessel and Steve Lord serve in the show, think of
Garrett Morris in the original 'SNL'. Occasionally, they rise to the level of
Dan Aykroyd. Ledford, in particular, has a good comic sense. By the next
show, he might become the Bill Murray of the troupe. 

3. When all else fails, the songs are funny. 

With Schwartz and Roe on guitar, Gag Reflex is never better than
when they satirize through their songs. There is a wonderful up-tempo
number about Jack Kevorkian. And the finale is simply beyond words --
that is, if you write for a family newspaper like this one. 

2. Even the encores are funny. 

Did the audience like this show? let's put it this way: the company
took about eight encores and the audience would have happily stayed for
more -- if the company hadn't been too exhausted to provide them. 

And the number one reason to see Gag Reflex: 

1. They make fun of the Macarena. 

                           'Nuff said.