Seinfeld, Milsap make it a big weekend
It is not billed as such but it is certainly a legends weekend coming up at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will be performing Friday night and singer Ronnie Milsap’s farewell tour stops here Saturday.
The Comedy Central television network ranks Seinfeld No. 12 on its list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, right between Johnny Carson and Robin Williams.
Milsap has had 40 songs top the country charts and has sold more than 35 million albums.
A member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame, a six-time Grammy Award winner, Milsap has been a star since he began recording in the ’60s with hits such as “It Was Almost Like a Song,” “Smoky Mountain Rain,” “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For the World,” “Stranger in My House,” “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life” and “Lost in the Fifties Tonight.”
The 73-year-old North Carolina native, who, early in his professional career, played the piano in a recording session with Elvis Presley, was named Male Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1974, 1976 and 1977.
Many of his songs are love songs. On his website, Milsap says, “The only thing that really counts, that really matters is love.”
The 62-year-old Seinfeld is best known for his popular award-winning television show that ran from 1989-1998.
It is the comedian’s ability to draw laughs from the simplest of topics that has made him a favorite for 40 years.
For example, Seinfeld explains why he likes staying in hotels.
“I like their soap,” he said. “I like to pretend it’s regular sized and my muscles are huge.”
And he is known for his sarcastic wit. One of his classic lines is “there’s no such thing as fun for the whole family.”
But whole families can enjoy the act featuring his laid-back brand of humor.
A newspaper review of Seinfeld’s live show in May by The Press Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., said that after all these years, Seinfeld is “sharper than ever, raging about annoyances large and small, topics precise and fuzzy, hammering away at everything and nothing.”
Talking about stand-up comedians, the writer said of Seinfield, “no one’s better.”
In a recent story in The Jewish Chronicle, Seinfeld talked about modern modes of communication and the dependence on cellphones.
”Now you have two lives to worry about,” Seinfeld said. “Your life and your phone’s battery life.”
Larry Gierer: 706-571-8581, @lagierer
If you go
What: Comedian Jerry Seinfeld
Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 900 Broadway in Columbus.
When: Friday at 7 p.m.
Admission: Ticket prices are $125, $80, $65 and $50. The box office is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and one hour prior to a show. Visit www.rivercenter.org or call 706-256-3612.
What: Singer Ronnie Milsap
Where: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 900 Broadway in Columbus.
When: Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Ticket prices are $39 and $49. The box office is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and one hour prior to a show. Visit www.rivercenter.org or call 706-256-3612.
This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 3:12 PM with the headline "Seinfeld, Milsap make it a big weekend."