Give Jerry Seinfeld credit for hustle on Thursday night.
He did a late-afternoon taping with "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," then needed to hop helicopters and planes and brave a snowstorm to reach Erie for his show at the Warner.
He arrived 10 minutes before the 9 p.m. show time. After a brief but rich, warmly received set by opener Mark Schiff, Seinfeld burst onstage on the run.
"Beautiful day!" he exclaimed, acknowledging the fierce cold and swirling snow piling up outside. Seinfeld then launched into a smart, animated set that touched on many of his usual issues: people's obsession with technology and how it doesn't really help us; communication issues between married couples, and minute, mundane matters like trying to watch cable TV news. An anchorman yammers on, while more news scrolls across the bottom.
"You can't listen to the guy AND read the strip," Seinfeld said. "We don't want to read; that's why we watch TV."
He moaned, too, about bathroom technology. The toliet knows when you get up and leave; it flushes automatically. But the sink?
"You have to do a David Copperfield with the hands!" Seinfeld moaned, waving them around, desperately trying to get a phantom sink to start spewing water.
About 80 percent of his material was fresh, including an engaging bit about OnStar technology. All these satellite systems and hi-tech space-age technology used to help people who leave the keys inside their cars.
"Is this why we conquered space, to help morons locked out of cars?" he thundered.
Seinfeld loves to play the contrarian. He hates kids birthday parties, describing the savagery needed to open a hanging pinata. He doesn't believe we're in an age of obesity. "I don't think we have a food problem until everyone's touching each other." He'd rather do a traditional funeral than get cremated. "I want to be laid out like a 6-foot party sub."
He also smartly linked people's insatiable need for coffee and energy drinks like Red Bull with barrage of commercials for Ambien and Lunesta. "Has occurred to anyone, with this coffee, maybe that's why you need a horse sedative?"
Maybe because he rushed to Erie, Seinfeld's delivery wasn't quite as smooth as previous appearances. He messed up one joke, and admitted to it .He fumbled over a few words.
But when the material is as strong as his -- and the comedian as likable as Seinfeld -- it hardly matters. Helped, too, that he got a little personal, whether talking about his wife, his kids or buying a cataract windshield for his elderly mom.
In a short, Q&A -- an encore of sorts -- Seinfeld surprisingly said a cast reunion of "'Seinfeld" is "a possibility." And he hinted, albeit it jokingly, that he might not do stand-up much longer.
"Let me be honest,"Seinfeld said. "Here's my situation. I'm old, I'm rich and I'm tired. I'm not highly motivated."
He said he'd just as soon sit with his three children and watch "Sesame Street," where they squeal with delight over Elmo.
"Let him bust his little red ass! I did my share," Seinfeld said.
Thursday's show was short of a sellout, with about 1,900 fans or so. Seinfeld sold out both shows in a matter of minutes the first time he was here, and he nearly sold out both on his return visit in 2006. This time, he played just one show and it didn't sell out -- a function of diminishing returns and especially the lousy economy.