Greg Brainy

Canny comic's not just the other guy with glasses

Comments (0) By Niamh Wallace Thursday, Sep 6 2007

Anyone who describes baseball's glory days as "fat old white men freebasing bacon in the dugout" and defends Barry Bonds from the curmudgeons who see it otherwise immediately wins our favor. This means you, Greg Proops. The pompadour'd comedian is best known to comedy buffs as the other guy with glasses on Whose Line Is It Anyway? (i.e., not Drew Carey). But Proops -- born in Phoenix, yo -- is shockingly prolific: In addition to WLIIA?, his résumé includes the L.A. chat show Largo, two books, voiceover work (he's PBS' "Bob the Builder" to the under-8 set), and a handful of gigs hosting pop-culture TV shows, including the dating snarkfest RendezView. They love him across the Pond, too, where, to no one's surprise, his sarcasm and quick wit have endeared him to the Brits and landed him on virtually every UK comedy program. We generally think the world is a better place with hipster-nerd funnymen, and Proops' off-beat intelligence renders him a standout among standups. He's like the anti-Dane Cook, which means, as if we had to tell you, that he doesn't suck massively hard.
Thu., Sept. 6, 8 p.m.; Fri., Sept. 7, 8 & 10 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 8, 8 & 10 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 9, 8 p.m.