Comedian Charlie Murphy took the stage to a partial standing ovation Saturday, when he was introduced as a co-writer of the -- and this is a direct quote -- the "smash hit, Norbit."

At this point, I wasn't sure what I was in for. Would we see a legit comedian, or simply someone who had hitched his wagon to the right stars?

In the beginning, it seemed like it would be the latter, as Murphy got his biggest laughs early on talking about his brother and quoting Chappelle's Show. Even though neither Dave Chappelle nor Eddie Murphy was present, you could almost see their coattails on stage with Charlie Murphy.

Eventually, though, Murphy settled down and pleased a full Eisenhower Auditorium with some original material, centering on the male ego.

Once he was finished placating the fans with a few Chappelle's Show one-liners, his material was surprisingly funny and original. I think the funniest part of his entire set was the fact that he used "boning" as a euphemism for a night of "all-star" sex.

The show started off with emcée Jasper Redd taking the stage. As the opening act, Redd -- from Tennessee, where he says there are so many Klan members that the state flag should just be a white sheet with eyeholes -- only had about 10 minutes of material, but he delighted the crowd right away.

After Redd was Judah Friedlander in his yellow "World Champion" T-shirt and matching "Campeón del Mundo" trucker hat.

Friedlander, a veteran of almost two decades of standup with a few dozen acting credits to his name, was obviously the most seasoned of the night's performers and probably the most entertaining. Looking calculatedly disheveled, Friedlander spent his act telling the audience about his various athletic, deviant and sexual accomplishments -- and sometimes all three in one bit --the likelihood of which was undermined by his knotty locks, muttonchops and beer gut.

A comedy show in a big auditorium like Eisenhower usually means audience interaction is at a minimum, but Friedlander worked the crowd into his act, baiting his audience with questions only to condescend about his superior achievements.

The abrasive Freeze Love was up next. He spent about 25 minutes absolutely yelling about his taste for legitimately deformed women and making obvious (and late) topical jokes about people like Fantasia Barrino and metrosexuals.

Overall, the move from the HUB-Robeson Center to Eisenhower for the comedy show proved to be a good one. Whatever intimacy was lost in the change to a bigger venue was more than made up for by the very fact that twice as many people could be admitted.