Jerry Seinfeld takes aim and delivers in stand-up show at Adelaide Entertainment Centre

ON his first ever visit to Adelaide, comedian Jerry Seinfeld delivered a stand-up show about nothing that was really something else, writes Greg Barila.

Jerrry Seinfeld performs on stage. Picture: File (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Baby Buggy)

• Jerry Seinfeld looks right at home as he jets into Adelaide

“OH my God, Adelaide!!!!! ‘You know how many years I’ve been wanting to come to Adelaide?” Jerry Seinfeld asks after bounding onto the Entertainment Centre stage for the first time in his four decades in the business.

“Never. I’ve never wanted to come to Adelaide….And yet I’m thrilled to be here.”

And Adelaide was more than happy he could finally stop by on his first visit to Australia in nearly two decades.

It’s been almost 20 years, too, since the final episode of his beloved TV series Seinfeld aired on television in the US. So what the hell has he been doing all this time?

Ask and he’d probably reply “oh, you know, nothing”.

But all the “nothing” in Jerry Seinfeld’s life has always added up to a huge amount of something, in a long career as one of the best, most successful comedians in the history of the form.

In truth he’s been as busy as a bee making movies, getting coffee in cars with other comedians and, as he demonstrated to a near-capacity crowd on Saturday night, continuing to skewer the idiocy of modern living like only he can.

Jerry Seinfeld strolls along North Tce, Adelaide. Picture: Josh Chalmers

Gone are the blue jeans and white sneakers that became synonymous with his on-screen turn as a neurotic New York comedian.

These days Jerry is more at home in a classic suit that evokes those old school performers of another era in American entertainment (Frank Sinatra croons as the crowd assembles and goes away into the night) and which perhaps, is more befitting a man of his 63 years.

Although, it must be said, Seinfeld doesn’t look a day over 50 and still crouches, thrusts and gyrates his way through a one-and-a-half hour set that would give TV Jerry a run for his money.

Drawing attention to all the stuff that makes us human has always been Seinfeld’s most enviable talent and his superior observational skills haven’t dulled a bit.

“What else is annoying in the world besides everything?”

Masterfully, he examines his subjects from every possible angle, prosecuting his arguments like the captain of the world’s most successful debating team, all of it strained through that high-pitched, “WHY-ARE-PEOPLE-SO-STUPID??” shriek that unmistakably belongs to Jerry Seinfeld.

He aims his comedy laser at the effort it takes just to leave the house and our restless desire to be somewhere else when we finally get to where we’re going.

“Nobody wants to be anywhere. Nobody wants to do anything.”

He thumbs his nose at the stuffiness of modern restaurant cookery.

To chefs he has a simple message: Stop “reducing” everything and “STOP DRIZZLING”.

He explores the profound ways new technologies have changed human relationships forever.

Actually talking to each other is over. In fact, it’s no longer even desirable.

“If you want, I can text you this whole thing and we can get the hell out of here?”

No, that’s OK. We like it when you do it Jerry.

* Jerry Seinfeld will perform in Melbourne on August 6-8, in Brisbane on August 9 and in Sydney August 10-11.

Originally published as Jerry Seinfeld takes aim and delivers in stand-up show at Adelaide Entertainment Centre