Gallagher was one of my favorite comedians for a long time, not because he was that great, different, thought provoking or genius, but because he was entertaining and ridiculous.

I saw his shows on Comedy Central as a kid, and finally went to his local show around 2004. I was probably his biggest fan at the show, and I was probably the most disappointed person there too. He signed an autograph (on a t-shirt I bought) in a very pissed off manner before the show. He seemed like the fans he came out to greet (why prior to the show, I didn't understand) were bothersome to him, and he had better things to do. I found out later he meet and greets before the show because most people walk out. His show was an awful, 1.5 hour plus rant about this or that, stupid stuff that wasn't funny. Then, he just basically said screw this, let's do what everyone came here see, the Sledge-O-Matic. Everything was similar to the writer's entry, appearing to be completely made by Gallagher in a last-minute effort, as if he only knew about the show an hour beforehand. Spray-painted background, black tarps, a table with various foodstuffs he would smash as soon as someone he invited up on stage would prepare it. Yes, someone from the crowd had to prepare it, he evidently had no stage hands. It wouldn't even be an issue if he commanded the crowd like he could before, make them feel like a part of the show. Instead he seemed like Kaufman's Tony Clifton, insulting the people coming to the stage. Some of them walked off before they helped with his fruit smashing.

He made a little girl cry. I'm serious, a girl under the age of 8 he made cry as he was insulting her. I thought it was too crazy to be real, it was a set up, right? No, it was real. This guy was berating, belittling and insulting various small children throughout his show, all of whom he invited on stage. He didn't even have a stage hand and was performing at a small local show, how could he have had so many people in on the act?

Either he's a Kaufman-esque genius, or the biggest a-hole that has ever lived. And according to personal experience, anecdotal evidence and past history of the guy, I believe the latter. No one cares about how offensive his jokes are, as there are many great comedians with "offensive" jokes about many groups; the focus should be on the comic himself, the amateur nature of the act and the alienation of his audience, all of which are so far removed from the incredibly successful Gallagher of the 1980s.