Working in a sort of comedic short-story form, Shubert hammers at the funny bone, primarily with his observations on wildlife: frogs that secrete hallucinogens, eagles that copulate in midflight, and an unlucky fish who sees a restaurant serve his friend Larry on a bed of rice with a side dish of carrots and peas.
The dark quality of Shubert's material is topped only by the passionate intensity of his delivery. "People know I'm working harder than an ugly stripper, and they respond to that," Shubert says. "I feed off the energy of the audience. It's not enough to make 'em laugh. I want to hurt 'em, for their ribs to be sore, wiping the tears away. It's a great job. If all I ever did in my life was make people laugh and get paid, that's the best job in the world for me."
