Brian Regan didn’t stray from his roots during his Columbus performance, bringing classic jokes into his set that originally made him a king of comedy.

“I had some Pop-Tarts this morning,” Regan said to raucous cheers from the audience, who seemed to know exactly where this statement was going. “Or was it nine years ago?”

Regan performed at the Palace Theatre Friday evening. Though his prepared jokes were well done and supplied the audience with plenty of laughs, his comedic asides between jokes are what stole the show.

“With his big feather pen,” Regan said when talking about what Alexander Graham Bell would use to write during a joke regarding the invention of the telephone. “That’s what they used. That’s what they used in history.”

Regan proved to be a kindred spirit of sorts with his multiple jokes regarding social awkwardness at parties. He questioned the way people greet each other, comparing the fist bump motion – akin to “shadow boxing” movements – with an outrageous “shadow polo” motion. As ridiculous as Regan’s wild gestures were, the truth behind this section was hilariously obvious.

Later, Regan became even more outrageous when he made the realization that “only two things come in sprees: shopping and killing.”

“You said we needed (food) from the store,” Regan said, acting like he was about to take one of these sprees. “I’m going to go kill all the neighbors and take their stuff.”

Even when Regan wasn’t on top of his game, his stumbling was able to turn into another successful joke.

“Come check out my show tomorrow night,” Regan said when he couldn’t think of the word for an octopus expert, the most important part of this particular comedic turn. “I’m going to know the term for that.”

Opening for Regan was Joe Bolster, a comedian whose brightest moment came when he questioned common phrases, such as I love you from the bottom of my heart.

“I love you from the place in my heart where I keep old grudges and bad intentions,” Bolster said.

Bolster would have had more moments like that if he would have extended his inner monologue of gym rats, a joke that had the makings of comedic gold but was gone much too quickly.

Bolster’s mellow stage presence and Regan’s crazy outbursts balanced one another perfectly for an evening that was full of laughs. The audience went so crazy, even the comedians themselves acknowledged that they did a job well done.

“Apparently I’ve lost control here,” Regan said during his encore performance.