Amy Schumer does larger venue, gets bigger laughs

Opener Rachel Feinstein had just finished leading off for Amy Schumer by telling a series of jokes that I can’t get away with repeating in a family newspaper.

Needless to say, I think the 15,000-plus people who crammed themselves inside Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday night already knew what they were getting into.

But in case it wasn’t clear enough, Schumer spelled it out at the top of her headlining set: “Let’s just get drunk, have fun and be (explative) idiots. If anybody thought they were seeing ‘Godspell’ tonight, maybe exit left.”

In significant ways, this was a much different show from the one the then-rising star did here three years ago, when she played for crowds of 400 fans at Charlotte’s Comedy Zone five times over three nights.

That’s because Schumer suddenly can tell jokes about winning Peabody Awards (for her Comedy Central series “Inside Amy Schumer”), making blockbuster movies (this past summer’s Golden Globe-nominated “Trainwreck”), being selected as one of Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2015,” and – most importantly – flirting with Bradley Cooper.

At the same time, a lot of this was vintage Schumer: funny feminist jokes; funny self-deprecating jokes, mostly about her penchant for food and aversion to exercise; plus lots of ---- jokes, lots of ----- jokes, and lots of jokes about --- and -------.

(Look, I’m doing my best here, guys.)

Considering how relatively quickly the 34-year-old has made the jump from comedy-club-hopper to arena-conquerer, she seemed totally at ease in front of Saturday’s near-capacity crowd.

Schumer wore a white Blondie band T-shirt, black leather pants and black stiletto heels, with her wavy blonde hair all tossed to the right side of her head. She stayed mostly center stage; the furthest she ranged was toward the back of it – to take a swig from a bottle of wine three times. (“Oh my God, my wine is so far away.” Then: “I don’t drink like I used to. I used to use a glass. But who has the time?”)

I won’t spoil her best jokes, since I’m pretty sure the point of the Gestapo-like enforcement of the no-cellphone rule was in play at the arena to protect them from YouTubers who would want to share them before Schumer can in other cities.

But here are a few we were lucky enough to hear that future tour stops probably won’t:

▪ After a string of jokes: “I’ve gotta change the course of this, because we’re in the South and you guys are going to church tomorrow.”

▪ Following a rant about gun laws, which she probably wasn’t entirely sure would be well-received here: “I love that in our country you have the freedom to say whatever you want.” Then, after that got a round of applause: “Thank you, The South!”

▪ And apropos of nothing: “I love Charlotte. You guys have given us so much. ‘Charlotte’s Web.’ The band Good Charlotte. Any maybe Petey Pablo...” (The rapper is from Greenville, N.C., for the record.)