JFL42 is a brand new comedy festival from comedy goliath Just For Laughs. Here’s my take of the festival so far.
Patton Oswalt
As one of the biggest names in comedy today, the Young Adult star is a known quantity and brings a certain level of expectation to his performances. With that in mind, I would describe the performance as really fun, but not mind blowing. But I’m willing to give Oswalt a pass when his material isn’t perfect because his voice is so strong and it’s easy to get on side with his point of view. He had the crowd rooting for him by bookending his set with two tales of time spent in Toronto: He started the show with harrowing tale about picking up a rental car from the Thrifty on the Eaton Centre roof with bad directions (“Just come to the Eaton Centre, we’re right there.”) and closed out the night by recreating verbatim a bizarre act by a heroin addict who called himself “Doctor Pepper” he witnessed while headlining an open mic at Yuk Yuks in the early 90s. The whole thing was like a warm comedy hug. Opener K Trevor Wilson impressed with his stories about cooking french fries in a pot of oil (don’t do that) and his drunken trip to midnight mass that didn’t quite appease his mom the way he’d hoped. Definitely check this local guy out at one of his own shows.
Reggie Watts
If you’ve heard anything about Reggie Watts, it’s that Reggie Watts is a unique performer. Part musician, part absurdist comedian, it’s easy to say what Watts does — he uses vocal loops and keyboards to create backing music and sings unpredictable lyrics over top — but it’s harder to express what makes it so entertaining: Exaggerated body language, imitating ridiculous pop music tendencies, silly voices — chalk it up to Watts’ brilliance. It’s like comedy jazz. Even when he’s not playing music, there’s an unmistakably musical and rhythmic cadence in his voice that draws you into his sometimes-bizarre recitations. It’s kind of transcendent. There’s not a lot to say about Reggie Watts besides, “Go and see him!”
Moshe Kasher
Moshe Kasher opened his set at the Garrison on Dundas West by confirming that he was in fact in a cool part of town populated with his people — hipsters in this case, not Jews. His rapid fire delivery is every bit as confident as it is self deprecating. His very likable demeanor immediately brings you onto his side and makes for a fluid set, even when he’s jumping from topic to topic. Almost-heart-warming stories about growing up with two deaf parents in Oakland mesh easily with adlib scenarios like imagining an audience member — revealed to be a “granite installer” through some very capable crowd work — to be so manly that he would dispense the stone with his dong. (He ended that riff with a reference to a scene from Shawshank Redemption.) From my experience, Kasher has been the talk of the festival and probably the most exciting comic I’ve seen so far. In fact, opener Ron Sparks, Canadian Comedy Award winner, delivered a brief, punchy set of crowd pleasing Toronto-centric material about the “somebody-died-here” vibe at Coffee Time and inherent creepiness of the TTC’s request stop program, but kept it short because he was anxious to see Moshe.
Mark Little
The Picnicface star struck early and captivated the late night crowd at the Rivoli with his performance as opener (and Rollertown co-writer) Andy Bush’s booty shakin’ dad. Little set the tone with a bit about storing Bush’s mom’s ashes in a David’s Tea can after accidentally killing her in a Freaky Friday-style body swap mix up. The silliness endured as Mark went on to make silly observations, start silly beef with audience members and perform silly raps. As one of Canada’s fastest rising comedy stars, it’s nice to see him get equal billing with visiting American comics.
Amy Schumer
Another JFL42 heavy hitter, Schumer’s promise of “Mostly Sex Stuff” — the title of her new comedy special — did not disappoint. When she talks about dating tiny Cuban men or being unable to have sex with someone because his dick was too big (her fear of walking around New York City with a gaping vagina had me in tears), it’s hard to tell if Schumer is completely exaggerating or being totally candid. But, that mystery is precisely what makes her sordid tales entertaining. There’s a sense that even when the facts in her stories are being invented, the sentiment behind them is genuine. Schumer’s growing popularity is thanks to her striking resemblance to that friend who is willing to say the things you didn’t even know you were thinking, but funnier. Definitely a top tier performance.
Brendon Walsh & Tom Segura
This double bill was one of the most fun shows thanks to the laid back vibe of both performers. Highlights include Brendon Walsh’s juvenile pranks on his friend’s wife and his clever line about the weather report in the homeless person newspaper. What struck me most about these two mid-level-and-climbing comics was Tom Segura’s impeccable crowd work. He managed to pull multiple audience members into a conversation (in this case about the “hierarchy” of Asian races) while maintaining total control of the room. His material about the Steven Seagal’s cop-tailing reality show — comparing Seagal to that annoying friend you have that is good at everything — is top notch. I also need to mention his joke from his set opening for Amy Schumer about his judgmental doctor (“Gay?”). Hilarious and well crafted.
Ari Shaffir
Ari Shaffir’s reputation as “The Amazing Racist” hadn’t really hyped me up for his appearance at JFL42 but I was happy to discover his act didn’t only involve hurling epithets. Over his 45 minute set, ostensibly Shaffir only told three stories, but each was peppered with enough detail and asides that the set never felt drawn out. From the scatological (a graphic prank involving smearing his own shit onto Bobby Lee‘s car) to the metaphysical (a drug-induced out of body experience while passing out at a UFC match) his material was varied enough to keep even this skeptic interested. While Shaffir’s style still isn’t really my cup of tea, I’ve got to admire the skill it takes to keep those stories on track.
Todd Barry
While Moshe Kasher’s show was probably my personal favourite of the fest so far, there is no doubt that Todd Barry’s set at the Garrison was the most masterful performance I have seen yet. A 20-year stand-up veteran, Barry is a comic’s comic who kept the audience in hysterics from the moment he stepped on stage — opening with pitch perfect cracks about the festivals hard-to-explain credit system — until the crowd pulled him back on stage for an encore after uniformly erupting into laughter every ten seconds — I’m barely exaggerating. His voice (smooth as butter, as a fan once told him) and perspective are so well defined that he draws a laugh with the slightest eyebrow raise or the simple utterance of “Really?” It’s an intangible quality that comes from years of honing his craft. The highlight of the set was his closer where he debunked an article from Esquire magazine that offered tips for men to make their women feel good. Getting into his jokes here wouldn’t do him justice but I’ll use this word again: masterful.
What I’m looking forward to most in the second half: Todd Glass, James Adomian, W. Kamau Bell, Neal Brennan and of course Louis C.K.
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Michael Kolberg is The Sprawl Editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter for jokes @mikeykolberg
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