Yuks
Last night I went to Yuk Yuks. It was my first time so I was pretty nervous. My companion and I were also meeting a friend of his who was on his third date with a woman he'd recently met online.
The pressure to laugh/not laugh was pretty intense, made more intense by the fact that when we arrived, the newly dating couple were sitting smack dab in front of the stage, about three fee away from where the comics would be performing, AND they were like... two out of four people in the whole room.
Luckily, the new lady was fun, her date (whom I'd met previously) in fine form and after my attempts to get everybody to move a little further back, over to the left, down a few tables, over more to the left - FAILED! - I settled in with a Cranberry & 7. My companion had a coffee. The newly dating couple had tea and water.
I felt really truly deeply sorry for the upcoming comics. Sober as judges we were, smack dab in front of the stage, one of us an internet stranger.
Normally, I'm an easy laugh. Carrot Top checking his little suitcase has me in stitches every time. But I'm also my own biggest fan. I can be sitting in front of the computer, laughing my head off, and one of the kids will say, "What's so funny, Mom?" And I'll have to tell them, "Well, I'm posting on this forum and I'm deliberately spelling words wrong and this other guy is getting so mad - it's hilarious."
To their credit, they not only laugh but they learn, too. Shortly after that, one of my daughters went on the Canadian Idol forum to ask, "What's Canadian Idol?" Oh my. We howled over that one. Then I showed her one where this guy was going on an on about military history and I posted, "That's not what I heard."
Hilarious.
Anyway, back to Yuk Yuks. It was Newcomer night so the chances were pretty good that some of the acts would suck. The host, who seemed to me to be about 16 years old, had a bit of a lame Saget thing going on except sort of funny looking and in a tee-shirt and baggy pants. He didn't suck, mind you. He has potential. His delivery wasn't too bad. The content wasn't great. But he had a certain confidence in himself that pulled it together. One day, he'll be just what we're all used to in a Comedy Club host.
I've always been interested in stand-up. David Brenner being my original fave. I'd love to give it a whirl, myself. But I wouldn't do it as a lark, I'd be serious. If I get up on that stage it's because I intend to get up on that stage - A LOT. So it's not likely I'll do it at all because the key to stand-up comedy, I noticed last night, seeing it done live for the first time ever in my life - is confidence.
Content takes a back seat to delivery.
Because in order for the audience to ENJOY the routine, it has to trust that the comic is confident of his act.
Now, there was quite a cross section of comics last night - no ladies, Christopher Hitchens would be pleased to note - and two or three or four comics really did suck. They way over-estimated their material, grossly under-estimated the audience, and then lost their nerve on stage when they realized the error of their ways.
It's a terrible feeling to be sitting in the audience when that happens. I felt like kicking a couple of asses after the show: "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" One of the suckers was a comic from Alabama. Talk about underestimating the audience. He started off with patently false jokes about OUR healthcare system, delivered mumbling into the microphone, made the standard FRENCH joke (hey buddy - WE make fun of the French - not some sadsack from Alabama). Gawd. I was close to shouting out, "HELLO?! This is Ottawa?! Not some frozen backwater of blandness?!" And for sure, one of my favourite comics in the world is from Alabama, so, it wasn't me - it was him. He stunk.
There were a couple of other stinkers, material not strong enough, not properly prepared, again - overestimating their talent and underestimating the audience. It catches you on stage, I'm afraid. Even the lamest brain figures it out shortly into his act and it ain't pretty. Hilariously, one of the stinkers had no idea he stunk and that was largely due to yours truly. He was a Somali Muslim New Canadian and when he started talking, I thought it was a joke, that any minute he'd break into a hard rap, down and dirty, calling the audience up short on its polite, uncomfortable, politically correct chortling.
When he didn't, I laughed harder. Oh my, how he smiled at my laughter. Like he was the funniest guy to ever land on a stage. But what could I do? Go up to him after the show and say, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't believe you were genuine. I thought any minute you were going to be all like, Whoa - prejudiced much? Just because I'm this genial, clued-out New Canadian you think you can patronize me?! And then when you turned out to be a genial, clued-out New Canadian, oh man - now that's funny. I'm just not sure you know HOW funny."
To his credit, he did a bit about haggling for a jacket and when the clerk wouldn't budge from the price, he finally goes home, gets the exact amount of money, comes back - and she's raised the price 15%.
Four of the comics (there were several) were pretty good. Two were really good. But the one who was the best, wasn't my favourite because he was a little bit too edgy for me. And that may be where a bit of a male/female divide comes in - "edge" appreciation. Although, to be honest, my companion felt the same way. Still, to be even more honest, he's pretty sophisticated for a companion.
Now, it may be that the comic we favoured - who was a bit of a performance artist, as well - was actually edgier than the other guy - the really edgy guy - just in a less standard way. For instance, he shouts out "TAXES!" "EH?" "TAXES!" in a way that just had us rolling in the aisles. It was pretty random, out of the blue, wacky stuff - but funny. The other guy, you could see where he was going, but it was so politically incorrect, that, well, it was a bit upsetting.
NOT that I would suggest in a million years he take anything out.
I'm just saying - I'm a woman.
He was the big name. I have no idea what it was but I gather he's had the most success on the circuit. Very funny.
I never want to see his act again.
But, bear in mind, he wears a toque and he's pretty sketchy looking with an anger thing going on, so it might have been that I didn't appreciate as much as another clubber would. An angry male clubber in a toque. And certainly, he got the most laughs, with me laughing hardest, of course.
But yeah, I liked the "TAXES!" guy better.
I may have even liked a couple of the other comics better, too, just because of their delivery. Their material was good, very solid - but their delivery was what pulled it off for me. The one guy had a look of "Aw, crap" on his face during his whole routine that really set up the audience to a tee. I was laughing before he even started his routine. He looked at me too. Practically rolled his eyes. It was hilarious. Ah, the easy laugh. Great. Oh, joy. And she's right in front of the stage. Maybe I should just stand here and forget my act while she amuses herself no end.
And actually, when we all went to see "The Anchorman", the guy behind us started laughing before the movie started. Well, wouldn't you know it, but by the time Steve Whatshisname says, "I like lamp", I was laughing so hard it wasn't until I saw it a second time that I heard Will Ferrell ask, "Are you just listing things you like?" So I could hardly blame the guy for giving me "the look".
He was probably in the audience of "The Anchorman".
But those two comics (the other guy had on a suit and he did some Dad bits and Toronto bites that were really sharp, nice and tight) I liked because they had that comedy circuit look, material, etc - that's comfortable.
I'm not the audience for edgy.
And there were two other comics that I thought were okay. One was a teacher who read a grade nine short story that represented all the grade nine short stories ever written and it was probably the funniest bit of the whole night. Very good. But he was a teacher, so he had a lot of confidence being on stage, and that really helped his act, which was otherwise a B-. There was also an old guy comic who was pretty sure of himself in a really low key pokey way. His ending blew chunks - an Irish drinking song rap - but his routine was very funny. At one point he pulled his little list of notes out of his pocket, held it up to the light and muttered, "Oh. Dick joke comes later".
Well, maybe you had to be there but it was very funny. Picture Tim Conway doing it and you'll know what I mean.
So stand-up. Well, it's not all content. Confidence will get you everywhere. A great delivery is pure joy for an audience. Content is subjective - and I guess I like to laugh at others, more'n I like to laugh at myself.
Who knew?
"TAXES!"
