
This is going to be the start of an ongoing Comedy Landfill blog series, which will focus on the comedy happenings around Toronto, Ontario, of which there are quite a few. For my first stop, I visited to the historic Yuk-Yuks comedy club on Richmond, which was featuring a Humber College comedy night, where I decided to do a little “reporting”. Humber College is a Toronto-based school which has a program that teaches aspiring comedians the craft of comedy. Part of the program involves the students doing stand-up comedy, in this case, in front of a large group of drunken ingrates. Observing younger and less experienced comedians really gives you a perspective as to how people not only develop their material, but also their stage persona, timing and interaction with the crowd. I was interested not only in getting a good laugh out of the experience, but learning something, and finding some interesting Toronto comedy prospects.
It being 6:00 and the comedy show starting at 7:30, I thought that it would be a good idea to slip into a local pub to grab a refreshment before watching the show. I sat down at the bar, and struck up a spontaneous conversation with the guy sitting next to me; a really genuinely nice person named Shane. In any case, the conversation and frosty beverages must have distracted me, because I was late for the show! I got in right at the end of Daniel Martinello’s set (the opener), which from what I heard had some pretty raunchy subject matter, dealing with rape, videogames and pornography. What impressed me from what I saw was that the act was infused with a lot of energy both vocally and physically, which garnered some laughs from the audience.
Next up was newcomer Paul Boychuk, who looked a little awestruck, but at the same time, came off as very likable and smart. His jokes centered around videogames, including World of Warcraft, the hazards of getting drunk, as well as dating and a sprinkling of crowd interaction mixed in. Paul’s best joke involved his best friend hiding “piss bottles” under his desk due to his World of Warcraft addiction, and that got a big laugh out of the crowd. The next two acts weren’t great, and that’s probably because the comics were a little inexperienced — most likely testing out new material, not knowing exactly what makes a crowd laugh, the delivery being raw, etc. — just generally things you would expect from newer comedians.

Paul Boychuk
The person who came up after those two was probably the best comedian up until that point, Nicole Callender. You got the sense that this wasn’t her first time on the stage, as her manner was confident and sarcastic and her delivery was tight. The topics ranged from Harry Potter to Jaws to Michael Buble to tampons, and she had a good riff on her mixed Guyanese/White heritage. The jokes were clever, and they worked, getting multiple laughs from the audience. Her delivery was certainly one of her best attributes — she turned a few jokes that may not have worked out that well into winners through sheer force of will.
After Nicole’s act, things hit a bit of a lull. The next acts were hit and miss, again, mostly due to inexperience (I’m guessing). Things picked up again when Justin Lake took the stage. He did some lengthy crowd interaction, where he displayed some pretty spot-on ad lib skills, and then mixed it with some jokes he was comfortable telling. It was interesting that the second half of his act was a single joke about a man holding the door for him, and he managed to pack it with multiple laughs, helped out greatly by some silly physical comedy. The next act was possibly the funniest guy of the evening, who took the stage, piece of paper in hand, and read off some existential and extremely clever jokes that cracked up everyone in the audience. Kirk Jorgenson was the guy’s name, and it reflected his act very well: strange, offbeat, and incredibly awesome. Kirk operated with a calm deadpan, telling the jokes in a way that echoed Todd Barry, just relaxed, and let the jokes do the work for him.
It was at this point, after a few too many alcoholic beverages, I decided that it was time to relieve myself, as well hit the open air for for a perfunctory cigarette. I apologize to Charlotte Klein, because I missed your act! I’m sure it was great. I returned just in time to catch the beginning of Geoff May’s routine. Geoff began by introducing himself, as well as the three other people who were apparently going to join him, Smeagol from lord of the rings, Jerry Lewis and Seth Rogen. All of these imitations were well executed, with Smeagol and Seth Rogan being the standouts, and the jokes told in character were pretty decent as well. Jeff even did the first two imitations (Smeagol, Jerry Lewis) AS Seth Rogen, which was a little dash of clever that I haven’t seen before. Following Jeff May was Georgia Toews, who performed a solid, funny, if unmemorable set. She did a few jokes about the recent airport scanner controversy, nightclubs and the type of women you meet in them.

Jeff Mandelssohn
On next was Evan Richardson, who delivered a knockout, frantic performance about porn, “fucking” and other lewd material, yet imbued with a sort of self-deprecating neuroticism. The delivery was fun, raving messiness that that the crowd gobbled up, in no small part because of Evan’s adroit observational humour. Definitely in consideration for best comedian of the night. James Kersley came up next, and it became apparent quickly that he has been doing standup for a while. Dressed in a green hoodie with a slight scruff on his face, his routine was ironically very professional (I suppose that is how professional comedians dress these days), and his jokes were well rehearsed, funny and came out naturally. To use a basketball analogy, he swished pretty much every joke he told, and to use a petting farm analogy, he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. His subjects were porn (surprise!), Carmen Sandiego, the incredible application of french words, and a sprinkling some crowd interaction to boot.
Steve Patrick Adams and Bobby Caneuf, the second and third to last performers were both very funny, and continued where James Kersley left off. It was at this point that I assumed that these comedians were no longer fresh-faced students of the art of comedy, but probably recent graduates of the program, who had been around the block a few times. I think the idea was to start off with some of the newer comedians, and then gradually start incorporating the more experienced ones as the night went on. It’s an interesting strategy, and it worked pretty well until the closing act, Marco Bernardi. Marco seemed like an extremely nice guy, and was really likable on stage, but unfortunately, the material wasn’t there. His routine mostly involved being gay, which, like anything, can work when you have the jokes, as one of the open mic comedians showed later on in the evening. In his favour, I think quite a few of the jokes could have been funnier than they were if they were polished up a bit, but his act did not work as well as one would have hoped.
In all, I loved the Humber/Yuk-Yuk’s comedy revue, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. Watching these young, inexperienced comedians get onto a stage in a room filled with roughly one hundred people was like watching a tightrope act where not everyone makes it across alive, or the hatching of tiny leatherback turtles, attempting to waddle their way to the ocean without being gobbled up by a seagull. In many senses, the show was a great success. There were a lot of funny acts, and the audience were treated to a humorous, if uneven show.
My pick for Comedian of the Night: I have to go with Kirk Jorgenson. I’m not sure if it’s frowned upon by other comedians to bring a “cheat sheet” up on stage, but when your jokes are as good as Kirk’s were, I don’t really care all that much. His best joke: “They need to change the name of wife beaters. That, or they need to change the name of other garments to things that are just as socially unacceptable.” Brilliant.
Your monday internet
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Do I even have to say anything?