D.J. DEMERS at JFL42 on Monday (September 24), 9 pm, at Comedy Bar (945 Bloor West). Rating: NNNN
Who knew that comedy could be so educational? Thanks to D.J. Demers’s JFL42 set at his old stomping grounds, Comedy Bar, for instance, we now know how to say “cunnilingus” using ASL. (It’s all about the fingering, folks.)
Demers, who has a hearing disability (he uses hearing aids), brought ASL interpreter Jennifer Lees to work alongside him, and for a hearing-abled audience member, at least, one of the joys of watching his act is looking over to see how a certain phrase is signed. Judging from the laughs, most of the sold-out audience looked at Lees after Demers called himself “a pacifist, which is a fancy word for ‘huge pussy.'”
Predictably, a big chunk of Demers’s set a whole new hour since his Juno-nominated album [Indistinct Chatter] is devoted to describing ordinary life with his disability: saying goodnight to his girlfriend (no pillow talk once his hearing aids are taken out) refusing to play the pity card or be inspirational for a certain non-subtle American TV show and waiting for the time when people with disabilities can be seen as complete people, not simply victims or saints.
His joke about encountering a wheelchair-using asshole is, besides being perfectly constructed and visually intriguing, refreshing in its candour.
Demers, who lived in Toronto for seven years, is now based in L.A., and the way he describes his first “American thought” is another classic example of misdirection.
Some of the comic’s more general material, delivered in his likeable, casual style, isn’t quite as distinctive: going to the gym and criticizing people who use Fitbit getting possessive about his use of big words wanting his feats of everyday heroism to be seen and appreciated.
But even in this material he has funny insights into human behaviour, such as his clever observation about the marketing of men’s workout gear, or his discussion about wanting a “teenage magician level of confidence.” (Laughter for this second joke builds, because you kinda have to picture it.)
If you missed the show, no doubt most of it will be in his JFL42 CraveTV comedy special taping on Wednesday (September 26) at Longboat Hall. It’s a chance to see one of Canada’s best before he goes and I’d love to see Lees sign this supernova.
