Okay, JFL42 is over – thank God, no more trips to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre – but here are some more highlights of the little fest that grew. See other other recaps here, here and here.
Meyers’s opening bit, tailored to his Toronto audience, was a surprising departure from the rest of his set, which focused on things like Iraq and Barack Obama. He explained that before each show, he’ll do a meet-and-greet as audience members arrive to the venue. And often he meets people from far-flung, war torn or impoverished regions, and often provokes the question: are things really as bad as the news makes it out to be? Meyers says most of the time people say, no. In Toronto? Well, as a result of the Fords: “You say yes!”
KATE ROBERTSON
On material alone, the Montreal-based comic has one of the most likeable personas and the sharpest, tightest acts, as she demonstrated throughout the festival. But she made her full-length sets even more memorable by getting the crowd to sing all the parts to Eye Of The Tiger, making us slow dance with strangers to a Phil Collins ballad and then – talk about trusting the audience – crowd-surfing over us at the end to the bar.
GLENN SUMI
No one knew what to expect from Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, who aren’t stand-up comedians, but star in the hilarious television series Broad City. The highlight of the show unfortunately was when Abbi momentarily slipped into her Broad City character, who is largely based on herself, to remark on how good at singing she could be with just the right teacher. That momentary dip into the show made us all remember why we were there (because the rollerblading poorly joke fell flat).
KATE ROBERTSON
The festival proved that funny isn’t just about stand-up and storytelling but can encompass readings (Lena Dunham) and the weird hilarity that is Doug Benson. The laidback stoner taped one of his Doug Loves Movies podcasts earlier in the day, and then I caught him and guests Jon Dore, Mark Forward and JP Manoux at the Bloor riffing throughout the 1979 comedy Meatballs. It was part commentary track, part stand-up set, part hanging out with your friends and telling jokes, with references to V.C. Andrews, Schindler’s List and the obvious homoeroticism between Bill Murray and Chris Makepeace getting laughs that made you spill your popcorn.
GLENN SUMI
At the end of his final full-length set at the Rivoli, Forward, after crushing it with his classic misdirection material – a joke about an editor and 9/11 scored one of the biggest laughs – screech-sang I Want To Know Where Love Is and bashed in his ukelele. It was a great release after building up tension with his faux earnest Sarah McLachlan PSA sendup.
GLENN SUMI
