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Comedy Culture

JFL42 review: Andrew Santino

ANDREW SANTINO at JFL42, Thursday (September 19), 11 pm, Comedy Bar. More shows until September 22. Rating: NNN

“A white Aladdin doesn’t add up,” joked Andrew Santino early on in his JFL42 set at Comedy Bar last night. “If you’re gonna do it, you’ve gotta commit to it [with brownface].”

Whiskey Podcast host and stand-up Santino hails from L.A., but he used Canada’s big news story as a way to segue into his own well-honed material, most of which attempts to push against knee-jerk liberalism.

Santino has a quiet, almost sneaky way of delivering jokes that makes it seem like what he’s saying is the most reasonable thing in the world. His Trump joke is quietly subversive. If you don’t like the president, he suggests, don’t just bitch, do something about it. Where the joke goes is darkly funny.

A chunk of his act takes on cancel culture, but again in a quiet way. Audiences pay comics like him to say the things we can’t say ourselves. So why are we upset when a Dave Chappelle or a Louis C.K. does just that?

The 11 pm Comedy Bar audience seemed mixed about the Louis C.K. jokes, although one Louis fan kept drunkenly shouting out his approval or whatever it was. Santino was on more solid ground by quipping that with Louis gone there was “one more red-headed comic” out of his way.

His jokes about some of his obsessions – dying naked, for instance, or the pleasures of eating ass – worked well, since they’re filled with clever details, comparisons and impersonations.

And although it was delivered with smug satisfaction, Santino’s joke about how owners of rescue dogs use their pets’ tragedies to brag contains lots of truths. Bonus points for shooting down talkers in the front row quickly and effectively.

Opener Rosebud Baker had some strong material about her lack of charm, cultural appropriation and the ridiculousness of the 90s rape whistle. Her best material came at the end, especially when she discussed her mixed race relationship, her bigoted dad and the ethical dilemma of listening to Michael Jackson after Leaving Neverland.

Santino performs again September 20, 9 pm at the Rivoli and 11 pm at Comedy Bar Main Space September 21, 7 pm at the Royal September 22, 11 pm at the Royal. Baker performs with Corinne Fisher until September 23.

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