KLONDYKE
Tarragon Mainspace
See show info here
Rating: N
The Fringe has done Yukon stand-up comic Jenny Hamilton no favours by assigning her the massive Tarragon Mainspace for her show, Klondyke. The night I went, there were perhaps a dozen people in the audience, which would have seemed okay in smaller spots like the Extra Space, the Solo Room or Passe Muraille Backspace. Those other spaces might also have allowed Hamilton, who seems like a really nice person, to engage with the audience more comfortably.
That said, I’m not sure how much another venue would help out her act, an earnest, predictable and (to this comedy lover’s ears, anyway) dated look at life in the Yukon, which has a total population of 36,000.
Some of Hamilton’s jokes concern the tourists who flock to the territory, including Japanese tourists (who believe it’s good luck to conceive children under the Northern Lights) and Germans (who like to go camping for months during the summer). These jokes fall flat. The tone’s all off, especially with a silly gag involving a prop.
She’s better dealing with the – as she puts it – ‘mericans who visit. Her strongest material deals with her online correspondence with a Tea Party member, in which she pokes holes in all his arguments with anger and intelligence. Her opening bit about feeling unattractive in Toronto and getting fashion advice from a homeless man also has promise.
What’s missing is more edge, and a clear persona. It’s implied that Hamilton wasn’t born in the Yukon why did she move there? And what about her wife of 23 years, whom she mentions but never brings into her stories?
Hamilton has an intriguing, powerful stage presence, optimistic vibe and the show’s title is clever. But she needs fresher material and a clearer sense of where she’s coming from to make us want to revisit this Klondyke.
