Delivery Makes A Difference

I received a phone call last night about 4:30 from James Moore asking me if I had fun last Monday for the opening night of Comedy Monday Night at Broken City and why there wasn’t a blog.  The reason why there wasn’t a blog is because I was up and down, walking around outside and didn’t pay full attention to the show.  For me, the seating was so uncomfortable and I was so tired that I didn’t feel I would do James’ good work justice.  I’m very happy to know, however, that Comedy Monday Night was able to raise over $3000 for Inn From The Cold, an organization who helps homeless families try and get back on their feet.  Sorry James, I guess I can’t always be “on”.

When James spoke with me, he told me that there was a potentially big surprise guest coming down and I should make every effort to get there.  He wouldn’t tell me who, but did promise that he would tell me after if they didn’t come who it was.  Thankfully, that individual did show up and oh my goodness, James was right, it was huge. 

What an amazing lineup of comics last night – 2 first timers mixed in with a bunch of seasoned professionals sprinkled with a few rising stars and you have one incredible show.  I don’t expect it will be like this every week, but James and the Comedy Monday Night crew sure set the bar very high last night! 

I didn’t take pictures of everybody – not everybody likes having their picture taken.  And not everybody likes to have something said about them so I may pass over a few people.  But what I liked most about the show – there were only 10 people, it started one time, everyone kept to their allotted time and the show was done by 10:00.  That is a show I can go out to on a regular basis and I for one appreciated getting to bed at a decent time last night.

Donovan Deschner took the bullet spot last night.  It’s a tough one – most of the audience was either comics or new to Comedy Monday Night.  It took Donovan a few minutes to “grow into” his spot, but once he did he was fine.  He doesn’t make it down to CMN very often (in fact, I think I’ve only seen him there once before) but I think he fits in very nicely.  Maybe a little more energy would have gotten the crowd with him a little sooner but who knows?  I don’t know why I always capture Donovan making an “I just smelled poo” face but they are great expressions…

First timer Dana Wallace (did I spell that right?) got up next – she had a pretty decent first effort.  Better than some I’ve seen lately.

What a treat to see Trent McClellan – he was prepping for his big trip to Cranbrook.  Even though we just saw him on Saturday night at The Laugh Shop he made us laugh just as hard.  I particularly enjoy his Air Canada bit.  He handled the interruption by his agent, George Shapiro, rather nicely as well.  I think what makes Trent so special is his ability to relate to an audience – with him, delivery does make a difference.

Graham Davidson took to the stage next.  Graham is originally from Calgary currently residing in Niagra Falls (I believe).  Graham’s style of comedy is pretty low key but I did find him quite likeable.  Not too much about this guy on-line which leads me to believe he is also quite humble. 

Next up was the surprise guest, a “special gift” to us from James Moore.  It was none other than Nikki Payne.  I’ve seen Nikki a few times, but was never as close as I was last night.  Unfortunately her set got off to a bit of a rocky start due to technical difficulties, but Nikki was a pro and kept on going.  Once the microphone got fixed, she proceeded to have the entire audience laughing so hard our cheeks hurt.  Most of her set was devoted to her special gift that she gave her father a year ago – one of her kidneys.  It was well told, very funny and in some parts even a little bit poignant.  Wow, what a treat to just have drop in on us all.  If you weren’t there, you missed a good one!

So who follows that act?  Miss Amanda Perrin, that’s who!  I always enjoy the awkwardness that is Amanda, but last night, unfortunately, she let the fact that she had to follow Nikki get to her.  I felt for Amanda, because it’s kind of like going up in karaoke right after someone completely tears up the stage and you’ve only done karaoke a handful of times.  However, what Amanda needs to realize is that she also has a very special gift for making people laugh and will one day have someone losing their mind because she or he has to follow Amanda Freaking Perrin.  

Lyle Bateman did a respectable 7 minutes and finished off with his spider love (is there such a thing) song done to the tune of Spiderman.  The audience really seemed to enjoy it – I still can’t believe this guy drives 3 hours to do a 7 minute set.  Blows my mind.

After Lyle came another first timer (and a well dressed one at that!), Renee Frenet (again, spelling…?)  Renee had an interesting concept but I honestly felt that for the first time she may have gone a little long and ended up rambling a little towards the end.  For a first try though, kudos to the lady in the shiny green dress!

Ahhhh, and then the man I was so excited to see – Simon Rakoff!  I saw Simon in Vancouver a few years ago and enjoyed every single minute he was on stage, and this time was not any different.  Simon is ever so slightly jaded from being divorced twice and it makes for some very funny material.  He also does a lot of material on being Jewish, and a superhero.  A few of his bits that really got me laughing were how humans can’t compare to animals when it comes to athletics and how things would be now if Jesus was possibly sarcastic (hence, the title of this blog – Delivery Makes A Difference). 

I enjoyed the fact that everyone else was done early enough that Simon could do an extended set and still be done by 10:00.  Man that guy is funny – and he’s appearing this weekend at The Laugh Shop if you are looking for some laughs.  I don’t know who is with him, but I know that he alone will be worth the price of admission – Simon has been doing comedy for 30 years but his material is edgy, witty and most of all, very relevant.

At one point, I snapped a picture of Simon and he asked me if I was media.  When I answered “sort of” he had a bit of fun with that but seemed to be cool with the fact I write a blog and didn’t say not to put his photo in. 

I left Comedy Monday Night (Chris Gordon – are you reading this – it’s Comedy Monday Night, not Monday Night Comedy) in great spirits.  I know it’s not an ordinary night and there were a lot of out of towners or more seasoned people on the show, but those are good to have every once in a while.  I would think it gives the newer people or amateurs something to aspire to, and I’m glad so many of them were there to see the show last night.

Not too sure if I’ll get out to any more shows this week but keep supporting live comedy in Calgary – it’s getting better and better all the time! 

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