Yukkin’ It Up At The Great Canadian Laugh Off

On Wednesday night, there were a few firsts – it was the unofficial first night of the new Yuk Yuk’s in Calgary and it was the first night of the Great Canadian Laugh Off competition.  There was a mix of pros and amateurs vying for a spot in the semi-finals where the winner will receive a trip to Toronto to compete for the grand prize of $25,000.  Why wouldn’t someone want to go for it?

I have to say it was nice to be back at Yuk Yuk’s – I’ve always found they know how to do it right when it comes to comedy.  Even though it was a brand new location, there was some experienced people running the show.  I loved the wait staff – our girl in particular was so polite – it was refreshing.  It’s sad that I’ve become accustomed to rude or barely existent wait staff in comedy clubs so when someone shows the slightest bit of friendliness they outshine the competition.  I hope that keeps up, because atmosphere and service counts a lot for my comedy experiences.

As many people know, last year I was a judge for most of the preliminary rounds as well as for the finals.  While I wasn’t a judge on Wednesday night, I did take some notes and for the most part, I agree with the judges as to who deserved to go through to the semi-finals.  Here’s how I saw the night:

First up was Edmonton’s Welby Santos.  Welby didn’t do anything that I hadn’t heard before.  I realize he’s drawing from real life experiences but to be honest, his take wasn’t particularly fresh and the whole bad Asian stereotype has been done much better by many others.  He wasn’t horrible but not completely memorable either.

Amanda Brooke Perrin was the next one up and I just realized was the only female on for the night.  While Amanda’s stage presence is getting better, not everybody gets her right away (I don’t think) and it takes a while for people to realize she’s not nervous, it’s a persona that she has.  If she did a better job of leading from one joke to another I think it might help the overall flow of her set, but she did stick to a lot of her tried and true material.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get her a spot in the semis.

After Amanda came Mike Tod and I think he would be the first to say it wasn’t his best moment.  I’m conflicted when it comes to Mike, because I think he’s adorable and has so much personality but none of that shone through on Wednesday night.  He was all over the place and didn’t have the sparkle in his eye that he normally has.  Not much more to say except it was a disappointment.

A new to Alberta comic, Alex Roach, was up next.  Alex was certainly likeable but I think he needs to own his material a little more.  I just wasn’t convinced.  However, for someone just getting started he’s doing a pretty admirable job.

Lyle Bateman had one of his better sets that I’ve seen in a while.  He has the confidence, but it wasn’t until he started doing his rap that he got the audience on his side.  He’s such a horrible dancer and he knows it but that is what makes him more endearing I suppose.  Certainly the not the best of the night, but for darn sure not the worst of the night.

Tim Reynolds changed up his act and did his material “beatnik” style with blue glasses and bongo drums.  It made his overall set more interesting than usual but it did also seem a little weird.  Not sure about that set.

Then a breath of fresh air, Lars Callieou, came to the stage.  I have never seen Lars do a bad set and Wednesday night was no exception.  He started strong and stayed there.  I liked the fact he added some new material – it’s so hard because I’ve seen so many of these people so many times that often I have to go by how the audience reacts to gauge my reaction.  However, Lars is someone I’ve seen a few times, know his material, but enjoy it every time just the same.  And that for me is the difference – when you can see someone over and over again and you can’t wait to hear your favourite bits of theirs.  Not every comic is like that for me.  Well done Lars!

I didn’t understand a single word Scott Porteous said.  Not one word.

Daryl Makk had a good strong set, but one would expect that from a professional comic such as Daryl.  Daryl did seem to go over a little over his allotted time and I was correct in that assumption – had he stayed in the 5 minutes, rumour has it he may have taken first place for the night. 

Last up was Michael Harrison, someone I haven’t seen for a long time but remember well.  I thought Michael’s set was clean, clever and well done.  I was honestly surprised when he didn’t make it through to the semi-finals, because I thought for sure he had one of the top 3 sets of the night.  He is polished, polite and I think well on his way to being a name in Canadian comedy. 

Comedy competitions (well, comedy in general) are always subjective aren’t they?  You’re relying on 3 people who may or may not have a strong comedy background, a love for the art and know what makes a good performance to score you high enough points to get you through to the next round.  I hope each and every comic stays true to their art and doesn’t pander to what they think will get them the highest marks, because you never do know, and at the end of the day, you still have to look at yourself in the mirror.  I like to think the judges are smart enough to see through crap and recognize individuality and give points for that.  I hope. 

Anyway, moving on to the semi-finals are Lars Callieou and Daryl Makk, both excellent choices in my mind. 

Clark Robertson closed out the show with a fairly solid 15 minutes. 

Oh yeah, I have to say Stan Thomson did a great job of MC’ing – he kept that show moving right along and made sure it was done in good time.  So nice to get out of there by 10:00 (and that’s after being a social butterfly for half an hour or so).

I’m really looking forward to next week - there are a lot of new names I haven’t seen before and I think it will make for interesting spectatorship.  I’m hoping they will let the general public in by then so the comics have a bigger audience to perform to. 

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