In All Honesty

After a few weekends of feeling a little shut in, Tim and I decided to head over to the Toad ‘n’ Turtle to check out Daryl Makk’s recently relocated Comedy Detour.  I was wondering how they would accomodate a comedy show, since it is very close to my work and I go there now and again for lunch. 

The room itself was set up nicely, not really a bad seat in the place.  Not a whole lot of seating, so you know you’re in for a more intimate show.  Also, the lighting wasn’t truly dark, it appeared very easy for the performers to see the audience and other audience members to see each other.  I could clearly see my paper to write on.  Why does this matter?  Well, I’ll get to that in a few minutes.

Our server was very attentive and accomodating right from the start.  She seemed to know what a comedy show was about and made sure to keep her voice down so as not to detract from the comics on the stage.  And when one table got a little out of control, she promptly got them out of there with very little fuss.

The only problem I had with the venue was the bathroom (and I visit bathrooms a lot more these days).  One of the stalls had a pluggage problem, the taps were leaky and it was freezing cold.  It was not a very well kept bathroom.  I don’t know if that matters to anyone else, but it does to me.

We decided to have dinner there, because I do like to support the venues and eat a meal whenever possible.  I’m on a bit of a restricted diet right now because of my pregnancy, so trying to find something that’s not going to spike my blood sugars is sometimes tricky.  Thankfully, they have an extensive menu so it was pretty easy to find something that worked for me.  I really enjoyed my meal and I’m pretty sure Tim did too – very good size portions for a good price = excellent value.

A bit of background before I start in on my thoughts about the show.  Earlier last week, Lars Callieou (who was the headliner) wrote a note on facebook stating that although he liked what I had to say about him, he wanted to know what I didn’t like about his set, or thought he could improve upon.  So now is confession time – this is the first time I went to a show with that frame of mind.  I’m normally very optimistic and expect good things – I don’t always get it, but I always hope that the show is going to be entertaining.

So, here’s how I felt – in all honesty.

Donovan Deschner was the MC and I felt like he was doing too much crowd work off the top.  Back to my thought at the beginning of this blog; the room - smaller, the crowd – not a big one, the lighting – not completely dark – and that made for a more less responsive audience.  There is something about the dark that makes people more likely to respond to an MC.  And chances are that in a crowd of 20-30 people, very few might be celebrating something.  It just seemed to me like Donovan was trying to do a club job of MC’ing in a room that didn’t need it. 

I say this because when Donovan came up between Derek and Lars and just did his material, he was far more likeable, seemed much more in his element and got the audience laughing.  His first 10 minutes, however, was awkward from where I was sitting.  But I did happen to grab a good picture of him:

Derek Sweet took the stage for a guest spot.  Sometimes, I feel like Derek is reciting a soliliquoy versus interacting with the audience and Saturday night was one of those times.  While I can see an improvement in his writing, his delivery didn’t feel natural and his set suffered for it.  There were some shining moments, and I do very much like his bit about his shyness in public bathrooms and his shopping for a foster child - those came across as real and relatable.

Then came up Lars Callieou.  It’s no secret I enjoy Lars – he always makes me laugh.  Why?  Because he is that guy next door with a funny view of the world he grew up in versus how things are in the present time.  However, since he asked and I’m being honest, there were a few things I noticed this time that perhaps I might have overlooked before. 

When Lars came to the stage, he mentioned something about the decor of the room, which was actually funny, but then when he turned around and started talking about the curtains and opening them up, I felt that was a bit of a time waster and set interrupter.  He then mentioned a few times that bits he was doing worked or didn’t work, and I don’t know that I care for that at a professional show – I like to feel as though that person has put thought and effort into that particular set for that particular audience and we’re not guinea pigs.  That is what open mics are for, n’est pas?

On the whole though, Lars didn’t fail to impress me and I think the audience was very receptive to him and his humour.  He did go down the blue road a few times, but always pulled it back just before it got too dirty on us.  (Sidenote to Lars on the the Kama Sutra bit – look up Hot Carl) .    And since he asked, there was one bit that just didn’t do it for me (and as always, it’s just my opinion) and that was the family picture done by photo radar.

Overall, a very good night, as per usual.  The new venue is great – there was very little disruption, the staff seemed to be very on the ball and we didn’t want for anything.  If I could improve on anything, it would be the lighting.  I would also like to comment on how dapper all the guys looked and how lovely Esther looked working the door.  It was a very classy night, and I’m looking forward to hitting a few more shows before the baby arrives.

 

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