Review: Just for Laughs has a distinguished British accent (Includes first-hand account)

Not all senses of humour are universal, but the Brits have been making people laugh the world over for decades. BBC comedies have dedicated followings and troupes like Monty Python have captured the adoration of audiences for decades. Therefore it’s not surprising there would be a programme at the Just for Laughs festival dedicated to comedians from the UK. Hosted by Mark Watson, “Brit(ish)” delivered six comedians whose one commonality is their citizenship.

Ranging from their first time in Montreal, to their first time in Canada, to repeat attendees of the festival, these men and women brought with them a variety of experiences representing different demographics. Gina Yashere is an ex-pat living in New York who drew on her experiences as a black lesbian and appreciated the openness of Montreal’s gay community. One of her best jokes involved all the doors being labelled with the French word for “push” (pousser) and an obvious variation on the pronunciation of said word.

Russell Kane is an incredibly energetic comedian who took the stage in a bow tie and constantly moved around doing humorous walks and telling stories from every possible angle… including one that placed his crotch in another gentleman’s face. Conversely, Nish Kumar opened the show in a very conventional manner — drink on stool, mic in hand — referring to his career as a comedian and his family’s reaction to his unconventional vocation. Daniel Sloss also talked about his family, but in a much more self-deprecating manner convinced that his mother loves him more than his father… possibly because he calls him “step dad” just to aggravate him.

Watson’s applause coaching was completely unnecessary, as all six acts were clearly talented and earned every bit of laughter and praise that came their way. Presented at the Club Soda, audiences received an authentic comedy club experience without any of the concerns regarding entertainment quality.

Similar Posts

  • Review: ‘Rough Night’ not so rough for audiences (Includes first-hand account)

    For several decades, the raunchy comedy has belonged to men. Even though there have been a few bawdy films featuring female casts, they’ve still been directed by men. It’s taken a long time for studios to put their trust in the all-female movie, but each time they’ve recently “taken a chance” the returns have generally been worth it. The latest “risk” is Sony’s R-rated Rough Night, which is helmed by a woman who knows how to write honest, vulgar women.

  • Review: ‘War on Everyone’ is inappropriately hilarious (Includes first-hand account)

    When pondering the size of the universe, it can be interesting to wonder what an alien race completely unfamiliar with our customs and processes would think of the world. Things that make perfect sense to us may be entirely bewildering to them. However, it’s not really necessary to go beyond our universe to encounter such confusion. The Earth is populated with so many different cultures and nationalities, it’s easy to be confounded by another person’s traditions when they are not your own. The same can be said about movie genres. War on Everyone is U.K. director John Michael McDonagh‘s interpretation of the American buddy cop comedy and it kind of puts the beloved genre into perspective.

  • Review: ‘Going in Style’ has considerable flair (Includes first-hand account)

    There’s an intriguing phenomenon occurring in Hollywood at the moment: a generation of accomplished, acclaimed actors and filmmakers are getting old. In spite of being over the traditional age of retirement, they are still flourishing and working well into their 70s, 80s and even 90s. However, in order for them to do so, the types of narratives being told had to mature with them. Consequently, there has been a perceptible increase in the number of films made featuring older protagonists — the trick is to make them appeal to all ages. The latest in this series of films is Going in Style.

  • Review: ‘Dolittle’ is fluent in dog and fun (Includes first-hand account)

    Even though we know animals probably don’t think the way we do, it’s nonetheless fun to project human reasoning and emotions onto them. People have imaginary/one-sided conversations with their pets and add humorous narrations to nature videos. Consequently, anthropomorphism is very prevalent in fiction as animals can be used to tell stories of social commentary as well as entertaining ventures. The more amusing narratives usually fall into the drama or comedy category, and have been presented in live-action, animated and the ever more popular CGI formats. Dolittle is a mix of these as it puts its personal twist on the tale of a doctor who can speak to animals.