It’s September in Toronto: back to school, cooler weather and the Just For Laughs annual comedy festival, JFL42.
The smaller, hipper cousin to the megafest in Montreal, Toronto’s JFL42 is for “of the moment” comedy-savvy audiences.
The fest, which runs from September 24 to October 3, has exactly 42 acts plus its headliners. Some are well-known, some are of esoteric appeal, but all of them have some relevance in the current comedy firmament.
But what acts should you select, you may wonder. If I were to choose my headliner and five acts, these would be my choices.
My headliner would be Trevor Noah. He’s the comic with the impossible job of taking over from Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Hailing from South Africa, Noah will be the comic everyone will be talking about in the coming months. He may be great, he may be not so great, but if you want to be part of the dialogue on what’s happening in comedy right now, you have to see his show.
Do not expect another Jon Stewart. Noah’s his own man, bringing an internationalism and sensitivity to racial issues to the table. The jury’s out on his abilities as a standup.
The South African gent in my office has been praising him for years, and he’s the most famous and accomplished comic in his home country. But checking out his clips on the Internet, I was less than overwhelmed. Mind you, I remember that Jon Stewart was never the strongest standup.
I wouldn’t miss Gilbert Gottfried.
He’s been around since the dawn of modern comedy, but it’s hard to imagine someone more dangerous, more surreal and more hysterical than him.
Always in the news, from his Japanese earthquake jokes controversy to his best in show performance in The Aristocrats to his breathtaking tastelessness on comedy roasts, Gottfried is a one-of-a-kind comedian.
His recent reading of Fifty Shades of Grey has almost two million views on YouTube.
Next up: Canadian content from one of the biggest acts in the country you’ve never heard of: Mike Ward. That’s because he’s a huge star in Quebec but has only recently been performing in English. He doesn’t work clean. In fact, he’s taking over as the host of JFL’s Nasty Show.
His topics include battered women, death, the disabled, war, famine, child abuse, and other upbeat topics. His last tour grossed more than $5 million in Quebec alone. There. You’ve been advised and warned.
I really want to see Dr. Katz Live. If you recall, Dr. Katz is an animated series about a psychiatrist who channelled the spirit of Woody Allen through the clever writing and performance of comic Jonathan Katz. The series ended in 1999, but it is back as a live show.
The producers are mum about who his celebrity “patients” are going to be, but with the big names floating around Toronto for the week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them dropping in to perform on this cult favourite.
With all the buzz on new female comedians, there’s no shortage of interesting female comics to check out, including Natasha Leggero, Fortune Feimster, Kate Berlant and many more. My personal pick is Iliza Schlezinger, who won Last Comic Standing, in 2008, the only female comic to do so.
She’s the one with the seasoning to pull off a tight one-hour set. You can get a taste of her comedy from her comedy album War Paint, voted one of the 10 best of 2013 on iTunes.
Finally, I’m excited to see my old pal Steven Pearl.
After a decade in semi-retirement, this gonzo madman is back for a rare live appearance.
He promises new references for his classic manic bits, most of which revolve around his encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture.
Long ago, he was the comic that Robin Williams emulated and ultimately ripped off by doing portions of Pearl’s act on The Tonight Show. A punch in the mouth and a big cheque later, they were friends again. Pearl’s a living legend. Don’t miss him.