The most anticipated show at Just for Laughs this week was Bob and David and Friends, an instant sell-out that reunited Bob Odenkirk and David Cross of Mr. Show fame. Mr. Show was a sketch show with a cult following that ran on HBO for four seasons in the late 90s. Its trademarks were its absurdist sensibilities and seamless sketch format. Odenkirk and Cross were in fine form last night for this enjoyable, if not a tad slight, outing.

By this point, any JFL festival goer is sick to the death of the TBS ad that plays at the beginning of each show and the relentless thanks to festival sponsors Twix and Miller Lite. The audience was downright hostile to the corporate plugging last night and during the screening of the TBS ad, Odenkirk and Cross reached out their hands from opposite ends of the screen to flip the bird. They took multiple swipes at the corporate-ness of the fest throughout the show. “You don’t charge people and then make them watch ads.” Amen.

Bob and David and Friends opened with Odenkirk and Cross arriving at the Lakeshore, suitcases in hand. “Remember me?” Odenkirk asks. “We used to do a show together.” Cross has no clue who Odenkirk is and an argument ensues in which each comic agrees upon a “Show off” to determine who’s funnier. Odenkirk delivers an existential rant called “What we talk about when we talk about blogs,” but its Cross who wins the mock judges over with his Blues Brothers impression.

Next they segued into the fictional game show “Cash or Check,” by far the most compelling sketch of the evening. In “Cash or Check,” Odenkirk’s flummoxed contestant is given one million dollars and must decide if he wants the payment in cash or check. Oh, but don’t worry, he’s got four help angels to help him with the decision.

A sketch about a hearing on torture went flat, while a recorded bit featuring Odenkirk in twin roles as a screenwriter pitching to a clueless movie exec was solid, as was the harmless but charming L.G.B.T.B.Q.Q. barbecue sketch.

But as enjoyable as Odenkirk and Cross are together more than a decade after Mr. Show’s demise, their friends were just as funny. Locally, they brought on board the Annoyance’s brilliant Susan Messing and iO’s extremely likable Holly Laurent and Steve Waltien among others. But it was visiting comics John Mulaney (a former Chicagoan) and especially Nick Thune that blew me away. Mulaney offered up a few minutes of Chicago observations: “Why are drag queens always big and brassy?” Mulaney wondered. “Your version of a lady is a guy. You could’ve stayed a man if you were going to be an asshole.” But it was L.A.-based Thune who blew me away with his brainy circuitous yarns and Steven Wright-like observations: “The other day I walked in on my roommate while I was masturbating,” or “I just got organic balls and stored them in my nutsack so I can green tea bag people.” Thune was fucking brilliant.

Bob and David and Friends ended with the song “Laughter is the final solution” in which the ensemble observed, “It can turn AIDS into honey” and other witticisms. As I departed the Lakeshore I kept wondering if the show met my expectations when I overheard a dude at the urinal next to me in the men’s room exclaim, “That was fucking awesome!” Alright then.