Just for Laughs and TBS wrapped up its inaugural week of comedy here in Chicago and we managed to catch a dozen different shows which translated to more than 100 comic faces over the course of five days. A few thoughts on the fest that was:
Best homecoming: Both nationally and here at home, Hannibal Buress’s star is rising fast. It’s easy to understand why. In a 10-minute set at the Lincoln Lodge (and later in the week at Zanies the guy burned through a dozen or so fascinating bits that were right-brained, strange and fascinating and that we can only sum up with the phrase “You had to be there.”
Worst joke: We’re hoping we heard this one incorrectly, but during the opening monologue for the Late Night Late Show reunion host Mark Luge noted that NASA astronauts are now drinking their own urine (referring to a new NASA technology that converts urine into water). He then quipped, “NASA is excited because it validates their Homos in Space Program.” Um what? We get that gays are an easy target, but do we need to further pick on a despised minority by suggesting that they drink their own urine? Talk about piss poor.
Biggest sugar high: Raise your hand if you consumed more than 100 Twix bars during the course of the fest? The caramel cookie candy was a ubiquitous handout at venues around town and an ominously present sponsor if there ever was one. We thank you Twix for supporting comedy in Chicago, but unfortunately we’re too sick to ever eat your product again.
Best juxtaposition in sound: The energy level at the Chicago Theater was amped up to megawatt levels as hundreds of ladies screamed on cue every time daytime talk show queen and funny lady Ellen Degeneres so much as opened her mouth. Meanwhile, in the men’s restroom at the Chicago Theatre you could hear a pin drop there were so few fellas in attendance.
Worst Sophie’s Choice moment: Um, like the entire festival. There were a ton of tough choices to be made (Jim Jefferies vs. After Hours Reunion, Alone vs. Sodomites!) and we bit our nails every time. Can the festival offer running times to let us know whether it’s reasonable to think we can make the next show across town? Can they spread it out over the course of the week and repeat more shows so that we can see them all? Can they offer ticket packages for frequent festival goers so we can pack more in on meager budgets? We wonder if these wishes will be fulfilled in 2010, but credit JFL for leaving us wanting more.
Best find: There were moments in the much hyped Bob and David and Friends that were enjoyable as hell, none more so than guitar-wielding comic Nick Thune who’s upped the ante on Steven Wright’s style of deadpan absurdist joke throwing and bizarre story telling. Yeah, we know this hardly counts as a discovery since the guy has already appeared on <em>The Late Show</em>, but if Thune isn’t on your radar yet, plan on putting him there.
Most jaw-dropping moment: There was plenty of buzz surrounding Bob Smigel and Dino Stamatopolus’s Unaired Bozo Circus Parody, a hilarious, twisted and even macabre stab at a Chicago TV icon. But the best part of the entire parody were the looks on the faces of the studio audience chosen for the pilot. Their jaws were practically on the floor through most of this raunch fest, and according to Smigel, one woman even left midway through the taping and declared, “Y’all are going to hell.”
Best undress: Not only did American Dream reunite for the funniest rule-breaking, genre-busting meta improv show of the entire fest, but when they made the casual decision to take off their pants mid-set, they cranked up the level of commitment to a 12 and proved as a troupe that you can go home again.
Biggest time waster: Hometown hero TJ Miller got heckled early into his stand-up set the first night of the fest and shot back at the bunch with total fearlessness. But unable to self-edit himself early enough, he dragged these drunken fools (and the rest of us) through an uncomfortable rant that ate up most of his stage time. Only those who caught his set with improv troupe Chuckle Sandwich the next day were able to see that this is a man of formidable talent.
Best corporate F*ck you: Yeah we’re grateful for TBS, JFL, Twix and Miller for bringing the fest to Chicago but the compulsory screening of the TBS ad before each show at the Lakeshore got real old real fast. Jokesters Bob Odenkirk and David Cross responded with a polite middle finger coupled with the sentiment, “You don’t charge people and then make them watch ads.” Amen.
