This is what Zoofest is all about.
Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy attending Just For Laughs shows, and I always look forward to catching its flagship galas and specialty shows such as the Nasty Show, the Ethnic Show, the one-person show series and Talk of the Fest (the new name for the long-running Bubbling with Laughter series). But the Zoofest shows give me a chance to see popular and up-and-coming comics that normally wouldn't get to see at a comedy club, as they perform some of their best material to eager Montreal comedy fans. As Zoofest's slogan accurately states, it's a "festival of discoveries".
I started my Zoofest comedic adventure on July 20 with "Dave Gorman's Powerpoint Presentation", which played at the Underworld Club (which is situated above a skate shop). The British comic made his Just For Laughs debut over a decade ago with his solo show "Dave Gorman's Googlewhacked Adventure", in which he chronicled the misadventures he experienced as a result of his quite thorough informational digging using the famed internet search engine.
This time, Gorman uses his expansive computer tech knowledge and his fascination with social media to come up with a damned funny show. Armed with a MacBook Pro laptop, a remote control and a large backlit screen, Gorman talks about different aspects of his life and career, which he breaks down into a business-style power point presentation. To the packed crowd gathered to see and hear his presentation in this cramped, intimate venue (whom he deemed as "the 80 most cultured people in North America"), Gorman tackled such concerns as how everyone thinks he is Jewish (he is actually a Christian), which goes as far as being listed as #12 in a British magazine's ranking of the top 25 literary Jews (he placed two notches above Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow), anti-perspirant commercials that promised 48- to 96-hour protection, why clock and cellphone ads always have the time "10:08" displayed, and a personal experiment involving asparagus, beets, a vitamin C drink mix and a sugary cereal that goes awfully wrong.
Gorman may spend too much time in front of his computer, but his penchant for thorough research and his unending curiosity makes his power point presentation both very funny and quite informative in a rather unorthodox manner (my only disappointment was that it lasted only an hour; it could have easily run for another hour and he still would have held the audience's attention).
As Gorman succinctly puts it: "Is it not human to be curious?"
On the extreme other end of the comedy spectrum, Quebecois comedian Mike Ward unabashedly went for the throat and succeeded with his English language solo show "Pedophile Jokes and Death Threats", which attracted a sold out crowd at the Katacombes club (a rather dark, heavy metal-type club on St. Laurent Blvd.).
A big star on the French language comedy scene in Quebec (he has hosted several Just pour Rire galas over the years) and his comedy DVD sold hundreds of thousands of copies, Ward's material has tackled many taboo subjects, which has garnered his share of controversy throughout his career.
The reason behind the show's title was based on a joke he said during an appearance at a JPR gala three years ago, which made reference to a recent abduction of a little girl in Quebec. His set got him a standing ovation, but the press pounced on that one joke, and a firestorm of controversy evolved from it. It got to the point that angry citizens were lining up outside his home. Then there were the death threats; in particular, an e-mail he got from an elderly woman named Huguette, a woman, according to Ward, who "should be making strawberry jam and funeral arrangements." The message stated that Ward likes to kill and rape children. "When I have kids of my own, Huguette is not coming to the baptism," said the fluently bilingual Ward.
The rest of the show dealt with Ward's take on other subjects that were part of his life and career, such as his trip to entertain Canadian troops in Afghanistan (and how "traumatized" he got when he saw an Afghan local defecate on the roof of his home); how comfortable he is renting gay porn movies with his wife; taking viagra (and how the drug's effects take place at the most inopportune time and place); sex with his wife; and how creative editing on a Radio-Canada newsmagazine show item dealing with comics going too far made Ward looked like he was going WAY too far with his material.
Witnessing Mike Ward in action with "Pedophile Jokes and Death Threats" is vivid proof why he is one of the busiest comics/vedettes in the Quebec entertainment world. Hopefully, he will do more shows to build a following with English language comedy fans. And with an upcoming appearance on the JFL XXX gala (hosted by Bob Saget) this Friday night -- and if he succeeds -- hopefully Mike Ward will take his comic talents (controversial jokes, death threats and all) south of the border to the lucrative, yet heavily competitive, U.S. market.
Much more Just For Laughs stuff to come this week ... more Zoofest shows (Amy Schumer, Adam Hills, Paul F. Tompkins) ... Mario Cantone ... Hannibal Buress ... Marc Maron's WTF podcast ... Comedy Conference ... and galas with Lewis Black, Bob Saget and the Muppets.
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