I know it may sound like a cheap (but effective) pun, but after catching this year's edition of Just For Laughs' Ethnic Show: Ethnical Difficulties at Club Soda (which runs until July 22, followed by an extra show at the Metropolis on July 26), it was the first line that popped into my head and I thought, it would be a shame to waste it.
The Ethnic Show brought together six comics, each one representing a different ethnic background. And these days, with so much inward and outward prejudice going on (not to mention racial profiling), it's refreshing to see that Just For Laughs has decided to dedicate a show to promote racial and ethnic tolerance and understanding through laughter.
"When you promote understanding through laughter, it brings
people together,” said Iranian/American comic Maz Jobrani, who is hosting the Ethnic Show for the second consecutive year, during a phone interview I conducted with him last week for my Grapevine column.
And the show certainly brought a lot of people together, as its premiere performance played to a packed house at Club Soda. Jobrani began his set interacting with members of the audience according to their respective ethnic origins and making humorous, inoffensive comments based on them; he got a Hungarian, Italian, Jew and an Egyptian named Charles ("It must be your airport name," quipped Jobrani). He also got in some great lines about how tough Russians can be, based on an experience he had with a Russian repairman who was sent to his home to fix his heater ("I fix the filter, then I kill," said the rather gruff repairman). He also did a great routine of the hazards being a parent when you take your kids to a cinema to catch "Happy Feet 2".
The show then continued with Filipino comedian Ron Josol, who said he looked like the end result if Elvis made love to a big Samoan. He also lamented the good old days of cassette tapes, when a pencil was the main tool needed to fix an unravelled tape, and the days when if someone had a cell phone, they were mainly a drug dealer.
Montreal comic Frank Spadone (representing the Italian delegation), told how ironic it was that this year was the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, yet no one talks to each other in Italy (he cites one Italian man who was angry at another man because "he didn't call me so I could wish him a happy birthday").
Jewish-American comic Orny Adams vehemently ranted about germ phobia, sneezing, gluten (which he pronounces as "glutton") and world overpopulation, which got him a lot of laughs. To quote another Jewish comic -- Krusty the Klown -- "Angry ... angry ... angry young man."
Representing the land south of the U.S. border, Mexican-American comedienne Melissa Villasenor (who also appeared on "America's Got Talent"), entertained with her wide variety of celebrity voice imitations (my favorite was her impression of comedienne Wanda Sykes in the middle of a traffic jam).
The Ethnic Show ended on a high note with its closer, Nigerian-American comic Godfrey. I first saw him perform at the Ethnic Show two years ago, and he killed back then. And he was still on his game on a massive scale. Using different voices, gestures and gesticulations, Godfrey tackled airports, the NYPD, hunting for terrorists, gay ghosts, fitted sheets and the coup de grace, his hilarious dissection of what it's like to travel in an airplane. It may be a typical staple for a comedian's routine, but Godfrey's spin on it (including his takes on the safety video and the inflatable life vest) had me laughing out loud and banging my hand on the table at the same time; he brought this much used subject matter to a whole new level. In short .... HE KILLED ... AGAIN!!!
This year's edition of the Ethnic Show was quite an enjoyable one. OK, I have to admit, it's a virtual United Nations of comedy, and maybe the UN Secretary-General should consider appointing these comics as special ambassadors. Maybe some of the world's major problems could be solved much quickly with a good dose of international laughter as a means of diplomacy.
....We now resume with the Just For Laughs festival, which is already in progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment