Arts
Sarah Silverman Sings her Potty Mouth at Just For Laughs Gala
Sarah Silverman just didn't do it for me. Her hosting the Toronto Just For Laughs Festival gala Friday night at Massey Hall fell flat, relying on mostly lowbrow potty humour throughout the first of two shows that night (I know that some people love this style, but it's not really for me).
The rest of the comedians followed suit, providing more guffaws on topics such as pussy, rape, pedophilia, marijuana and the occasional jab about our garbage strike, rarely tickling my funny bone.
The night was dubbed Sarah Silverman and Friends, featuring Louis C.K., Arj Barker and Tod Glass. None of Silverman's material was very memorable - unless you count the five minute song where she used the word cunt in rapid succession in a refrain that lasted five minutes too long.
I jumped at the chance to see this night of comedy when I scored a ticket to the sold-out show just hours before it started. When I got to the theatre, there was a buzz in the air. The audience was eager to be entertained.
I took advantage of now being able to bring alcoholic drinks (from the venue's bar in the basement) to our seats at Massey Hall. But perhaps I should've brought something a little stronger than the pint of Hockley Stout, which had me needing to quickly rush off to the loo in between acts, so as not to miss a beat (there was no intermission).
We were greeted by loud music from a live band that played on stage along to the voice of a pre-recorded singer, making me wonder why they couldn't find a live singer. Bright, colourful searchlight-like lights shone in our faces from the huge backdrop. The stage was set.
We were soon instructed by a booming voice-over where the emergency exits were, as if we were about to embark on a fun airplane ride. "Stow all your emotional baggage and get ready for the show." But I felt like this show never quite took off.
I anticipated some good LOLs, and was smiling often throughout the show's handful of performers. But I never really got a full-bellied laugh the entire night.
Barker, who's perhaps best known for his appearances in the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords, should be credited for his witty bit about Toronto's Shoeseum.
Louis C.K. David Cross's piece about the silly things found in Sky Mall's airplane magazine, such as the Time Mug hit a few funny bones. Although by the end of his set (and the night of comedy) I felt like the entire flight went on too long.
Perhaps my expectations weren't met due to the hype of the comedy line-up. Maybe I needed to get more liquored-up to truly appreciate the brand of humour delivered at this show. Or could it be that stand-up comedians these days are running out of decent, original material? Either way, I left wishing for much more.
Photo: sarah-silverman.com.
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1. There was a singer with the band. We saw her, she was standing to the left of the stage. It was definitely not a recording.
2. It was not Louis CK who did the SkyMall bit. That was David Cross (from Mr. Show). Louis CK did the bit about the futility of honking your car horn.
3. The show was not sold out (disappointingly so) as there were huge gaps on the floor in the wings. We chalked it up to the cost of the tickets.
Agreed - not the greatest night of comedy I've ever attended, but I think Sarah was the highlight. And anyone who is familiar with Silverman's comedy, knew exactly what they were in for that night.
And we were still laughing the next morning about the C#NT bit.
Louis CK was awesome, though! Come on! His bit about every person who touches a car horn being a "piece of shit asshole" was spot on. It was truth in comedy and it slayed me.
Silverman was kind of a let down. I was talking to a friend about it... the reason we laugh is purely because of her considerable presentation/delivery. She's an amazing performer. But if you read any of her material, you'd never crack a smile. And yeah, the songs were a snooze.
As for David Cross's rape joke, it seemed like he was just seriously trying to push buttons and he said it more for the post-joke explanation than anything. It also seemed like he was playing off an earlier joke by Todd Glass that also included a reference to rape. They both used almost the exact same line in their explanations: "It's not a joke about rape. It's a joke with rape in it."
Arj Barker was great, as was the first guy, John Mullaney, I think, young SNL writer. And of course Louis CK was wicked. I thought it was an amazing show and we were close to tears almost the entire time.
I'm a big fan of Sarah Silverman. I'm sure I would have appreciated her humour!
Thanks for the correction on David Cross. Duly noted and corrected in the review now. It would've helped if they actually had a program insert with the line-up listed somewhere.
While the cost of the show was more outrageous than the material in the show, the seats that were left may have mostly been obstructed view seats.
Wow, if you were still laughing the next morning about Silverman's use of that word over and over in her song, perhaps you don't use the word often enough yourself. It lost its impact on me after the second time she sung the word.
And no, I don't use the word (c#nt) much...actually never, as with most people. It's a very offensive word, particularly if you're a woman. Perhaps that's why you missed the humour in it.
The first guy that went on; the young SNL writer was hilarious!! I really enjoyed him. The little bit he did about running down the subway hallway behind the woman was really good stuff. Arj Barker was fantastic too. Shoe-seum bit was great. David Cross was pretty funny~ I felt that the joke he did where no one laughed (rape and leftovers) was not due to the audience being uptight, as he was implying, more that the delivery of the joke fell a bit flat. He was funny in his redemption of it though. And yeah, I agree the clock-mug joke was pretty funny. Louis Ck was amazing as usual. I really liked the bit he did about getting off an airplane. I also like the fact that Louis went WAY over time. The red light went on and then he still did like 2 more long stories. I was quite pleased!
I agree that the tickets were a bit expensive. And it would have been nice to have an intermission, especially at a show where beverages are being consumed. But overall I thought it was a really great night!!
Louis CK’s Buffalo material ALONE was worth the price of admission! Anyone who couldn't laugh at that bit should've stayed at home with their Air Farce DVDs.
If anyone is interested in reading a review that dedicates more than 4 sentences to comedic analysis, these are my feelings on the evening: http://backoftheroom.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/504/
Incidentally, the shows were proclaimed to be "sold out" earlier in the week, so nobody could buy tickets even if they wanted to. That is, until those additional seats were made available Friday -- too late for many.
I'm beginning to think that "Roger" - in addition to having no sense of humour - also lives in a cave. This is the same reviewer who was "surprised" when performance artist Keith Cole took his clothes off at an event last year. Hello? That's what he does.
Sarah Silverman is known for saying "pussy." Her's doesn't smell.
Which makes me wonder why you bothered to even write about this concert, Mr. Cullman. Clearly you are not a fan of contemporary stand up comedy. Nothing wrong with that - Jeff Dunham and Larry the Cable Guy exist for a reason. What I do find fault with, is the audacity of reviewing a concert and not writing a single sentence about the headliner (aside from confusing him with another performer on the bill). Talk to any fans or practitioners of stand up in this city, and the general consensus will be that Louis CK is the best comic working right now. You were fortunate enough to see the comedic equivalent of Michael Jordan in his prime! Yet after reading your piece, I know less about the headliner of the performance than I do about your choice of beverage and bladder control issues. Way to make it all about you, sir.
BTW, Stand up comedy generally doesn't have an intermission (it tends to ruin the flow of the show), increasing your alcohol consumption is NOT conducive to getting the most enjoyment out of stand up, and "LOL" isn't a word, so please don't use it in a sentence.
I did find Sharilyn's review to be fair and informative.
Only complaint was paying top tier pricing and still somehow sitting almost behind a pillar at Massey Hall... yay. Otherwise a great time had by almost all!
Personally, I really enjoyed Silverman and John Mulaney, could have done without Cross, and thought I was going to pee myself at Louis CK.
That said, in my review ( http://tiny.cc/silverman )I had some similar complaints to Roger's.
I think with people as famous as this it's important to know what you're in for (with someone less well-known it's easy not to know what they're like), but it doesn't mean you have to like it. I knew what I was in for, and some of it I liked, and some of it I didn't. In a lot of ways it's a struggle in something like this to review the content of the piece. I guess what I'm saying is, I think it's fair for Roger to talk about how he experienced the night, and the fact that he walked away with more memories of his beer, the singer and trip to the bathroom, well, that says volumes about how the show felt for him. And that's a fair assessment. If a show moves me so little that I'm thinking about my drink and that I need to pee, instead of what's happening on stage, I think that's a valid observation.