Review by Steve Bennett

Surely this is a no-brainer? Pay top-dollar to see one of the televised Just For Laughs galas in its far-from-intimate aircraft hangar of a theatre – or just $15 to see Eugene Mirman, Adam Hills, The Pajama Men, Hannibal Buress and Jackie Kashian in the sort of grungy venue in which comedy belongs. In this case, a fringe rock venue above a skate shop sitting amid Montreal’s strip clubs.

Mirman’s magnet for indie comics is one of the best-loved nights in New York, but has shifted north for a week to make use of the talent flooding into Montreal. It’s billed as a distinctive format – it isn’t really, just a compere and four acts – but the sensibilities are certainly at a pleasing angle to the mainstream.

That’s all down to quirky curator Mirman, whose career has certainly ploughed its own furrow, mixing delightfully absurdist stand-up with episodes describing orchestrated encounters with both the corporate world and online idiots, in which ‘don’t get angry, get weird’ appears to be his motto.

Here he was on form, starting with a routine inspired by a hotel wake-up call, in which he demonstrated his keen use of language and ability to dodge the obvious. Then it’s time for his exploits on a Tea Party networking site, which he typically undermined with surreal ridicule.

In a later link, he better evoked the alternative ethos of Pretty Good Friends by acting out a scene with an awkward audience volunteer, in which the comic played a crash-landed alien trying to understand the concept of speed-dating. Silly as it was, it didn’t quite pay off – but Mirman’s bewildered naivety carried the scene.

Hills opened the international star line-up with much more successful audience interaction, such is his trademark, giving a philosophy student with the unlikely name of Zach Delong his James Brown moment in the spotlight, and spreading good cheer throughout the willing crowd.

Kashian was less easy to get into. Her scatterbrain approach means she starts with a lot of jabbering, but not many jokes. She finds her focus, though, and leads us through the life of a female nerd recently married without having much experience of dating other men. There are some good ideas and sharp lines here – the routine about tattoos especially – but also some sections that seem like barely-glorified conversation in need of stronger punchlines. But even so, her nervous energy carries it.

The wonderful Pajama Men take great pains to lower our expectations, with winningly self-deprecating preamble to shift the gear between stand-up and their mime-based Theatrical Comedy (yes, it deserves capitals). They can downplay it all they like, the density of ideas in their set would rival the most ruthless one-line merchant, with a cascade of silly gags both visual and verbal. In this short extract from their festival show In The Middle Of No One we were introduced to a menagerie of characters from dashing adventurer Chance Thunderstance to the orgasmic Give It To Me bird. All very daft; and all very funny.

Finally Buress, straight from his solo show across the road, reviewed here, with delicately warped material about Grand Theft Auto, killer cocktails and the English language all delivered with the calmness of a comic who knows he’s got strong, well-crafted material and doesn’t need to shout about it.

Mirman’s Pretty Good Friends has a different line-up every night; and on the strength of this opener looks set to be a key Montreal hang-out for those comics with artistic ambitious above a recurring role on Two And Half Men.

Published: 26 Jul 2011