Posted by It’s hard to know what will make people laugh. Sometimes the silliest of comments will have someone rolling on the floor gulping for breath with tears in their eyes whilst a perfectly-timed clever and insightful play on words will be met with crickets. It’s Lenny Bruce versus Jerry Lewis, Vonnegut versus Jughead, Buster Keaton versus your friend slipping on a banana peel.
Heck, sometimes just a name will make people laugh. Did I ever tell you that my great uncle was named Harry Kock? True story. Imagine emigrating from Denmark to Canada as a seventeen-year-old only to discover that your name is a joke. Then there is the litany of Bart Simpson prank calls involving such luminaries as I. P. Freely, Ima Weiner, and Pierre Pants. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if there really was an Anita Bath out there somewhere.
Or hey, how about a town named Dildo? Got you chuckling now, don’t I? It certainly got Jimmy Kimmel the laughs for a few weeks back in 2019 when he became the honorary mayor after highlighting the small Newfoundland town in a string of segments on his late-nite talk show. And Kimmel’s ultimate punchline is still visible when you drive into Dildo, a real-live Hollywood-style sign that the comedian paid for and had erected on a hill overlooking the picturesque harbour. And just like that the town had both an identity and a heck of a logo; that DILDO sign is now featured on every t-shirt, magnet, and coffee mug in the local gift shop.
It was exactly this geographical comedy fodder that was hosting the second-nearest stop to my house on the 2023 Best Kind Comedy Tour. The first-closest stop was at the Old Courthouse in Harbour Grace, a mere 368 footsteps from my back door (depending on the size of the evening’s bar tab). But alas, m’lady was scheduled to be out-of-province at the time and double-alas: the Courthouse was only selling tickets by the table, in groups of two, four, six, or eight.
But the July 7th stop in Dildo was offering individual tickets so it was a slam dunk for me. Especially because I had seen the very same tour twice before (both times at the Old Courthouse) and I knew I was going to like it.
And so I drove solo across the barrens to the other side of the peninsula and found the Blue Whale Lounge, which is actually in South Dildo (stop snickering), just past the turn off to Spread Eagle (oh, grow up). This was my first time in the venue, which had a distinct community centre/Legion vibe to it. The had at least a hundred and fifty folding chairs set up facing the stage with nary a table in sight. I grabbed myself a bottle of Molson Export and took a seat about a dozen rows back, dead centre.
The place filled up quickly. This was certainly a much bigger crowd than could ever squeeze into the much more intimate Courthouse back in Harbour Grace. But laughter breeds laughter so bigger crowds are generally better when it comes to comedy.
Like I say, I had seen the same three comedians tour a couple of times before and I gotta say, I enjoy it more every time. Well, maybe not Colin Hollett’s opening set. As he explained in his deadpan opening, he had recently lost his good friend and roommate and the overwhelming grief had kept him from preparing a set for the tour. So he stream-of-consciousness-ed through his thirty minutes with sparse success. He sure is loud though.
Up next was Mike Lynch, whom I very much consider to be the main feature of the Best Kind Comedy Tour. As I’ve explained elsewhere, I first became familiar with Mike Lynch through the videos he makes with a Newfoundland comedy troupe called The Outhouse. I was particularly drawn to Lynch’s over-the-top Newfie cliché persona Cecil O’Brien.
And while Lynch’s Cecil character is significantly closer to Jerry Lewis than he is to Lenny Bruce, well, there’s sometimes no telling what will make a guy laugh. And man, that Mike Lynch guy makes me laugh.
So did the closing act, Brian Aylward, who was once again my second favourite comedian on the bill.
Regardless, kudos to all three of them for coming up with completely different material once again for this tour (well, except for grieving Colin, I suppose). I must say, the whole no-repeat rule is one of things that fascinates me most about a comedian’s job. I mean, what if every time The Rolling Stones finished a tour they dumped all their songs – even the hits – and had to come up with completely different material for the next tour. It’s unimaginable. But then, imagine a crowd at a Steven Wright comedy show yelling out, “Do the one about using a silencer when you shoot a mime!” Also unimaginable.
When the show was over I got into my car and put Dildo behind me, driving myself home with a smile on my face after a quick in-and-out across the penisula.
Todd Man Out 