Well, it’s January; in Roman mythology, Janus is the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, endings and time. He is usually depicted as having two heads, facing opposite directions; one head looks back at the last year while the other looks forward to the new, simultaneously into the past and future. The old Saxons called the month, ‘Wulf-monath’, (meaning wolf month), and Charlemagne called it, ‘Wintar manoth’, (winter/cold month). Any or all of the above are appropriate; it’s a new year, it’s cold, and, if the wolf comes to the door here in Kinley, he’d best bring his own lunch!
It is a time of new beginnings, and, with that in mind, I went down to Beily’s Comedy night. A small crowd ...perhaps fifty appreciative patrons. Our host for the evening was the irrepressible Joel Jeffery, just returned, defrosted and refreshed, from two weeks in Florida! The comics slowly straggled in, and, by 10:00 pm or so, we were ready and rarin’ to go! With typical aplomb Joel warmed up the audience, and the night began.
First up was a newcomer, a young fellow celebrating the last day of his nineteenth year by doing ten minutes stand-up. Despite his lack of experience he was quite confident, had plenty of material, and, what sets him apart from most newbies I’ve seen, he had his material mastered. All told it was an admirable showing, the comic himself was pleased with his performance, and we can be sure he’ll be back another week.
Next up was Junior, and he did an entire set of new material. Most comics avoid this, as ten minutes of new material presents a whole world of vulnerability to an audience, and, instead, mix a minute or two of new material into eight or ten minutes of their tried and true. However, Jr., pulled it off in a colourful and animated presentation which lacked but a handful of punch lines! Don’t get me wrong, I admire Jr. for doing that, but it makes it difficult for the comic as the audience behaves much better if they are fed some sure fire laugh provoking lines.
Next was the most important person in the night’s line up; the comic who guarantees everybody else looks good, by looking not so good himself. That’s right, in Saskatoon comedy we do have a low standard, and last night, as so frequently happens, I was the one to set it! Actually it went pretty well; I’ve mentioned before that Beily’s presents a lot of space, and fifty people fill that space in an uncluttered manner. I had a few tables in front of me, but separated by a couple acres of dance floor, and the rest of the crowd spread out along stage left, and filling in across the back of the bar. In spite of all I did manage to get laughs from everywhere except that big ‘black hole’ to stage right.
Our next comic was a fellow who’d I’d seen perform a year ago at Vangelli’s, and had seen, though not performing, a couple weeks ago at the Fez. Last night he delivered and delivered well. He was, originally, a Saskatoon native, but, in his pursuit of a comedic career, now works out of Vancouver, BC. He has certainly developed the famed laid back west coast style, and much of his humour was conveyed through jokes about Vancouver’s marijuana culture. All told a fine performance.
Then the Master took the stage, and, as it was getting late, I decided to exit smiling, stage left. For the first night of ‘2011 all went very well. Once again I was feeling rusty from a rather long stretch of non-performing, but, it did feel good to be back. Tonight I have an appointment at the Fez, where, I’m told, a young lady will be bustin' her comedic cherry ...I’ll let you know all about it.
