JFL Weird Al

So night two finished with Weird Al Yankovic and his band performing a very strong two hour set. Often between songs the entire band would go off stage, during this time on the video screen behind the stage there would play different things, and then the band would return in a new set of costumes.

Some of the videos played during this time was Al on one camera doing an interview as the interviewer asking really odd and funny questions to A level celebrity responses to what were likely inoccuous questions.

The youth surrounding me, with me perhaps 4m from the stage, all seemed to know way more about Weird Al than I did, which surprised me a little as Al is more from my era as a GenXer than he is of theirs. They sang along to many of his songs.

I took four video clips of his songs but one of them was blocked immediately upon upload. Who knows if any of the three below will also get blocked in time.

JFL Night Two with Wes Barker

JFL night two began again with a DJ from 19h to 20h, then Wes Barker MCing three comedians and then a really fun Weird Al Yankovic show.

I didn't record anything from Wes' introduction time. He enlisted a volunteer from the audience who he had picked out ahead of time as there is no easy access from the audience area to the stage, so that Wes could do some close-up magic with someone. One trick that was neat, he put water into a cup, perhaps filling it only 2/7ths, had Luca, the volunteer place it atop his head. Then Wes asked the audience for a magic word which some people called out, and then Wes asked Luca to turn the cup upside down over his head - he did so and no water came out.

Wes then showed us while also saying, there was a diaper at the bottom of the cup (which had absorbed all of the water). He then redid the same trick showing us the cup was empty, and still when Luca overturned it, no water came out, so that was impressive.

Anyhow the first comedian was Hassan Phills, he was a good story teller comedian, he definitely had some funny moments.

Next was Mario Adrion and he was the funniest comedian of all of the ones I saw over these two days, he had a pretty rapid fire delivery and kept coming up with unique views and funny quips.

The last comedian for me at this JFL event was Eve Parker Finley; she had a small keyboard that she played along with some comedic songs that she had written, she was good.

Overall I had a good time with all of the comedians at these free shows, on the first day there were tables and chairs so I got there early and grabbed a good seat. On the second day, due to Weird Al being on the plan, they had removed all of the tables and chairs, so I ended up standing for the whole evening, but that was fine. I'll post more about the Weird Al show tomorrow.

JFL night one with Sarah Sherman

After Wes Barker, there was a slight gap, and then what they called JFL All Stars came on, it ended up being five comedians in addition to Sarah Sherman, the MC, who opened up the evening session with her own set.

She had a particular funny bit where she spoke in a lower register specifically to a woman who admitted she was high in a very entertaining way; though I didn't manage to capture that on video.

Next was Asif Ali, he had a few good jokes in reference to his ethnicity and was otherwise pretty good.

Next was Laura Peek, by this time I had seen so many comedians I am having a hard time remembering her; so I guess her set wasn't particularly memorable.

Next was Tone Bell, he was a story teller, so there was a lot of setup before we'd get to a joke or funny part, but he was a good story teller, so that was okay.

Next was Marie Faustin, she had a good set and carried herself well.

And finally was Michael Longfellow; he seemed a little overwhelmed by the size of his audience and that threw him a little; eventually he got going but his wasn't a great set.

JFL night one with Wes Barker

At the Just for Laughs festival this year they had a series of outdoor shows, the first weekend and the Thursday night of the subsequent weekend were all French language comedians, and the last Friday and Saturday night of the event's free outdoor shows were for English language comedians, so I attended both of these last two days.

On both days they had a DJ play music from 19h-20h, then Wes Barker as MC for three comedians from 20h-21h, and then at 21h on Friday night was more comedians, and Saturday night was Weird Al Yankovic.

So here is Wes Barker from the first night:

I like magic and he was entertaining.

Next was Pantelis, he had purposeless foul language and had a few funny moments, but this wasn't the best show of the evening. What was nice about him is that he is local and so he could speak to things very specific to Montreal.

Next was Tara Cannistraci, she was a dynamo on the stage, lots of energy, a pretty good comedy set.

And the last performer with Wes Barker as MC was Ben Sosa-Wright. He had base humour and too had some funny moments, but of those seen so far, Cannistraci was my favourite by the end of Wes Barker's MC hour.