Goldblum tests standup skills at Montreal’s Just For Laughs
TORONTO — Could a concert break out during a comedy show? Jeff Goldblum isn’t ruling it out.
“I think some of it will be spontaneous, but I think they’re writing me some peachy jokes ... I’ll try to put my best foot forward,” said the screen star ahead of his hosting gig at Just For Laughs in Montreal on Wednesday night.
“There might be a piano there, I might play a little.”
When he’s not working, Goldblum has a weekly engagement performing jazz at the Rockwell, a live music venue in Los Angeles.
“I play with four other very good guys, and then I do some talking, and sometimes it gets amusing,” said the 63-year-old actor, who describes himself as a “humble student” of music.
“I like to make a spectacle of myself,” Goldblum added, laughing. “It’s probably unwise, but I like it.”
Goldblum is currently starring in “Independence Day: Resurgence,” and is in preproduction for his upcoming role as Grandmaster in “Thor: Ragnarok.”
He has his share of TV credits, too, particularly in comedy, including an Emmy-nominated turn on “Will and Grace,” and more recent appearances on “Inside Amy Schumer” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” starring Ellie Kemper.
Goldblum had high praise for Schumer and Kemper and remarked on how “fantastically” women have been excelling in comedy of late.
“They’re certainly every bit as capable in every single area ... as men are, if not highly superior. And those particular women I’m crazy about,” he said of Schumer and Kemper.
“They’re not only wildly talented, but sweet as can be, and very, very nice and gracious. I loved it. I’d like to do more.”
The actor has high hopes for more work with Canadian David Cronenberg, who directed Goldblum in “The Fly,” which marks its 30th anniversary this year.
“I adore him and I would love to do something with him again,” said Goldblum. “He’s one of the wonderful, brave, artistic, original filmmakers.
“We were on the jury together some years ago at the Cannes Film Festival, and that was great. For two, three weeks we saw two to three movies a day together, and got to talk about them. That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.”