A history of hilarity
THE LATEST JUST FOR LAUGHS TV SPECIAL marks three decades of progress – in terms of comedy, if not human development
The joy of having a comedy festival that has run 30 years, and has featured hundreds of wits delivering thousands of hours of shtick, is that the organizers of Just for Laughs have built up a library that can supply network television with an array of specials until the end of this millennium, and then some.
But unlike the majority of its specials that run on the tube — essentially highlights packages from its last edition — Just for Laughs 30th Anniversary: 30/30 Hindsight has a specific theme and must have required intensive research and editing. Not surprisingly, therefore, this two-hour special, airing Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CBC-TV, is probably the best and funniest TV show the JFL gang has produced.
George Stroumboulopoulos, whose star is fast rising both here and in the U.S., where he will be doing a CNN talk show this summer, serves as host of this spectacle. He begins on a solemn note, explaining that over the course of JFL’s 30 years, there has been no end to war or poverty. No flying cars or colonies on the moon, either. But on the bright side, Strombo points out that at least “we can Google” the aforementioned.
And so the first and possibly strongest segment of this special begins with our so-called technological advances in the last 30 years.
Fest veteran Andy Kindler discusses his own social-media creation, “Fritter,” ostensibly what one would be doing with one’s life if there were no Twitter.
The late and beloved Greg Giraldo fesses up to an addiction to texting, and prays that some techno-brainiac can invent a device that would allow him to actually talk to someone. Oh, someone did — apparently one Alexander Graham Bell, back in the late 1800s.
Glen Foster, better known as That Canadian Guy, laments the fact that he is “pissing away nanoseconds” every day of his life because his computer is just too damned slow. And what was so wrong with getting info on the rock tablets of yore? They were unbreakable. Today, we can store all worldly knowledge on a chip “that can be completely wiped out by a fridge magnet.”
Gary Gulman, a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, does a hysterical bit about the Discman. Gulman suggests that if one were to spot a human plugged into the device a few decades ago, one would assume said human was cool. But today, one would likely stop to ask the pluggedin human if they were OK.
The next theme is advances in terrorism and, as a consequence, security. Louis C.K. has no issue with security, except that he believes those who are subjected to the most scrutiny at airports are wheelchairbound seniors “with little Nosferatu hands who don’t even look good for infinity.”
He urges security officials to just let them “enjoy the last 10 seconds” of their lives without such aggressive procedures.
On the other hand, Maz Jobrani, an Iranian living in California, finds it amusing that praying imams were booted off a plane as potential terrorists. “They should really be more concerned about the guys trying to blend in too much.”
Leave it to the late and also beloved Patrice O’Neal to offer much- needed perspective. He advises the good burghers of Iowa not to get too worked up about terrorism: “Yeah, like they’re coming to blow up your Raisin Bran silo next.”
On issues of the economy, serial fest visitor Kathleen Madigan realizes things are completely falling apart when she gets a $427,000 mortgage loan and her occupation is listed as a children’s birthday clown.
David Feldman is aghast that Americans spend more on their cats and dogs than on the homeless. His solution? “Let’s make the homeless our pets. Then you can have a real German shepherd.”
A segment on the dumbing down of America leads off with this classic from yet another late and beloved comic philosopher, Bill Hicks: He ventures off to a waffle house in Nashville after a show, and while waiting for his food, he starts reading a book. Which draws the curiosity of his waitress: “Hey, what are you reading for?” Hicks is momen- tarily stumped by the question, before answering: “I guess I read for a lot of reasons, but the main one is so I don’t end up being a waffle waitress.” Cruel but fair.
Jon Stewart follows through with this assessment: “America is No. 1 in the world militarily, but No. 15 in terms of education. Smart bombs, stupid children.”
On the medical-advances front, Chris Rock is most pessimistic: “Can we cure AIDS? No, we can’t even cure athlete’s foot!”
On the racism front, Torian Hughes observes that white folks have taken to approaching him with this sort of comment: “You’re so damn cool that I forget you’re black.” His measured response: “Well, wait a minute. Let me marry your sister … ”
Want to really rile Aziz Ansari? Ask the Parks and Recreation star if he was psyched by the success of the film Slumdog Millionaire, just because he is of Indian ancestry, despite the fact he was born and raised in South Carolina. “Yeah,” he responds. “Just like every white person who is psyched by Jaws, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard — pretty much every film ever made except for Boyz N the Hood and Slumdog Millionaire.”
OK, so we haven’t necessarily made great strides in the last 30 years. But, hey, we have furnished our comics with abundant fodder to keep us giggling while we selfdestruct. Just for Laughs 30th Anniversary: 30/30 Hindsight airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CBC-TV.