Yuk Yuk's Comedy Recap/Review February 24, 2011

It is Thursday night, and Yuk-Yuk's on Elgin Street is sold out to a crowd of quiet, subdued people. About half of the crowd was there for a fundraising event for Ugandan children. The other half were there for two-for-one student night, making the audience a diverse mix.
The host is local favorite Trevor Thompson


Thompson starts off by apologizing for tonights performance, because he is feeling really sick, but promises he will do to his best not to hack and wheeze all over the audience. He succeeds, and manages to get through his rant about Glebe hippies complete with Axel Rose impression without breaking his voice and with high energy,  Unfortunately this crowd remained quiet, not giving any energy back. 


Next up is local talent David Rotenberg


To be more specific, next up is Rabbi David Rotenberg.  Rotenberg managed to get some genuine laughs out of the crowd, but many of his jokes, being mostly about the cultural differences between Jews and non-Jews barely solicited polite chuckles, which was most unfortunate, because Rotenberg's material was not just funny, but also very intelligent. His bit about being wished a "Happy Heineken" by a store cashier was original, well written, and received a loud guffaw from myself.  Yet the audience remained quiet.


Next to take the stage is Ugandan-Canadian Arthur Simeon


It seems that Simeon is the person the crowd is here to see, making sense of the fundraiser for Ugandan children. Simeon has a charming stage persona, and spends a great deal of time interacting directly with audience members.  He makes fun of African stereotypes, and flirts with the ladies. Although  the energy of this crowd was generally low, they responded much more favorably to Simeon than to the first two performers. The energy rises slightly in the room, but still not at the peak it could be.


The headliner tonight is Ian Sirota


Sirota is a veteran on the Canadian comedy scene.  He attempts to keep the audience energy up and flowing. He does this with a shotgun approach, adding a little bit of everything to see what received a reaction, including being poor, married a long time, Canadians liking beer and hockey etc.  The jokes are well written, but the topics are ones that are covered by a plethora of other comics.  They might play well to some audiences, but this audience was not biting.


If you are looking to get your laugh on this weekend, head down to Yuk-Yuk's and check out these very funny gentelmen. and bring your energy, they deserve better than they received tonight. And when doing a fundraiser, no matter how sad or serious the topic, bring your laugh to the club!  Simeon is also headlining the Yuk Yuk's Prescott location.  Tomorrow brings another day for everyone to bounce back to a great audience this weekend.  Reservations to both locations:  236-LAFF (5233)


cheers
Josh Hayward