Yuk Yuk's: March 24, 2011

 Yuk Yuk's on Thursday night, house is three quarters full with a very subdued crowd.  The evening began slowly, but picked up as the night went on.  The comedians had to work exceptionally hard to get this crowd energized.


Bryan Hatt is the MC for the evening.  Hatt worked hard to 

Hatt

engage audience, but they just were not biting.  Hatt has a cheeky self depreciating comedy about being older, overweight, and single.  He got very chummy with "Spike", a gentleman in the front who was on a date.  Hatt eventually managed to endear himself with audience and received some solid laughs.


Opening performer was a local rising star, Peter Grunstra. Grunstra was faced with an unresponsive audience, and needed to dig in bring his "A" Game.  Grunstra 

Grunstra

did just that, and was by far the highlight of the show for this audience.  Grunstra immediately had the audience laughing at his witty observations about his appearance, then moving to comments on subject ranging from being a single guy,  to a proposed male version of Hooters.  Grunstra has a charming personality and a strong stage presence, making him truly fun to watch.

Josol

Headliner Ron Josol then took the stage. Josol is Asian-Canadian and describes himself as a rarity in the Canadian comedy scene, stating he is "like an onion ring found in your french fries".  Josol gets some big laughs, on his jokes about Culture shock, being raised by immigrant parents, asian stereotypes and parents with poor Engrish. 
Then the second half of his act deteriorated into old/predictable jokes about penis/sex, men are sex addicts/women are teases, men want sex/women want money.  The crowd enjoyed the jokes, but the momentum was lost in the room.  Josol then went on to discuss how hot chicks are bitches, which played well to many of the young single men.  
While this isn't necessarily JH5's type of comedy, it does appeal to others.  


This show receives a  What to Watch.  Bryan Hatt's jokes are solid, Gunstra was a crowd pleaser, and the first half of Josol's set was exceptionally good.  For this, we recommend you get out and see the show this weekend.  


Josh Hayward

JH5