I love comedy. It’s one of the ways that I personally love to relax. If I have nothing to do, or I’m programming for DrunkInAGraveyard.com, I drift off by popping on a comedy album (especially if it’s an old George Carlin), and just chuckle to my cats and no one in particular.
Part of it comes from the fact that when I was a young and very depressed teen, one of the only three things that made me feel like I was still a person was laughing at comedy specials with my Dad, getting slammed around in the pit at a concert, or when I was having the living fuck scared out of me by a horror film. I’m a lot older now, and way less depressed, but I still give credit to those three things for bringing me into who I am now. The acerbic and dark self deprecating humor of George Carlin echoed my own views of the world and helped to shape my own version of comedy which is reflected in this website and more so in our podcast.
Last night was the local and (inaugural) comedy fest in Kamloops, and I figured I should come on here to give some props where props are due. Now, I’m very familiar with Brian Posehn, I interviewed him at the Housecore Horror Festival in 2014 in Austin Texas, and I’m a big fan of his particular brand of comedy (also he’s kinda hot, so I dunno what that tells you about me, but I’m INTO IT). Before you click the link – the interview is pretty short, and I was intensely intoxicated while it occurred. But I guess that’s the name of the game over here at Drunk in a Graveyard. Despite my familiarity with Brian Posehn, I had not heard of the other comics playing with him at the comedy fest, but I bought a ticket anyways, because I don’t know if any of you fuckers know what it’s like to live in small town podunk Kamloops where not much of anything happens. You gotta support the stuff we do get, vote with your dollars, so it keeps happening. So take note Kamloops, because I’m sick of us getting dope shows and then looking out over the crowd and the attendance sucks.
Anyways, for the first year of the comedy fest in Kamloops, I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I have to say that I was definitely pleasantly surprised. The show opened with BC comedian Ed Hill who delivered a Russell Peters like brand of racially based comedy, and had a good formula for setting up his jokes. He lacked a little in the story time area which is where I personally like a lot of my jokes to be set up, but for opening the show he was pretty strong and I was engaged immediately.
Vancouver based Ed Hill
I don’t typically attend shows as simply a member of the public as I typically work them in some capacity, so this was a special experience for me to sit back and just enjoy without having to stress about my camera or my recorder, or my interview or whatever.
The second comedian was Simon King and boy did he just come right out, take a deep breath and go into a rant. Now, I love a good rant. I really do. And the rant that Simon went off on was one about the difference between good looking and beautiful and I felt that moment to be very reminiscent of when I was younger and found my views reflected in the comedy specials that I was watching. George Carlin once wrote that “art is politics” and that’s very true. That seemed to be a bit of the theme of the show as well, not typically political comedians riffing on the current political climate – which is fucked.
Simon King
Simon King really delivered one fuck of a rant to the audience and at points looked like he needed a hug or a nap or some alcohol or all three simultaneously. He reminded me of late 1990s/early 2000s aggressive male comics, and I really liked it. His opening was somewhat short so I’m interested to pursue more of his material.
The next comedian was Derek Sheen, and he came out on a similar rant, based around hating Seattle, gentrification, taking antidepressants and loving pink wine. Now, Derek Sheen’s comedy lined up more with my own personal tastes, very self deprecating, that “Sad Clown” meets party animal type of comedy and I personally loved his extended bits about love, romance, his wife, and relationship observations. I’ve been married for twelve years and I appreciate when people really have the same concepts that I do about being with someone for an extended period of time, which is very different from lust/romance driven pieces of comedy. I enjoyed his observation on mental illness as well, because not everyone is super comfortable talking about either depression or anti-depressant use, and that’s something that normalizes the oft stigmatized mental illness dialogue. I work within the mental health system and offer my sincerest gratitude to Derek for being open with this piece. Derek’s delivery is a combination of dry and intense, and I found myself laughing loud and often during his set. Almost all of his jokes got a laugh out of me, and his piece in particular on pink boxed wine had me almost pissing myself. From one pink wine obsessed wino to another – I got you boo. I’m honestly surprised that Derek’s stuff isn’t in my comedy lexicon and I’m glad that it is now.
Derek Sheen
Derek led right into Brian Posehn, and when Brian walked out, I immediately went – “holy shit, there is less of him!”, and then I just wondered if I was mega high or what was happening there, but indeed, Brian stated he has lost 70lbs in the past 2 years, which, holy shit dude, good for you! Brian was rocking a hot nerdy daddy look with a jean jacket and Alien shirt (unf). Now, Brian’s comedy doesn’t really deviate from his brand of storytelling with longer set ups, delivering constantly on black humor, self deprecation, being gross and being a nerd. I relate a lot to his comedy as someone who is gross and got immense shit given to me in high school. Brian riffs pretty perfectly on what it’s like to be an aging nerd and his bit on finding Marissa Tomei to be hot as Aunt May was pretty golden. I was just talking about this on the podcast and it’s so true! Also, can we please get a Spiderman movie where it doesn’t retell his origin story for the 300th time. Jesus fucking Christ, we get it.
As with all comedy shows, two hecklers insisted on yelling out during the show, and I don’t know why people do this. First of all, you aren’t funny. It’s stupid and ignorant to do this and especially the two last night. Brian’s final bit contained some “offensive” words, and of course someone had to scream this out, without letting him deliver his bit. Like… okay, chill out and let the man speak. I mean, all that aside, Brian handled both like a champ.
I really want you fuckers to go catch Brian Posehn on tour if you can, and if you get the chance, Ed Hill, Simon King and Derek Sheen are putting out some pretty fucking prime comedy so go support these guys – pink wine don’t buy itself, after all.
Thanks to Kamloops Comedy Fest for a nice night out! Go support these dope comedians!
Ed Hill:
KingEdHill.com
Ed Hill on facebook
Ed Hill on twitter
Simon King:
ThisIsSimonKing.com
Simon King on facebook
Simon King on twitter
Derek Sheen:
DerekTime.com
Derek Sheen on facebook
Derek Sheen on twitter
Brian Posehn:
BrianPosehn.com
Brian Posehn on facebook
Brian Posehn on twitter
You can find Robin on twitter wishing she was funny.