Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan drew comparisons between the Canadian Indigenous experience and Ireland’s history of colonialism and institutionalized abuse, but his routine was not well received at Just for Laughs.
“Maybe mainstream comedy has become so degenerate that a showcase of humour derived from all that’s putrid and vile doesn’t make sense anymore. That or my polluted millennial mind has spent so much time in the gutter that nothing fazes me.”
We spoke to the Daily Show correspondent, actor and standup comic ahead of his upcoming Just for Laughs Gala hosting gig.
“As a comedian, you desperately want to be liked, but it’s okay for people to be offended and to not like it. I mean, there are those who turn it off and say, ‘That’s a bit much for me and I don’t like it,’ but to say, ‘I don’t think anyone should be allowed to hear that,’ those are two different things.”
“An hour and a half of wide-ranging, often rapid-fire humour that had me doubled over in laughter nearly without pause. Do whatever you can to get tickets and thank me later.”
JFL President Bruce Hills spoke to us about the festival’s mammoth impact on stand-up comedy and the careers of comedy stars, just ahead of its 40th anniversary edition.
From the choice of stations to the timing of the free weekend project, the city’s plan doesn’t gel with its supposed goal of encouraging transit use.
“Charging people to take public transit during the era of the climate emergency is stupid, particularly given that we should be trying to incentivize people by whatever means necessary to stop driving their cars.”
“A Toronto university has demonstrated that it’s possible to shed unsavoury historical baggage by changing its name. I don’t normally recommend following Toronto’s example, but McGill would be wise to do the same.”
“Robert Silverman had two goals: to make cycling seem like a normal urban activity, and to encourage the city to develop infrastructure to support a growing number of people using cycling as their primary means of conveyance. Either of these tasks was an uphill battle. Doing both simultaneously was Silverman’s life work.”
