from the Back of the Room

As I sit here watching Jay Leno’s final episode of the Tonight Show (with glee, for the record), I’m struck by how dramatically different the television landscape is now compared to when he took the show over in 1992.

…Read more of 13 Going on 30

The long weekend is behind us, and as we deal with the sudden reality of summer (well, not today if you’re in Toronto), thoughts inevitably turn to Just For Laughs. The Montreal edition is July 16-26, with the English programming filling out the bottom end of that.

But what about Just Comedy, the new-in-2008 industry conference? The event’s website, www.justcomedy.com, features the nearly-esoteric text “this website is no longer available”. And the only news we’ve gotten on the industry email list is about the Chicago edition. What gives?

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The one and only Andy Kindler sent Toronto alt-comedy geeks into a frenzy at the Comedy Bar last night, playing two sold out shows and satisfying anxious admirers who’ve waited all too long to see him back in Toronto.

The Friday late show featured an experience that was a first for Andy: a front-row fan donning a swank custom-made Kindler t-shirt, with his face on the front and the words “Kindler – suck it or die” on the back.

Between that, the reception he received from his fans (many of whom are attending multiple shows through the weekend), and the number of photos he posed for after the show, Andy seems to be something of a rock star. No word on whether he’s done lines off a naked hooker or trashed his hotel room yet, but considering last night’s post-show activity was going for ice cream sundaes, I don’t think this treatment has gone to his head yet.

Friday night’s audiences were also treated to surprise sets from Sean Cullen, Boyd Banks, and Pat Thornton (the show was hosted by Fraser Young). Andy has two more shows Saturday (where there’s expected to be a new custom t-shirt design being unveiled), and he will host the weekly sketch show Sunday Night Live the following evening at 9. For info and tickets (if any are left), visit the Comedy Bar website.

View the full photo gallery from Friday’s show on Flickr.

Thanks to the run being extended, I finally got to see Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me, playing at the Bleeker Street Theatre in New York. (Not lazy, just Canadian!)

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If you’re like me, happiness is sitting at your corporate day job and hearing your boss in the distance say “give this to (your name), it’s a comedy thing”. (It’s so nice to be understood!)

That’s how the May issue of Driven wound up in my cubicle, and I’m quite tickled about it. May is indeed a “comedy issue” — not a groundbreaking idea by any stretch (see also: Vanity Fair 2009, Rolling Stone 2008, GQ almost annually), but very impressive in execution.

…Read more of Comedy has Issues