Montreal 2002 Coverage

SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2002, 12:05 PM

NOTE: By Monday, July 22, SHECKYmagazine.com will have posted four updates. Cycle through all of the updates by clicking on the links in the upper right corner or in the center of the navigation bar at the bottom of each page. Thanks!

MONTREAL--We uploaded the update at the usual place and, as we did, we were set upon by a variety of folks passing by. Marc Maron hung briefly and we tried to retrieve his email, but it was fraught with difficulty. The laptop crashed and we re-booted. While we waited for the re-boot, Frank Santorelli ambled by, body-surfing on a wave of Australian media and hangers-on. He was at the front of a pack of notables that included Big Pussy and Baccala (otherwise known as Vincent Pastore and Steven Schirripa). It seems the Sopranos boys are in town shooting a docu for the boys down under and appearing on the Hugh Fink And Enemies show July 20 at Club Soda. Santorelli, you may recall, is the bouncer dude in a couple of episodes of the acclaimed HBO series whose most notable line is "Fifty bucks and a blow job later on." We know Frank from many late nights spent in comedy outposts in the Boston market (the real live comedy market, not the chain of soggy food purveyors) in the Golden Years of Boston Standup (roughly 1985 to 1992).

We dined at l'Etranger on St. Catherine's and headed back to the Delta to eat and drink on the Hollywood Reporter's tab. They threw a bash on the open-air terrace at the rear of the hotel. We arrived, quite coincidentally, just as the doors were flung open and we treated ourselves to a free Labatt's. As I procured round two, and as I was maybe two steps from the bar and saying "Hey!" to Robert Dubac (who was only a coupla yards away at the buffet table), I slammed into (blindsided, really) one Monique Moss, publicist to the stars. A heaping helping of beer and white wine (hers!) slopped onto her top, soaking her TO THE BONE!!. Whaddya say? I apologized. Profusely. Apparently not profusely enough, as I was berated by Ms. Moss ("You know, you should always keep an eye directly ahead in the direction... blah, blah, blah, squawk, squawk, buzz, bizz...") Dubac gamely tried to defuse the situation. "Hey! A wet T-shirt contest...You're the first winner!" Thanks for the effort, Bob. It was to no avail. I skittered away with what was left of my Bleue while Ms. Moss complained loudly to anyone who would listen. Where's the payoff in yelling at someone who dumps something on you? It's a festival... let it go! Like Traci says: "Hey, I don't care if Budd Friedman puts a cigar hole in my favorite blazer. I'm gonna blow it off like it never happened! 'This old rag? It's nothing! Really!'"


		Throngs eating free food, drinking free booze at the Hollywood Reporter party on le Terasse du Jardin at the Delta

		Left to right: DAVE ATTELL, Bruce Smith, Unidentified, T. SEAN SHANNON at the Hollywood Reporter party at the Delta

		Kid not in hall SCOTT THOMPSON, comic LEA DELARIA and Terry Danuser (Comedy Channel) patiently post for pic at the CBC bash

The "Raw Data!"

New Faces: Dave Anthony, Johnathan Corbett, John Evans, Kyle Grooms, Dan Antopolski, Jamie Denbo, Charles Grandy, Martha Kelly, Daniel Kinno, Todd Lynn, Lenny Marcus, Tammy Pescatelli, Rick Kunkler, Al Madrigal, Finesse Mitchell, John Priest, Owen Smith, Greg Warren, Damond Tschritter, Katt Williams.

There you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, our 2002 New Faces! These folks are put on two shows a night in Kola Note over two nights. These folks will be scrutinezed by Industry types and they will be hyped as the next big thing in the entertainment business. Or will they?

There seems to be a change in the air at this year's festival. Hollywood Reporter, in an article entitled "Just For Laughs Not All About Fun" said the following:

"While the long-running New Faces show will once again feature younger and unknown comics ready to be discovered, Just For Laughs is this year introducing a headliner series, featuring such veterans of the funny business as Richard Jeni, John Pinette, Adam Ferrara, Kathleen Madigan and Mike McDonald.

"'We really wanted to create this show for more veteran performers because TV network executives still tend to look for people with 10 years plus experience when they sign someone for sitcoms,' (JFL Big Cheese Bruce) Hills said. 'They are looking for comics with more distinct voices, and we are giving talent a chance to show off that voice.' "This addition to the lineup shows how open the festival organizers are to industry needs and marks a change in what has sometimes been criticized as a festival 'focused too much on young and youthful performers' one comedy insider said."

There does indeed seem to be a change, a shift. There are shows that feature comics with experience. Shows with names like "Headliners and "The Masters." The latter show is described thusly: "They are the fearless, the ageless. They are bulletproof, they are craftsmen and they are the ultimate entertainers, forged in the fires of real-world clubs and audiences. They are the Masters." Kinda sends chills down your spine, doesn't it? It's about fucking time. And here's another hot one for you: We're taking credit. What they hell. Nobody will give us credit so we'll take it. See below for our argument...

"Credit Grab"

We here at SHECKYmagazine.com invite you to take 45 seconds or so to read the following excerpt from Editor Brian McKim's August 2000 column, written just a few days after that year's festival:

"The Festival's rise to prominence closely mirrors the rise of standup comedy as a cultural phenomenon. Standup comedy became big business somewhere along the line. Some folks peg it at about 1989 or 90. Roseanne's series debuted in 1988. There followed a parade of experienced standup comics at the head of series: Seinfeld, Brett Butler, Tim Allen, Lenny Clarke, Kevin Meaney, Ellen Degeneres and a few others I'm leaving out. SNL started hiring more from the ranks of standup comedy. Standup was seen, legitimately, as a path to entertainment success. But somewhere along the line the whole thing got all turned around.

"Now Hollywood execs fly to another country to sit in a smoky cafe to see standup done by people who haven't been performing more than 700 days. And the average age of said performers hovers around 26 or so. Does this make any sense, considering the average age of the Seinfelds, Barrs or Allens when they were signed to do a series?

"There was a time when standup was simply about being funny. It was about being funny and experienced and competent when whipping a room full of people into a frenzy. But that isn't the point any more.

"So what exactly is the point? And why do people get all fired up about New Faces? Is there a hunger in Hollywood for inexperienced 20-somethings who have the ability to mimic a standup comic for seven minutes?"

And, in his August 2001 column, McKim wrote the following in a rant focused on a Variety article entitled "10 Comics to Watch":

...I guess the point is that Hollywood's insatiable hunger for people who don't resemble veteran standup comics has grown even greater in the last twelve months. They're determined to re-define what is funny; and they'll shun traditional yardsticks and they'll shun the time-honored experts (the people) in the process.

And all the while, the people who make the biggest noise at this standup Festival are "unknowns" like Ron White and Bill Engvall and Mitch Hedberg. (Note: the word "unknowns" is in quotes!) But the urgent mission is to "determine who or what is funny."

It's foolish to try to re-define funny. Because, after all, we all know that funny is funny. Right?

Fear not, gentle readers. For though we also take the blame for killing the Comedy Central Midnight Breakfast party (after we made unkind comments in this publication, the party ceased), we have vowed that, from this day forward, we will use our power only for good and not for evil.


		Comic ALEX HOUSE lends a limb to comic JOE STARR while agent Peter Rosegarten contributes an arm at the CBC bash

		Funny Bone Grande Fromage David Carlow with comic JULIE STERN and Chicago Comedy Festival CEO DAN CARLSON

		Boston Comedy Festival poobahs John Tobin and Jim McCue wearing matching prison jumpsuits and displaying their glass penises

CBC Bash!

We attended the CBC party at the Delta, "celebrating 50 years of quality broadcasting" or something like that. They promised great piles of smoked meat and they delivered! The house lights were way up as the network was doing live remotes right from the party floor! They interviewed, among others, Sean Cullen and McGill grad and current Hollywood hotshot comic/writer John Rogers. The joint was crawling with celebs and industry minutes after the 11 PM start. Among those doing the crawl were Robert Schimmel, Denis Leary and Howie Mandel whose unorthodox taste in clothing didn't disappoint. (On the subject of Mandel's outfit, Editor Brian McKim remarked that "He looks like he's starring in Fahrenheit 451--The Musical!")

GROUSING #1: What is up with the tiny type on the badges? The design of our badges changes from year to year (we suspect that it's to prevent fraud). An inspecton of The Incredible Boris' extensive collection of badges from the last few years revealed that 2000's badge was the best in terms of readability-- 15- or 16-pt. type with no squinting needed! This year? If it's 11pts, I'll eat my hat! NOT good for schmoozing!

FESTIVAL TIP #1: Drink lots of water! Nothing will dehydrate you faster than hanging out and drinking in an UN-air conditioned hotel in July!

GROUSING #2: Just a mild grouse, really. The music they've been pumping through the house lately is some sort of techno drone music, which I suppose is cool, but all you can hear is the bass... a steady thump thump thump at about 150 beats per minute (we timed it). After a while, it alters your circulatory system, it scrambles your brain and causes odd behavior... or is it the Labatts?

Around Town...

Evening at Eve's Tavern (The Spectrum): Jann Arden, Judith Lucy, Amy Borkowsky, Kathleen Madigan, Margaret Smith, Dame Sybille and Janeane Garofalo

Lotto Quebec Gala (Theatre St. Denis): Howie Mandel hosted the Gala featuring Elon Gold, John Wing, David Alan Grier, Harland Williams, John Moloney, Elivra Kurt, Tracy Morgan and Jeremy Hotz.

Headliners (Cafe Campus): Chris Bliss, Lea Delaria, hosted by David John McCarthey

Masters (Kola Note): Royale Watkins, Sunda Croonquist, Greg Behrendt, Melanie Comarcho, Mario Joyner, Marc Maron and Ron White.

Sunday is getaway day, so we're not really sure if we'll post an update on Sunday evening late, or on Monday morning. Stay tuned in either event and we will upload our update that will contain a recounting of the events of Saturday, featuring the State of the Industry Address and other fun stuff (including the basketball game between Industry and Talent)! Thanks!


		NICE SHIRT: Comic LOUIS RAMEY corrects us, "It's not the Mudflap Girl-- It's EVIL Mudflap Girl!" (Note the forked tail and horns in blowup!)

		SHECKYmagazine.com Editor BRIAN MCKIM with (Top) the kid from Undeclared and (Bottom) comic BRIAN BALDINGER

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