JFL Toronto Review: Patti Harrison
Filed under: Reviews, Festivals
Tonight I had the absolute joy of seeing Ava Val and Patti Harrison share a stage, and it was so good the only adjective I have left after leaving the theatre is bananas. It was bananas good. A great big hand o' bananas.
It used to be Ava was a Toronto treat, but in the last couple of years she's been spreading her wings and playing across the country and around the world. If you ever get a chance to see Ava perform, you're in store for one of the most physical and engaged comedians you could ever experience. There's an eagerness in her energy you can't fake, and she keeps you in stitches while pulling some of the most bonkers moves in heels on stage. I never have a bad time when I see her, and tonight continued that streak and lubricated the audience for the headliner, Patti Harrison.
I had never seen Patti Harrison perform live, only knowing her from her work on television. Having thoroughly enjoyed her on Shrill and I Think You Should Leave, I was excited to see what she was going to bring, and I was not disappointed. Anti-humour is a type of comedy that's been around for a long time, with Steve Martin pioneering the form, its flowering with the alt scene in the 90s. But right now, we're seeing a new generation of comedians bring it to greater heights, and Patti is one of those playing with format, content, and delivery, redefining what it means to be funny.
The structure of the show was very loose. She framed it in a believable conceit that the world is s*** right now, which is scary, and this is how she's dealing with it in a Bo Burnham Outside kind of way. BUT, as her explanation dragged on, it felt increasingly performative. She was hitting all the performative allyship buzz words, saying all the right things to make you think this was either earnest or utter bulls***, and then she pulls the rug out from under you. Her delivery is so perfectly paced, so crass and cuddly at the same time, it throws you entirely off balance, leaving you punch drunk the entire show.
The toolset of comedy has grown. Martin brought a banjo, wearing a fake arrow through his head. Demetri Martin had his sketch pad and guitar, then Zach Galerfernakis brought his two ferns and a piano. Patti has embraced the weaponization of Power Point and the use of a curated playlist. Taking the tool of the middle-aged businessman and honing it into a sharpened shiv of digitized sarcasm, she slices through the audience like – as she may describe in her show – a sharpened debit card. The show is crass, vulgar, and biting, which I mean in the most complimentary of ways. I will not spoil it – if you have an opportunity to see her perform, do it. You will not be disappointed.
Tags: Patti Harrison, Ava Val, Anti-Humour, JFL Toronto, Just for Laughs
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