Various Stand-Up Comics – Best of Montreal Comedy

Best of Montreal Comedy
Various comics
Stand-up comedy CD
Independent release
click pic for info

The Best of Montreal Comedy Album was recorded at the Comedy Works. The title is a bit … wrong as this stand-up comedy CD does not feature the very best of Montreal stand-ups. The title comes from the name of the show, a showcase of 9 different young up-and-comers on the Montreal stand-up comedy scene and a bonus track featuring another comic. If you want to discover a comic before everyone except his mother, this CD is a good bet.

The comics here are Dan Bingham, Jeff Schouela, Daniel Tirado, David Heti, Ryan Wilner, Ali Hassan, Mike Paterson, Andrew Searles, Christophe Davidson, and the bonus comic is Steven Levesque. Each set is more or less 8 minutes. These are local comics playing to a smallish local audience so there are many, many references an outsider audience will not get.

The most familiar comic here is Mike Paterson who is not at all an up-and-comer. His routine is standard comedy club fare and Paterson oversells it. This guy is usually better.

Dan Bingham is a good comic. His material is mostly autobiographical / observational. He has a solid if not innovative set. This is something thatcan be said about many of the comics here.

Jeff Schouela does what comics visiting Montreal often do to ingratiate themselves to the local audience and begins by complimenting the ladies. His straight people parade bit is original. The rest of his set is good.

Daniel Tirado is a Spanish-Polish comic who tries too hard and ends up being generic. Some seasoning should give him his own style.

David Heti is a very good, dark and nihilist comic. He really takes the crowd by surprise. This guy is original and the best on this CD.

Ryan Wilner, Ali Hassan, Andrew Searles, and Christophe Davidson are all okay. Basically, they are good opening acts whose material suffers from being back to back on this stand-up comedy CD.

Christophe Davidson is pretty decent but his rapid-fire delivery masks somewhat weak material.

The Best of Montreal Comedy Album makes for fun listening.

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