Just for Laughs review: Ellie Kemper Gala

Ellie Kemper’s rise has been great to witness, from her role on The Office through to her breakout in Bridesmaids, to finally starring in her own show with Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Much of Kemper’s appeal comes from her sweetness and charm, a notion that was referenced and poked at repeatedly during her Just for Laughs Gala last night.

She sang a song early in her set that emphasized looking on the bright side of life, before eventually breaking down into a dark treatise about lying bloody and alone in the street after a car crash, a fun subversion of the relentlessly-chirpy characters she often portrays.

Kemper seemed to have less stage time than Sir Patrick Stewart did for his gala a few nights before, possibly to accommodate the sheer number of great guests on her bill. Somewhat surprisingly, Kemper’s gala included some of the edgiest comedians at the festival, which made for a fun, if jarring, tonal shift between acts.

Pete Holmes may be the male counterpart to Kemper’s upbeat persona, and he delivered a great bit about receiving a Dr. Seuss shirt as a gift (twice).

Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchor Michael Che had the best set of the night, which didn’t appear toned down for the gala crowd’s sensibilities in the least. Ruminating on how white women can take over and gentrify even the darkest corners of New York, he suggested sending them overseas to battle ISIS; “Syria used to be so sketchy, but now it’s pretty chill,” Che joked with his best Valley Girl impression.

Deborah DiGiovanni ran through a frantic, breathless set that touched on everything from paper clips to her fears of having to run when the apocalypse hits. The crowd loved her from the moment she took the stage, and was with her all the way through her set’s numerous unexpected turns. You can bet that DiGiovanni will have her own show at the fest next year.

Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch touched on his English ancestry, which led into a fairly accurate Alan Rickman impression as part of a Hogwarts class bit. Unfortunately, a silly bit involving three women studying before beginning to make out never went anywhere, and went on for much too long.

Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick bounced on to the stage with a ton of energy, and had the geeks in the crowd in the palm of his hand as he rattled off the logic flaws in Back to the Future.

Reggie Watts is not someone who benefits from a 10-minute set in a gala setting. His demented blend of voice-work, beat-boxing and singing takes a while to win a crowd over, especially for the uninitiated. Watts seemed to simply perplex the crowd more than anything (which was likely the goal).

Former The Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac delivered a fierce set focusing on race relations in the US, and how Cosby has forever ruined sweaters for him. If you missed it, you can listen to our podcast with Cenac here.

Margaret Cho, fresh off her own huge headlining show at Theatre Olympia earlier in the night, wrapped the gala up with a powerhouse set including her famous impressions of her Korean mother. In true Cho fashion, she ended her set by pulling down her pants to display her tattooed butt cheeks, making the tattooed faces move by jiggling her butt to the disbelieving crowd—one can only imagine what the geriatric Place des Arts ushers thought.

Overall, this was definitely a strong gala, even if Kemper seemed over-shadowed at times by the sheer amount of great acts on the bill.