Just for Laughs 2014 – Broad City and guests livened up a stiff TV taping

As a show, Broad City succeeds due to the the natural chemistry between its two co-stars, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer. Much of the show’s humour is derived from their believable friendship and seemingly off-the-cuff remarks, which made Broad City Live such an exciting proposition – would they be able to capture the show’s manic energy in a live setting?

Set up as hosts for a Talk of the Fest TV taping, the duo was really only given a smitten of time on-stage, much of which was spent reading teleprompter intros for the slew of guests. This is the nature of these tapings, which also involve occasional re-shoots and pick-ups, which really destroy any illusion of spontaneity, and zap most of the energy in the room. Still, Jacobson and Glazer’s enthusiasm and charisma are hard to deny. Their self-anointed “Badass Bitch List” perfectly illustrated the dichotomy behind the duo’s appeal – while Jacobson’s list included “Filling out my eyebrows,” Glazer’s included “Confronting my attacker.” The duo even took a stab at impressions with their series of “Micro-Impressions,” 1-2 second imitations for the ADD-generation that included such Canadian rock royalty as Alanis Morissette and the Barenaked Ladies.

For the most part, the myriad of guests were strong. UK stand-up Luisa Omielan delivered an exuberant set centered on her positive body-image message, that resonated immediately with the largely female crowd (she even got a “You go girl!”) Omielan is best known for her hit one-woman show What Would Beyonce Do?, which runs through July 26 at Theatre Ste-Catherine.

Saturday Night Live‘s Vanessa Bayer was a surprise guest, and ran through a great set, dropping in her famed Miley Cyrus and Jacob the Bar-Mitzvah Boy impressions, as well as an extended bit about her imaginary casting as Ross’s girlfriend on Friends, including spot-on impressions of the entire cast.

Unfortunately, not all the guests were as suited to the crowd’s sensibilities. Orny Adams, of the new Teen Wolf  show, was greeted with jeers and boos during his set of misogynist material, including a prolonged bit about how girlfriends only beat you down. A woman in the crowd was finally fed up enough to yell out “Maybe you’re the problem!”, which prompted the loudest applause of the entire night. When Adams decided to take the bait and asked “And what do YOU do?”, the heckler proudly replied with “I’m a standup comedian!” Ouch. How an aggressively woman-baiting guest like Adams ended up on pro-feminist bill is a mystery, but the awkward interchange provided one of the few memorable, unscripted moments of the night.

You can catch Luisa Omielan‘s What Would Beyonce Do? show through July 26 @ Theatre Sainte-Catherine, 264 Rue Sainte-Catherine Est @ 7:00pm. Tickets are available here.