Just for Laughs review: Michael Ian Black and Nick Thune joined forces for an unlikely double bill

Michael Ian Black and Nick Thune
La Chapelle Theatre
July 23, 2018

On paper this double-header seemed like an unlikely match, but it turns out that Nick Thune and Michael Ian Black are real-life friends who have a great chemistry together. Opening the show as a duo, the highlight of the night was the relaxed banter between the two, mostly consisting of some modest ribbing.

Following a coin toss to decide who would close the show, Nick Thune ended up going first, and delivered a hilariously strange set that featured his quirky ruminations about basic things (the number 3 for some reason), fatherhood, and some quick songs on acoustic guitar that sounded like more esoteric versions of the classic SNL Adam Sandler ditties.

Michael Ian Black (The State, Wet Hot American Summer) then closed the show with a long story about eating at Subway that was also meant to illustrate the breakdown of American culture — not an easy feat, but if anyone can get a crowd invested in a fast food meal, it’s Michael Ian Black. Never one to hide his political opinions, Black also kept going back to a woman in the front row who worked in PR for the Trump administration, trying his best to get her to eke out any details of the inner workings of the chaos at The White House, or her thoughts on representing Trump.

The only real downside to the show was its modest length — with just an hour between the two comics, there was a lot of anxious phone grabbing throughout both sets to see how much time they had left. Hopefully if the pair return to the festival they can get a longer time slot to really get to play off each one another’s off-kilter brand of comedy.