Boston comics light up the night at Montreal festival
MONTREAL -- If you wanted to find the Boston comics at this city's Just for Laughs festival last week, all you had to do was follow the noise. The Delta Hotel is ground zero for the festival, the place where the industry types and comics stay and schmooze in the lobby and bar until the wee hours of the morning.
That's where Lenny Clarke, Tony V., D.J. Hazard, Fran Solomita, and Bobcat Goldthwait held court and relived old times. The Boston comics -- all veterans of the Ding Ho comedy club scene 25 years ago -- were in Montreal for a tribute to Boston comedy, including a screening of Solomita's film "When Stand Up Stood Out" and a midnight show at a sweltering club called the Kola Note.
Before the film began, the near-sellout crowd got a taste of Boston comedy. Clarke resumed his role as ringleader and mischief maker, heckling the blank screen with Tony V. and cracking on "Pauly Shore Is Dead," a surprise hit of the festival. Goldthwait (who was also showing his own film, "Windy City Heat") had never seen Solomita's film and hadn't seen the footage of himself. "It was a little bit like home movies," he said afterward.
For some comics, like first-timers Tony V. and D.J. Hazard, the festival was an opportunity to reach new audiences and be seen by people in the television and film industry. For Clarke, who has now logged five appearances at the Montreal festival, it was more a chance to catch up with friends. His sitcom "It's All Relative" was canceled, but Clarke already has another show with ABC in the works and cameos on friend Denis Leary's FX drama "Rescue Me" lined up.
He says he was perplexed by ABC's cancellation of the Boston-set "It's All Relative." "I said, `Why are you doing this?' " he recalled, standing outside the Kola Note before the live show. "They said, `Well, we really want to give you your own show.' I said, `Well, you know best.' "
Solomita hosted Clarke, Tony V., Hazard, Goldthwait, Eddie Brill, and Nick DiPaolo in less than perfect conditions. Aside from a few hecklers who picked up intensity as the night went on, the audience stayed with the show, even though there was no air conditioning and it was tough to see through the cigarette smoke in some corners. Clarke's fast talking killed ("I've been happily married eighteen years. Five different women, but I'm no quitter"), as did Hazard's abstract observations, Goldthwait's pop-culture skewering, and DiPaolo's brash style.
Boston comics were all over the festival schedule. John Pinette's one-man show, "I Say Nay Nay," added extra shows after selling out six dates. Jimmy Tingle, Dane Cook, Bill Burr, Greg Fitzsimmons, and Dwayne Perkins all played gala shows (the centerpieces of the festival, held at the 2,000-seat St. Denis Theatre) as well as other dates. At the Stupidity Awards, Tingle presented the prize for Lifetime Achievement to Saddam Hussein.
The biggest buzz was about Jon Fisch, a Boston native who now lives in New York City and landed a spot on the "New Faces" bill. The festival doesn't release the roster for these shows until the day of the performance, which is supposed to spark industry interest, and it seemed to work for Fisch. He says he is now being courted by agents and managers.
"It felt great," he said, looking haggard during a 3 a.m. interview in the Delta lobby. "I just didn't want to get overwhelmed. For me, the key is not to think about all those other things when I get out onstage. It can never show in front of the audience."
Brill, who also books comedic talent for David Letterman, thought Fisch was the most polished of the new comics but has a few kinks to work out. "His material is fresh and smart, but he still needs to take control of the stage," Brill said. "He needs to develop the poise that will make him stand out, and that will come with experience and confidence."
Wright stuff
Steven Wright's "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings" won the Oscar for best short film in 1989, but chances are you haven't seen it. Wright now offers "Appointments," his surreal Civil War short "One Soldier," and his HBO stand-up special on DVD on his website, stevenwright.com. . . . Wright, Leary, and Joe Rogan represent Boston on a new stand-up comedy compilation, "Hey, That's Funny: Comedy's Greatest Hits." CDs like this tend to focus on a single era or type of comedy, but this one runs the gamut, covering Monty Python, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, Ray Romano, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. 