Canadian comedy icon entertains Guelph
Brent Butt—creator and star of Corner Gas—left hundreds laughing at Guelph’s River Run Centre on Thurs, Oct. 27. With each joke in his set, Butt’s conversational style transformed the large space into a more intimate setting.
Opening for Butt was Jamie Hutchinson, whose material was filled to the brim with Canadiana as he told jokes about hockey, ice fishing, and Maritimers. Although Hutchinson didn’t hit his stride with the audience, he did receive perhaps the politest and quietest heckle in the history of comedy: “You’re funny,” said without a hint of sarcasm.
The audience seemed to snap out of their haze of polite theatre-goer-esque laughter as soon as Butt walked onto the stage; making it clear that the venue was filled with fans.
Having performed stand-up comedy for over 28 years, it should come as no surprise that Butt’s material was delivered with the utmost ease.
And yet, it was surprising!
Once he started interacting with the audience it became increasingly difficult to tell whether he was performing any rehearsed material or if he had somehow planned the conversations he was having with the audience. He obviously hadn’t, but his improvisation was so quick, witty, and natural that for a moment it seemed possible that he had asked an audience member to shout out, “The Ranch,” or chatted with the 13- and 18-year-old siblings in the front row before the show.
Butt’s material did not seek to be political or to provide commentary on important issues. Rather, his comedy was a highly accessible exploration of the everyday made silly through simple incongruity. His performance kept going back to the theme of “then and now” as he made observations about airplanes, allergies, and aging.
While the “I remember when…” or “Back when…” approach made the set appeal more to an older audience, it may well be that Butt concentrated on these jokes because the audience at the River Run Centre was, with a few exceptions, older and therefore more likely to respond to his jokes about physical exams.
The performance also benefited from Butt’s concise and dynamic act-outs that were accentuated with well-placed sound effects. The combination punched out laughs like a well-oiled machine.
As Butt wrapped up his set, it was clear that the audience had enjoyed their evening of comedy. A quick scan of the space showed only warm smiles bundling up to walk into the cold night.
Photo by Dana Bellamy.