Full Frontal Comedy

2 comedy acts coming to Montreal not be missed

I'll never forget the first time I saw stand-up comedian Kenny Robinson. I was with my mom. At the time she worked for a contracting company whose regional manager was part of a comedy duo called Stone and Cruise. My mom's boss was an opening act for Robinson. He warned us before the show started, describing Robinson's comedy as “blue,” an old expression that meant that Robinson was as dirty as they come. The old folks used to call adult films “blue movies.” I didn't quite know what to expect, but my mom and I wanted to see the show. Her boss was great, sketch comedy, silly songs about prophylactics, pretty standard stuff.

Then out came the headliner, Kenny Robinson. I laughed myself silly, but wanted to crawl under the table as my mom, scandalized, brought a hand to her mouth, her jaw dropping lower with every one of Robinson's jokes. “Blue” doesn't quite describe his show. Think full-frontal comedy, his routine punctuated throughout with as many variations of the F-bomb you can think of, and sexual situations that have every young woman in the crowd blushing, and doubling over with laughter.

As soon as the lights came up I made a mad dash for the door, waiting for my mother outside. That was 20 years ago. Robinson's been back to Montreal many times since then, and he's back again this weekend. He's one of the most talented comics in Canada, and he's headlining Ernie Butler's Comedy Nest tonight, Friday, and Saturday.

Comedy Dummied Down

Otto Petersen may not be the best ventriloquist in world; you can see his lips move. Edgar Bergen's lips used to move, too. But that didn't make him any less of a pioneer in ventriloquism. As many ventriloquists do, Bergen left the wit to his puppets, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Likewise, Petersen prefers to let George unleash on the crowd.

Bergen, McCarthy & Snerd were naughty for their time. But Otto & George are downright dirty. Dirty, but funny. Dummy George Dudley is Petersen's mouthpiece, getting away with the stuff that Otto probably couldn't say if he were a solo act. I'd seen Otto & George (YouTube) as part of the Just For Laughs Festival's Nasty Show some years ago, and never forgot them. It's hard to say where Otto ends and where George begins. Maybe George is Otto's inner New York cab driver. Petersen hails from Staten Island. He found George in New York's legendary Louis Tannen's Magic Store. That was 1974. They've been assaulting audiences all over the world ever since, and they're about to unleash once again on Montreal. This is considered a special event. Otto & George will play The Comedy Works September 30-October 2.

Kenny Robinson

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