By: Steve Dool
Algonquin students got the opportunity to forget about exams and have some laughs when Yuk Yuk’s took over the Observatory in October.
Veteran comedian Chris Locke opened for headline act Graham Kay in an extremely well-timed comedy night.
The two comedians arrived in Ottawa from Toronto after a chaotic bus trip that according to Kay, involved an hour layover because one of the passengers decided to do heroin in the bathroom of the bus and got caught.
By the time Locke took the stage, the Observatory was packed and left with standing room only.
“I didn’t graduate college and look at me, I am going to eat fries after,” said Locke, in an interesting, laugh filled half-hour set that included a lot of college humour and crowd interaction.
“How many free drinks do I get?” said Locke. “One hundred,” replied someone from the crowd.
“Well I am staying at the Travel Lodge please report me in the morning because I am going to be dead,” said Locke.
Headline act Graham Kay has performed stand-up all over North America and was the only Canadian selected to perform at the 2010 Magners International Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Scotland.
He has shared the stage with and opened for some of the biggest names in comedy including Tom Green, Sarah Silverman, Jim Gaffigan, Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari.
In an interview with the Algonquin Times Kay said his biggest accomplishment is that he has become financially solvent by telling dick jokes.
Kay said he even had the opportunity to open for one of his childhood heroes – Dave Chappelle.
At the time Kay was playing at the now closed Boston Comedy Club and Chappelle showed up because he heard it was closing down and asked if he could host the show.
“He introduced me and then when I was done he went on stage and said some nice things, then he took me aside in the green room and we chatted for 10 minutes or so,” said Kay.
“People say don’t meet your heroes but he was everything I expected he would be.”
When Kay took over the microphone the crowd was warmed up and ready for more. His jokes ranged from taking shots at himself to taking shots at social norms.
“Homophobic people always say the same thing. I don’t care if they’re gay I just don’t want them hitting on me, are you kidding me? It’s the best part of my day,” said Kay.
“You guys can’t say the word retarded but I can because my only sibling is mentally handicapped. Your allowed to say retarded if you had a birthday party and your brother shit in the pool,” said Kay.
At several points during his performance he had the Observatory roaring with laughter and was bang on target with most of his jokes.
Audience member Zach Metzger said he was laughing so hard he was crying at some points during Kay’s set.
“Graham was really funny I would recommend seeing him,” said Metzger.
“I haven’t seen a lot of comedy but it was a really funny show, I was laughing the whole time,” said music industry arts student Dustin Vete.