Photo ©Sharilyn Johnson, 2009. http://www.third-beat.com
Paul F. Tompkins @ The Rivoli, October 25th, 2009
By Meagan Snyder
It wouldn’t be presumptuous to say that Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Show, Best Week Ever, The Informant!) was wary of visiting Toronto prior to his two shows at The Rivoli on Sunday night. Back in September, Tompkins was irritated by customs officers and hecklers alike during a visit to Vancouver for the Global Comedy Fest. In Tompkins’ own words when guest-hosting Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Death Ray Radio at the beginning of October, “The audiences were a little different [from past years]. They were rude. [...] You’re led to believe that Canadian people by and large are polite. But you know who leads us to believe that? Canadian people. And what’s ruder than lying about being polite?” He admitted to Aukerman in a later episode that he wasn’t terribly enthused by the prospect of returning to the land of hockey, Tim Horton’s, and gay marriage (though I don’t think any of those specifically bothered him).
However, Tompkins had no choice in the matter: he had made an e-promise. When Toronto comedian Bob Kerr tweeted Tompkins in late July and asked him to perform here, Tompkins responded with a challenge: if Kerr could get 300 people to join a Facebook group declaring their desire to see Tompkins perform in Toronto, he would do just that. Kerr’s aptly named “I Wanna See Paul F. Tompkins in Toronto!” group reached 300 people by the first week of August.
Even more people actually turned out to see Tompkins’ two shows, and luckily made up an incredibly receptive and polite audience that (at least in the first show, which I attended) paid close attention to Tompkins’ every word — and it would be hard not to. It’s not hyperbole to describe Tompkins’ winding narrative style as captivating. Like a great storyteller, he made his audience feel like they were part of the process of the stories’ unfolding, not just experiencing the result — although he joked about the oddity of performing written material over and over as though the events had just occurred, Tompkins’ stage banter was nearly indistinguishable from his material. This isn’t because his material didn’t seem polished or cohesive, in fact it was quite the opposite, but because everything he did on stage was conversational and accessible while being incredibly smart and heartfelt. Oh, and funny. I laughed the hardest I have at any comedy show, ever.
During the first show (he performed different material at each), Tompkins discussed, among other things, dental hygiene, real estate, marijuana, and aging. The theme of growing older and growing up weaved throughout his narratives, culminating in a beautiful closing bit about his mother’s death that truly represented gallows humour at its finest. Tompkins has a new album and live special on deck, and if they capture half of what had Sunday’s audience so spellbound, it should make your holiday shopping very easy. His last album, Impersonal, released in 2007, is perhaps less cohesive than his newer material, though equally hilarious.
Bob Kerr hosted the show and performed two quick sets of short-form jokes. Kudos to Kerr for making the night happen, and also for managing to be funny while hosting a hero, which must not be an easy feat. Katie Crown also opened with a nice set of giddily-performed narrative-meets-absurd material.
Thankfully, Toronto may have brightened Tompkins’ view of Canada. He seemed to enjoy himself on stage a great deal, and confirmed it afterwards via the medium that started it all — a Twitter: “O Canada! Thank you to everyone who came out to The Rivoli last night. One of the best nights of my career, truly. What fantastic audiences. [...] It was amazing to stand on that stage.” The feeling is mutual — Toronto would be very lucky to be revisited by Paul F. Tompkins in the future. Plus, now you have one fewer reason to feel guilty about the time you spend on Twitter, which may be the real hero here. Oh, Twitter.
Note: Thank you to Sharilyn Johnson for the photograph. Check out her amazing photography and writing about all things comedy here.
his last album was freak wharf