Well hellooo, Jerry! I first saw Jerry Seinfeld perform at Just For Laughs back in 1989. He was the first act for the Saturday night gala that was to air on HBO. His own brand of observational comedy won the audience over. And the timing couldn’t have been better; weeks later, NBC aired his four-episode limited series called “The Seinfeld Chronicles”, which morphed into “Seinfeld” the following year and by the time it ended its run in 1998, entered the pantheon of the greatest sitcoms in television history.
The next time I saw him perform at the festival was in 2017, when he was part of a twin bill at the Bell Centre with Gad Elmaleh, who was dubbed as “the Seinfeld of France”. His sitcom was thriving in reruns, and was five years into an 11-season run of his streaming series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”. He was decked out in a suit and tie instead of his customary blazer, shirt, jeans and sneakers ensemble, yet his stand-up material didn’t get old; in fact, it was still fresh, relevant, observational and funny.
Last night, Jerry Seinfeld returned to Just For Laughs for the first time in nine years with two sold-out shows at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts. He was still decked out in a suit and tie, but audiences still got the classic observational Seinfeld, but this time with a more curmudgeonly accent to it, especially that he is now married with a wife and three kids.
Fresh and of course, funny
His performance last night was reminiscent of what the late George Carlin did with the latter part of his comedy career. He returned to his roots as a stand-up comic, in which he constantly toured at theatres, college campuses, and clubs, released more albums and a string of cable TV stand-up specials right until shortly before his death in 2008. And his material didn’t rely on rehashing his famous routines. Instead, he performed new material that addressed the issues and concerns of the day, keeping Carlin current and relevant with each performance.
This is the model Seinfeld adopted, and the audience got the ultimate experience of witnessing a comic genius at work. He energetically shared about the things that thoroughly irritate him, and there was no shortage of things to share. Some of the topics he tackled included people taking too many photos with their cell phones; his favourite TV show, which is the late night infomercial (“you watch until your brain stops working and then realize the products look good”); golf (or “Get Out, Leave Family”); riding jet skis, family vacations (“when you pay a lot of money to fight with your family in a hotel”); coffee vs. tea; the reason behind almond milk; couples’ dinners; kitchen sponges; and toilet stalls.
Ramped up grumpiness
The material was fresh and relatable to an audience of this era, and was delivered with a great deal of ramped-up grumpiness that knows no age limits. And at the end of the show, Seinfeld gave an extra added attraction by doing a brief Q&A session with the audience, and he generously responded to questions such as his favorite “Seinfeld” moments (when George posed as a marine biologist, and when Susan died from licking too many wedding invitation envelopes that had a toxic adhesive to them), Montreal bagels, and the possibility of a “Seinfeld” reboot.
Seeing Jerry Seinfeld perform stand-up once again nearly 50 years since his start in comedy, you will relaize that he has definitely firmed up his reputation as one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time. And it’s quite a treat to see that he is showing no signs of slowing down.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, to any Just For Laughs show, go to hahaha.com.
