One Just For Laughs veteran Andy Kindler and fan favourite who would likely get the call for the 40th anniversary edition is Andy Kindler.
Andy Kindler has been a festival regular since 1993. And for the past 28 years, Kindler has been regularly hosting two shows at the festival which have been quickly associated with him: the State of the Industry Address, an edgy, cutting look at the entertainment industry over the past 12 months from his own critical point of view; and the Alternative Comics Show, which has been a Midnight favourite for years. Although he won’t be delivering his wildly popular speech this year, Kindler will resume his hosting duties for the Alternative show, which will be taped live from Los Angeles, and then streamed on www.hahaha.com on July 29.
“The idea of doing just one show at the festival this year is perfect for me. I won’t have to touch the comics who will be performing. I’ll stay onstage and watch them, which will be a new experience for me,” said Kindler during a recent phone interview from his home in L.A. “This year’s show is going to be a true cavalcade of stars, but we’re going to keep it very loose. We’re going to have the heavy hitters on the line-up such as Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. It may not be the normal definition of what an alternative comic is, but I know one thing; except for me, every comic will kill that night.”
(Actually, comics Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, Patton Oswald, Laurie Kilmartin and several other yet to be named artists will be part of that show’s line-up).
Kindler admitted that the past 15 months of the COVID pandemic has been rough on him professionally and at home. But like many, he managed to cope with it quite admirably.
“It was all touch and go for me. But at least now there is light at the end of the tunnel. We don’t have Donald Trump around anymore, and the economy is slowly thriving,” he said. “I haven’t flown on a plane anywhere since March of 2020 and ended up being locked in my apartment with the wife. I don’t plan to go back to the way things were before the pandemic. In fact, I think I’ll do the Howard Hughes hermit thing, in which I will grow out my hair and nails, and collect jars of urine. As well, I plan to rinse off my groceries, dry them, and store them in a cryogenic freezer. I will never leave the house and touch any person. It will take me about five years to get over it.”
When that five year period is over, Kindler plans to return to performing stand-up in a world he believes that the Jerry Seinfeld style of observational comedy will survive.
“I can see myself getting calls from agents and clubs that will offer me a two-night gig in Lincoln, Nebraska for $12,” he said. “But if there is a Delta Variant, I’m going to pass.”
For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.hahaha.com.
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