Darren Frost Comedy show

Nathaniel Christopher 5 Comments

I’ve had the best weekend in months, perhaps years, thanks to my dear friend Dolly Iris who never fails to impress and improve me.

As you know, good reader, I spent last weekend in Nanaimo visiting her. So, this week her and her boyfriend decided to have a nice weekend out here. I always have a good time with them, but this weekend my friends really out did themselves.

Darren Frost promotional image.

She suggested we go to a comedy show which was labelled as “Very offensive”, “triple X rated”, and “don’t bring your mother” by the comedy show. Dolly knew we had to see him. The headliner’s name is Darren Frost and I thought he was pretty funny. You might know him as the Listerine Man.

When we arrived at the venue we noticed this poster plastered everywhere:

Notice posted on Darren Frost’s show.

In my circle of friends we frequently tell some pretty raunchy stories. We don’t balk at much so when we heard about this heavily X-rated comedian we knew we had to go. But frankly, I thought all those warnings were just overkill. I didn’t find him all that offensive. He definitely swore a lot, made a few sex jokes and flirted with black comedy but I can’t say I found any of his material to be shocking or offensive. He was, however, a compelling comedian who succeeded in lifting my spirits.

As a part of his act he’ll label someone in the audience as “fucky”. He’ll call some random person “fucky” and gently roast them throughout the course of his performance, ocassionally throwing out a “hey fucky?” or what have you.

“Fucky” happened to be a guy who begged for that moniker. It was this ultra-American military guy who sat up at the front row with his girlfriend. He had a military haircut and this aura of supreme arrogance.  I got an evil thrill every time Darren made a joke at his expense.

Although he was not just a cheap joke machine. He actually delved into serious topics from time to time, making a few profound points in doing so. One thing he commented on was how some people get so offended by his work that they’d go to the trouble of writing a series of nasty letters to him or threating him with violence for words he said. He touched on the power of words and the insanity of how people will react to them with violence or threats of violence.

I thought the posters and warnings were excessive. I often hear how Vancouver’s supposedly progressive city, but in some ways I think we’re very uptight. I assume that Vancouverites are pretty open to potty-mouth jokes about sex and other dirty things. God knows his comedy act would be considered tame compared to the regular conversations I have with friends.  I think it’d help if I put up those warning posters at any place I visit. heh

Although he swore a lot and was raunchy at times, he didn’t really cross any boundaries. So many comics at that club make homophobic, racist, ablist (mocking people with a disability), and sexist jokes for cheap laughs. As a gay man in that setting it can quickly turn a night of fun into a rather hostile, scary environment.  But I guess that’s the point of comedy – to offend and so forth. But I think if they are going to put up excessive warning signs for Darren then they should do the same for those fucking redneck comedians who use their routine to trash oppressed minorities.

I don’t feel as though Darren made any cheap shots. He was vulgar, but he was also witty, cutting and perceptive.  And I guess his brand of comedy hits a chord with a lot of people because he’s got a very impressive portfolio of comedy, acting and so forth.

I may not bring my mother to one of his performance but I might ask my grandmother to see it in person or send her his DVD. I’ll take bets with my friends to see how many minutes she’ll watch it before turning it off in disgust. I think she’d open it, read the back and not even watch it, but she’d definitely leave it on the table as a conversation piece.

So, I guess I’d like to let Darren know that there are MANY people in Vancouver who’d find his comedy fucking hilarious. We’re not all a bunch of prudes who groan at the F bomb.

I am a resident of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada who has blogged here for 20 years. I like to share my thoughts and feelings on my own online space. From 1998 until 2017 I worked as a journalist and I hope to use this website as an archive for all of my stories.

5 Comments

  1. The comedian you refer to is Darcy Michael, and he’s absolutely hilarious. I’ve seen him many times and think he’s one of the best acts in town.

  2. I was at the show and frankly I thought Darren was the worst on the show.

    his ‘jokes’ aren’t offensive and are poorly written/delivered.

    it seemed like he was so desperate to be controversial that he didn’t care if the jokes were all that funny.

    By the way – I’m really surprised you wrote this whole piece without mentioning the gay comedian on the show – I can’t remember his name but I think he might be the best gay comedian i’ve ever seen. do you know his name? and how come no love for him? not gay enough?

  3. hey nathaniel

    I agree that the warnings were a bit harsh on the show but you have to remember that this was a traditional comedy club and when you have had the trouble I have had in the past they want to cover their ass.

    It is too bad that you could not hear my material that is gay specific but would have went over the heads of the crowd that night. I do quite a bit of pro gay material but alas drunks sometimes don’t want to hear it.

    thanks for coming out to the show and I will link this to my blog at comedywhore.com

    cheers

    darren

Leave a Reply to not-a-fan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *