[ATTENDED: September 1, 2022] Kurtis Conner
My daughter (and apparently my son, too) loves Kurtis Conner. They kept saying his name as if I had heard of him. I had no idea who he was at all. Turns out he is a YouTuber with a billion fans.
My daughter tells me that they Holy Trinity is Kurtis Conner. Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden (whom he has toured with in the past). But without doubt, Conner (whose name is so simple and yet sound confoundedly hard to spell correctly with that K and the e) sits on top.
So what could Conner possibly do if he has made his career based on commenting on YouTube videos (or something). And, I wondered aloud to both of my kids if I would enjoy this gig or not know what he was talking about. I decided not to watch anything before hand s that I would have no expectations whatsoever.
So I glad I didn’t read this review beforehand
A big aspect of Conner’s set was integrating some of his classic jokes from his videos into his in-person stand-up punchlines. Of course he did it flawlessly, and I — along with everyone in the theater — loved it. Because prior knowledge of his jokes is needed, though, many of his references wouldn’t be understood by someone who didn’t watch Conner’s YouTube.
I have to say, aside from a few times when he said a line or catchphrase that people applauded (and I had no idea why), there was nothing about his show that I didn’t get. And, best of all, I thought he was really funny.
There was a long build up for Kurtis to come on–a funny introduction which I believe has something to do with his video stuff.
I was surprised that the sort of framing device for the set was the pandemic. We are still in it, he pointed out, even though you guys (the United States–Conner is Canadian) were over it long before anyone else. He made some excellent jokes about anti-vaxxers and had a lengthy metaphor imagining bears being anti-hibernation. He had thought that joke out in great detail and it worked from start to finish. “the main difference is when bears were hibernating, there weren’t a bunch of other idiot bears just standing outside all of our dens screaming about how the winter is a hoax.”
He said that during the pandemic, he got into classic rock. He said he loved the riffs and the solos, but the lyrics…? “Have you guys ever listened to the lyrics of classic rock songs? Do yourself a favor and do not. Just live your life in blissful ignorance,”
He said he wrote down the lyrics of songs and then pulled a small red book. And put on reading glasses (the one joke that would have worked better if we were closer). He read the lyrics to “Stray Cat Blues” by the Rolling Stones.
I can see that you’re 15 years old. No, I don’t want your ID, and I can see that you’re so far from home
The audience responded with “No!” in-between bouts of laughter. And that’s when I realized that I loved Kurtis Conner. That he was calling out sexism–outstanding!
He proceeded to read the lyrics to “Christine Sixteen” by Kiss (which is the first Kiss song that I liked–of course I was 13 at the time, so it was okay for me–not for Gene Simmons to write the lyrics).
And then “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon.” I loved how upset the crowd was by the lyrics.
I love that he says he asked his mom what the deal was back then. Why were these lyrics acceptable? “It was a different time.” It was a time when pedophilia was cool?
He had a lengthy story at the end of the set in which he talked about meeting his girlfriend for the first time [he has recently married her, awwww]. It was an extended story and began with the first date when he went to her apartment for the first time. Her roommates were big pot smokers. ANd he was not. I got a huge kick out of the way he described the evening. He didn’t smoke pot, but he felt like he should in this case.
I had five beers and one weed.
Then he described how he woke up in his house and didn’t remember what happened. When his girlfriend called him and explained what happened, it was horrifying and hilarious. But the fact that she was still with him (and now married him) was the sweet topping to the story.
Apparently he has written songs for YouTube. He implied that he’d be singing a song, but he didn’t exactly. Rather, her delivered one liners over a song he “downloaded off of YouTube” that he said he’d never heard before. The one liners were pretty funny and the song eventually devolved into a song with interruptions making fun of all kinds of things.
When I was reading another review, this person wrote about his bad language in the set
YouTube enforces strict guidelines on its creators and doesn’t allow monetization on videos that feature cursing … It was shocking to hear Conner curse and describe his experiences with alcohol and marijuana consumption. His YouTube content usually focuses on comical reviews of strange movies and trends.
So that’s kind of a funny insight into the show. I wasn’t really surprised that he cursed so much. It was a stand up show and he is Canadian (they are more free with the curses generally speaking). But I didn’t find it distracting. It just felt natural and conversational. And hilarious.
I really enjoyed his set a lot and would certainly see him again. I’ve also watched some of his videos since the show and really enjoyed them. He’s funny and has a good message under it all.
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