The Sanderson Centre became a place of laughter, inappropriate jokes, and overall rowdiness as comedian Howie Mandel took the stage in front of a full house last week.
The main theme of the evening was poking fun at Brantford and everything the city offers – or rather, how little the city has to offer.
“I don’t know where I am,” Mandel started. “But we went through 725 fucking Tim Horton’s just to get here!”
After impatiently waiting for half an hour for Mandel to begin his act, the audience was thrilled that he launched straight into making fun of their hometown.
“We were wandering around downtown Brantford today looking at the beautiful skyscrapers,” Mandel said with a laugh. “There’s no-one on the streets here, I seriously thought it was condemned!” said Mandel.
“I actually like this town though, I’m not even lying,” Mandel promised. “I’m a big Gretzky fan and I use the telephone!”
Of course, no comedy show is complete without drunken hecklers trying to throw the comedian off his game. Mandel, being an old pro however, was able to handle the disorderly audience members with ease. One particular woman in the front row could not refrain from obnoxiously yelling rude comments throughout the show.
“I’m sorry,” Mandel said after the woman’s fourth outburst. “Was there 10 percent off tonight’s event if you had Tourette’s or something?” causing the audience to clap and cheer as he silenced the woman. “This is my first time in Brantford, but you must be the town slut,” he grinned.
By far the most hilarious part of Mandel’s act was the interaction he had with the audience. Howie targeted a woman named Karen in the front row and asked if her husband had a good sense of humour. After hearing Karen say that her husband decided to stay home tonight instead of coming to the comedy show, Howie demanded the woman’s phone so he could call her husband himself. The audience waited with nervous anticipation as Howie dialed the number and held the phone up to the microphone so everyone could hear. After ringing several times, the answering machine picked up.
“This is Howie Mandel calling on behalf of your wife Karen. The show ended 10 minutes ago, but she wanted to stay later so she could blow the crew,” Howie said into the phone as the audience exploded into laughter. “Now we’ll see if he has a sense of humour!” Howie yelled as he snapped the phone shut.
After a few more lewd jokes, and some anecdotes about his family, Mandel suddenly fell silent and stared at the audience in disbelief. “You know what?” said Mandel. “I had a real act planned, and then I met you people.”
The audience cheered, clapped and even chanted his name appreciatively as Mandel finally waved goodnight and left the stage.
Howie Mandel’s next stop is this Saturday at The Colosseum at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario, where he’ll hopefully make fun of the residents of Windsor as much as he made fun of those in Brantford.
