Top comedians gather for Canadian Yuck Fest

By Ane Howard

MONTREAL (Hollywood Today) 7/18/08 — If there ever was any questions about Craig Ferguson’s true alliance, all was laid to rest at tonight’s gala performance of the 26^th instalment of the Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival, known as the biggest two-week comedy show in the world. One reason why is bits like Ferguson’s over-the-top hymn of love to Sean Connery and all things Sean, i.e. Scotland, on live television, quenched the thirst of the most inquiring mind.

Then there was Ferguson’s dismissal of Daniel Craig, as an overwaxed “gay dolphin,” who could never compete with the unapologetic masculinity of Sean, and his boreal forest of chest hair, and Ferguson’s sudden display of a heart stopping red bra.

Bob Arno’s virtuoso performance was also a heart thumper. With a switch from crime to comedy, “pickpocket” Arno has gone straight but, be forewarned, he’s nobody’s straight man. He delivered a hilarious routine that left the audience running for cover, and double-checking its pockets.

Elvira Kurt never slept with Ferguson, despite his buoyant assertion, as he brought her on stage. She came out dressed, as she put it as “a tiny gay businessman.” She gave a scathing dissection of relationships when they reach that point when neither party knows enough to leave one alone.

Craig Robinson of ‘The Office” fame, on keyboard and on cue, seems to exemplify this tendency, by parlaying a single line “take your panties off, into a riotous session of audience participation. As Robinson told Hollywood Today, “The Office made all of this possible. I was here ten years ago and now, I’m playing to sold out crowd. TV does wonders,” he concludes.

Enough about fame because more importantly, there’s “something wrong” with Bruce Bruce’s butt, as the double first name named comedian shared with the audience. This was in no way the doing of Craig Ferguson, but rather, the outcome of a “rubber gloved” session with a doctor who single-handled crushed Bruce’s slack jaw expectation, that his prostate could be accessed through his mouth.

Back to Scotland with Craig Hill, a whirling dervish Scott in a “kilt de Queer,” madly lip-synching Madonna that brought “sexy back.

Wrapping up the evening, Ferguson, who has been able to beat late night time slot opponent Conan O’Brien for stretches, commandeered a Busby and Berkeley extravaganza complete with “Drinking in the Rain”, bagpipers moving down the aisles, the Loch Ness Monster waving the national color, Ferguson’s personal rendition of ‘Fuck all the English” to the tune of “We are the champions.” Sheer insanity, sheer fun.

The Montreal fest, billed as the largest of its kind, ran June 27 to July 20.

Craig, wear a dress if you’d like. After all, you’re in Canada now.

Donald McGrath contributed to this report.