Stage/Comedy

What: LMFAO presents Gregg Rogell and Kenny Robinson
When: Sun., Jan. 14
Where: Comedy Bar Danforth, 2800 Danforth Ave.
Vibe: A secret stand-up comedy show that was maybe a bit too secret
Highlight: Kenny Robinson judging the size of nana’s butt in the front row
Rating: NNN (out of 5)
Next: Kenny Robinson’s Nubian Show, Sat., Jan. 28, 8:30 pm; LMFAO details TBD

YOU KNOW a comedy show isn’t going well when you can hear the HVAC turning on and off.

To be fair, it’s not that surprising that a late-show crowd on a bitterly cold Sunday evening in January would be mostly empty. It’s a shame, though, because on stage are two all-star stand-up comedians, either one of whom could have headlined across the country any time of year. Seeing both on the same night is a real gem of an opportunity, but it’s even more rare to see them play in a mostly empty room.

Hosted by Toronto’s Patrick Haye, veteran comics Gregg Rogell and Kenny Robinson are each taping specials for the brand-new LMFAO platform, about which very little is yet known. A producer tells me after the show that more information is coming soon; for now, the details about each of these specials — 10 in total, all recorded at Comedy Bar’s new Danforth venue — are being kept “top secret,” according to Comedy Bar’s website.

Whenever it comes out, though, it’s unlikely that it’ll use much material from this taping. Better to use footage from the earlier show these two headliners have already taped, which Robinson tells me afterward had a better turnout.

Haye does an admirable job warming up the sparsely populated audience, doing relationship-focused material and delving into Tom Brady and Gisele’s 2022 divorce, a reference that might be getting close to its best-before date by now. Haye then disappears off stage to bring out Long Island’s Gregg Rogell for the first of two to-be-recorded specials.

Rogell, a touring club comic who’s also a regular at Comedy Cellar in New York City, is immediately recognizable from U.S. television appearances going back to the early 2000s, featuring on shows like Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show and even an appearance in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats.

With his signature deadpan delivery, Rogell is a class above. Unfortunately for him, his lower energy, along with misanthropic, occasionally morbid material isn’t the best fit for this sleepy crowd — literally, in one case, as a gentleman in the front row, who had been extremely talkative at first, buries his head in his arm on the table and seems to take a quick power nap while Rogell is performing.

Rogell mercifully exits and Haye returns to bring out a legend of the Canadian comedy scene, Kenny Robinson.

Robinson, originally from Edmonton, has been Toronto-based since 1983 and host of the all-BIPOC Nubian Show at Yuk Yuk’s since 1995, a regular showcase that’s helped launch the careers of many big names in Canadian comedy, including JUNO-nominated Zabrina Douglas.

Robinson comes out in a tailored three-piece suit, looking every bit the big star that he is. He wakes up the crowd with his energy, though he opens with racial material that makes the mostly white audience squirm. Still, he gets the evening’s only applause break with a bit about how he wasn’t offended by Justin Trudeau’s brownface — Trudeau gave him $2,000 a month during the pandemic, so he’ll call those reparations.

He closes with some X-rated material about sex when you’re over 65, graphically describing “sex with nana” — which leads to the evening’s only substantial bit of crowd work, where an actual nana in the crowd stands up for Robinson to judge the size of her butt — as well as the lengths he’ll go to please his much younger girlfriend.

Despite the quiet crowd, Robinson, while holding court after the show, says they were “loving,” and it’s true. Despite being small, the crowd was enthusiastic — even the gentleman who briefly fell asleep in the front row, since he was eager to try having a conversation with each performer as they were on stage (when he was conscious).

You can hardly blame the quality of the talent on stage for it, but it’s unlikely that the footage of this show will ever make the air on whatever LMFAO ends up being. Still, look forward to seeing these two big stars on that platform (presumably with footage from their earlier shows) whenever it comes out.