We have all passed by the Orpheum in downtown Vancouver. Although, many like myself, have never gone in, unless you are a fan of the symphony. Today I would get my chance as we had tickets for the Andrew Schultz comedy special in Vancouver. Four sets across two back to back days. We were the first of the first, and I believe we got him at his freshest.
Rumour has it that this, his “The Life Tour” is part of his new and upcoming Netflix special. So who knows we in the crowd, may be coming to the streaming platform near you.
But first first venue. The Orpheum is a spectacular hall with several floors, all visible from the central court with opulent crystal chandeliers, embroidered tapestries, and painted mosaics. The detail the architecture is amazing and you really get the history of the building. Surrounded in the auditorium with all this beauty, it really elevates any performer on the stage.
We were seated at the upper balcony, and got our tickets at under $70 each. And honestly, the distance you are from the stage doesn’t really matter for a comedy show; unless you want to be part of the experience and have the performer calling on you from the front two rows.
We had a great view and could still see all the gesturing and hand talking of all 3 comedians that would hit the stage. As well as take in the expressions and reactions of all those around us. Being at the right centre of this large gathered crowd really helped to take in all the laughter.
We cleverly chose our seats by the isle for quick and easy washroom breaks. In truth, each individual aisle is narrow and the seats are small and uncomfortable, with very little to no legroom. However, my at aisle adjacent seat, I was able to kick my legs out onto the stairs during the show. Going forward I will only be purchasing tickets for isle seating, and recommending others to do the same.
As for drinks, there are several bars you can order from. Each hosting a collection of beers, coolers and wine. Coolers are the best deal: two cans for $10. Whereas a 5oz pour of wine into a plastic cup goes for $12 each. We started off with the house cabernet sauvignon, then had raspberry flavoured White Claw, followed by raspberry flavoured Nude canned sodas. Enough sipping to loosen us up and get smiles going from start of the set to the end.
The show is named “Life” as each comedian speaks to theirs. In hindsight, it could have been titled “Relationships”, because although they spoke to their lives, majority of their anecdotes surrounded their wives. How they came to be through the proposal, the wedding and life after marriage, as well as trying to conceive.
The show had a good flow as the themed tied each performer to one another and their experiences flowed sequentially. Plus all three comedians shared the same energy. And for each, there was nothing that was off the table from race to religion to ethnicity. This show is definitely not for the “woke” crowd, or for those were easily offended. And given the comments made and the ages of the comics themselves: in their 40s and beyond, this is definitely designed for an older crowd. The term “gay” was used in terms of an opinion. The word “retarded” was whispered to diagnose a patient. Weight and obesity were tackled in a less than complementary light. There was also repeated references to “cumming on her back”. And more risky comments included “rounding up the Jews”.
However, no one seem to really take offence as they knew what type of show this was. The audience gave energy, and Andrew Schultz returned it and volumes. Testing the waters, and allowing jokes to only get more embolden.
Our first act numbered his jokes: 1, 2, and 3; we all giggled at the quirky move. He began with learning that he was bald recently, then ended with how he took his time to proposed to his wife out of spite.
Mark Gagnon was the second act, a familiar face for Andrew Schulz’s fans, as he has toured internationally, opening for Schulz’s last tour. Gagnon spoke to marrying his child sweetheart from high school and the flak he gets about not engaging in a stint of casual sex before. He jokes about how causal his sex is, how great he is in bed given how many more orgasms he has had compared to his wife, and the money that is to be made through sperm donations.
And then our headliner came on. For those unfamiliar, this is his bio as taken from his website in advertisement of “The Life Tour”.
“Andrew Cameron Schulz is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. In addition to his stand-up, he is known for his work on MTV2’s Guy Code and its two spinoffs, the Flagrant podcast with Akaash Singh, and The Brilliant Idiots podcast. Schulz’s first Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, premiered on December 17, 2020. As an actor, he has appeared in IFC’s Benders and the Amazon original series Sneaky Pete.”
He was great at knowing his crowd and had done his homework. He made many relevant geographical jokes and got the loudest city specific cheers from the audience. There were jabs at Surrey, but Maple Ridge took the largest hits. He even spoke to our housing crisis with whites moving to Surrey to colonize, and allowing Mexicans to take over the building of homes to give the Italians a break.
And when we moved into his troubles of conceiving with his wife, his relatability and vulnerability tugged at heart strings. He found ways to solicit admiration, garnering a handful of supportive and loving “awwww’s”. Although as a whole his was comedy catered for men with footnotes that women can appreciate. I honestly was not laughing as much as my partner was. But overall it was a funny set and a great 1.5 hours.
