It hearkens back to an era where a well-dressed host on a massive stage introduces a hodgepodge of acts, from plate spinners to elaborate dance numbers. The format made the transition from vaudeville to TV quite seamlessly, but nothing lasts forever; ask anyone under 50 about Ed Sullivan, or even Sonny and Cher.
Darrin Rose is counting on the format still appealing to today’s audiences — if only for three nights in three different cities.
“A proper, ole-timey variety show . . . something you don’t see anymore,” he says about his Fun Night Out, which will include dancers, magic and assorted standups.
Indeed, nostalgia factors into the standup comic’s decision to create a show whose concept predates the Internet. And Rose, who’ll serve as the show’s emcee, says much of his inspiration came from fond memories of growing up watching CHCH-TV’s Tiny Talent Time.
“But all the stuff I do,” he explains, “I do to help me do standup in front of great audiences.”
It’s a testament to the current state of standup where supply outweighs demand when a comic of Rose’s calibre goes to this kind of considerable effort — and expense — to get stage time and feed their art.
His role on TV’s Mr. D, his job hosting Match Game and his appearances on CBS’s Late Late Show and Just for Laughs make him the roster’s most recognizable act. And even though he’s had a few successful solo tours, he concedes that today’s entertainment landscape still means, “You can’t just do standup.” That’s a philosophy, he says, that’s foreign to many Canadian standup veterans who launched their careers during the boom days of the ’80s and ’90s.
“Because they were just so used to working five nights a week on the road,” say Rose, who worked in marketing before committing to comedy full-time in the early 2000s. “When I came up, that just wasn’t an option. To me, it just seems natural that you have to do a whole bunch of other stuff.”
But there’s no hint of bitterness in his voice as he recounts just missing standup’s salad days. Rather, the need to nurture and exploit several skill sets to thrive in comedy today seems to suit the easygoing and affable Rose, who also works as a TV writer.
The transition to emceeing a live production designed to attract a wide demographic should be equally smooth for the comic/actor, who possesses a coolness rare in standup: boys want to be him, men want to drink with him, women want to, you know, be with him.
Onstage, his meticulous attention to detail is evident in the polish of his delivery — and his shoes. “I figure if the audience sees the thought you put into what you’re wearing, they’ll assume you put the same amount into your performance,” he told the Star in 2014. He may well be the only TV game show host in history who, correctly, once used the word “superfluous” when talking to a contestant, managing to come across as smart minus the smarminess.
And while he grumbles about the “long list of headaches” of mounting this show, his baritone voice rises with excitement when explaining what will set it apart from what he describes as too many cynicism-fuelled standup shows. “(Standups) are supposed to be cool and above it and analytical,” he says, before mockingly adding, “Ooooh! Listen to my brilliant thoughts and appreciate my artistry.”
“You know what (Fun Night Out) is?” he asks rhetorically. “It’s really based on the idea of joy and fun. I want to get that sense of joy back.”
It’s an ambitious gamble, to be sure. But one of Rose’s recruits, Mysterion — a mentalist who prefers to also keep his real name a mystery — says the variety show’s tradition of many different, short performances is actually a boon for reaching today’s audience.
“People don’t have a long attention span anymore,” says the performer, adding that he and his partner Steffi channel the 1920s golden age of magic. “They’re used to things that are quick, fast. You’re looking at a meme for two seconds and then moving on.”
Clifton Stennett, whose Cadence Dance Academy is part of Fun Night Out, agrees. “It’s definitely the millennial way of thinking . . . they need to constantly be stimulated.”
At 35, Stennett was unfamiliar with the variety-show concept, adding that he’s never been enlisted “where urban dancers would open or close a show for (other acts).”
“But,” he says, “I know how to entertain and I know what people in our day and age want. I’m hoping to bring a different spin to Darrin’s show.”
Fun Night Out, with Darrin Rose, Graham Chittenden, Aisha Brown, Mysterion and more, plays Oshawa’s Regent Theatre on Feb. 9, Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre on Feb. 10 and London on Feb. 11. Ticket and info at ticketmaster.ca. Denis Grignon is a freelance writer and standup comic.
Fun Night Out, with Darrin Rose, Graham Chittenden, Aisha Brown, Mysterion and more, plays Oshawa’s Regent Theatre on Feb. 9, Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre on Feb. 10 and London on Feb. 11. Ticket and info at ticketmaster.ca. Denis Grignon is a freelance writer and standup comic.
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