We’ve seen him on Saturday Night Live and followed his career trajectory in over 30 really bad motion pictures (anyone remember Rat Race?), but not many of us have thought of Jon Lovitz as a standup comedian, never mind a piano-playing, singing one-man show comedy act.
In his recent performance at the Alix Goolden Hall, Lovitz won over a modest crowd with a standup act he’s only had a few years to master since getting into live comedy later in life (his beginnings were in writing for TV and film, then acting).
Focusing on the age-old topics of religion and political correctness, Lovitz pulled no punches in the converted church at Victoria’s Music Conservatory. (It’s funny how a lot of performers at the hall comment on it being a church, even though it’s no longer a functional place of worship. Once a church, always a church, I guess.)
Blasphemous as his act was, Lovitz holds this likeable quality that rises above his womanizing, self-defacing, hate-everyone-equally persona. We know he’s joking and we know he’s got a big heart, and that helps us to laugh along with him as he sings songs that tease his friends about being gay, when they’re not. One number, about fellow comedian Bob Saget, was titled “Gay Bob” and was sung to the tune of “Hey Jude.” Pretty funny, but you had to be there and get the full context.
Lovitz didn’t dig into his bag of Saturday Night Live tricks, most of which have been forgotten with time, but he did spend a lot of time talking about his Jewish-ness (“I’m not a Jew, I’m Jew-ish,” he joked) and his love of women (his alleged and X-rated run-in with the Octomom had the crowd howling).
Lovitz didn’t wear out his welcome on stage, although a lengthy section about religion was a bit of a yawner, and he ended the show strong with his piano numbers. His surprisingly strong voice carried goofy tunes roasting his friends and marvelling over the hilarity of certain sexual acts.
In the end, Lovitz left the Alix Goolden stage haven given a different kind of sermon. The kind that preaches that everyone should stop taking themselves so seriously and start spending more time inside of Octomom’s huge vagina. There’s lots to explore up in there.