Guy MacPherson addresses comedian Brad Garrett's Straight comments on Leno

In the Feb. 22nd edition of the Straight, comedy reviewer Guy MacPherson wrote a review of comedian Brad Garrett's show at River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond.

Garrett subsequently took the review with him to his appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, March 12th (episode 3323, season no. 15) and made comments about it. The clip was posted on YouTube but has since been taken down due to copyright infringement.

MacPherson pointed out some factual errors Garrett made in his comments. Here is MacPherson's clarification of Garrett's remarks:

Brad Garrett’s a funny guy. Really. His standup act, judging from his appearance at the River Rock Show Theatre, anyway, is awful, though. And I wrote as much in the Straight. Who knew that famous out-of-town artists even read our humble publication? Turns out they do.

Garrett appeared on NBC’s Tonight Show starring Jay Leno recently and talked about the horrible review I gave him. His version of events provided me with a firsthand lesson in show business:

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Other than the name of the paper, he got every other fact wrong.

I know, I know, they’re jokes. I’ve covered comedy for enough years to know that what a standup comic says on stage often has no basis in reality. "Take my wife...please!" works whether you’re married or not (in theory).

But in this case, he was speaking about a real event in an interview setting. Viewers, I’m sure, thought he was just peppering his true story with jokes; what he was actually doing was peppering his jokes with just a hint of truth.

So I thought I’d set the record straight:

* Garrett says the show in Richmond took place at an Indian casino, the type of venue comics of his stature perform at regularly throughout the United States. The River Rock, however, is not such a casino. Was he confused? Doubtful. It was an excuse to start in on his racially-based jokes. The story he told about native elders sitting in the first row was the same story he told on stage at the River Rock where, it should be pointed out, no such elders were sitting, in headdress or otherwise.

* When mentioning "The Georgia Straight", he says he thought it was a gay alternative paper (straight equals gay? does that even make sense?). On TV, he affected a stereotypical lispy voice explaining that, no, it’s a body of water. And the big payoff was that it was me who explained it to him! Ha, ha. The reviewer is gay so what the hell does he know about anything? Am I right, people?
Now the facts: I’ve certainly had American comics express confusion at the name of the paper. Bob Odenkirk, for example, thought I was calling from Georgia. So I can well believe that Garrett was as confused about the name as he was about the difference between Sikhs and Muslims or Chinese and Japanese.
Thing is, I never explained to him about the paper’s name. Or anything else, for that matter. I did meet him briefly before the show, but I was just a face in a line of meet-n-greeters. He had no idea who I was. Our exchange was limited to me asking him how the early show had gone and him replying, "Uh, interesting." That’s it. But clearly somebody told him that the Strait of Georgia was a body of water. It just wasn’t me. Oh, and for the record, like the paper, I’m straight, too. Not that there’s anything right with that.

* Garrett mentions the native elders walking out of the show and there only being a few people left in the front row. The 500-seat theatre was packed (and papered); I didn’t notice anyone walking out, as surprising as that was. We’re polite Canadians and enamoured of our celebrity comics, so everyone stayed put and offered polite laughter and applause. I can well imagine, however, that if an anonymous comic were to have done the same routine, he wouldn’t be extended the same good grace.

* Garrett talked about a flamboyantly gay man in the front row. There was no such guy. Sure, there was someone he labelled as gay throughout his show for the sake of his jokes, but the man, who was a great sport, stated he wasn’t. He wasn’t upset in the least. And he was dressed conservatively. No tucked-in hiking boots.
Of course, the punchline to this story was that said flamboyant homosexual was me, too! Big yuks. Fact is, I wasn’t anywhere near the middle or the front. And I don’t even own hiking boots.

* Finally, he implies that I’m upset that he makes fun of various groups. Not in the least. My comedy idol is Don Rickles. That should tell you something.

But those little details aside, I’d give his TV performance a much better review. And I think he was wise to use the review in order to show off the type of material he does on stage. As I wrote, Rickles has cultivated his persona for decades with those types of talk show appearances. Prior to Monday night, Garrett was thought of primarily as a G-rated sitcom actor.

Now at least before people shell out 60 bucks to see his standup act, they at least can make a more informed decision.

And if he ever comes back to Vancouver, I’d love to give him another chance.