Yuk queen

>> Jennifer Seguin's comedy hits the spot

by CHRIS BARRY

Hitting the town for a night of live comedy these days can be a risky business. For every burgeoning Lenny Bruce you may be lucky enough to stumble across, there are 10,000 local office clowns and Carrottop wannabes who think their generic fart jokes somehow transcend into first-class nightclub entertainment. It can be downright painful.

Going against this trend is Jennifer Seguin, a local actress/comedian who, several nights a week, does her thing with the On the Spot improv troupe over at Comedy Works on Bishop Street. This month, Seguin is up for an award in the Best Female Improvisational Performer category at the Canadian Comedy Awards, and is scheduled to work with Ben Affleck in the upcoming film, Sum of all Fears. The only Montrealer to have been nominated for an award in the Toronto-centric award show, Jennifer has a couple of theories as to the degeneration of comedy in recent years.

"Because it's relatively cheap, live comedy has begun to attract a younger, big drinking crowd who come out with the intention to party," notes the bubbly 34-year-old Concordia theatre school graduate. "And you know, it's our job to make people laugh, so a lot of comedians simply cater to this mentality. I suppose it doesn't always inspire the most thoughtful work."

The dumbing-down of audiences has also meant there is less appreciation for irony or skits that could be perceived as politically incorrect. "If you do a skit about being a Nazi, people take it literally and immediately start asking, 'How could you be saying such disgusting things?' instead of recognizing that I'm parodying this character in an attempt to show how vile I think they are. It can be a little disconcerting."

Fortunately for Jennifer and the On the Spot troupe, a good chunk of their audience knows what to expect from them. She claims they haven't been forced to water-down their comedy all that much.

So if she beats out the Second City people and wins the prestigious award, will this Dollard girl leave our fair city for the seemingly greener pastures of L.A. or Toronto? "No way," she states categorically. "I love it here. Besides, I'd have to take a pay cut. All things considered, I have it pretty good in Montreal."