JUST FOR LAUGHS
Where: The Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Friday, Nov. 24, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $67.50 from the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121) or rmts.bc.ca
When comedian Roy Wood Jr. walked away from The Daily Show in October, after eight years as a correspondent on the longest-running program on Comedy Central, he purposely left the door slightly ajar.
Wood’s intention was to leave it half-open, with the potential to one day return as host. Comedy Central took that as being half-shut, announcing in October that The Daily Show’s new season — and first in first in eight years without longtime host, Trevor Noah — would continue to feature a rotating cast of guest hosts.
Wood, 44, was not included on the list, despite guest-hosting four episodes in April and receiving very positive reviews for his work. In short, he was out.
Leaving on his own accord was always a risky proposition for the New York City native, but he was comfortable with the notion. Many comics would have stayed, taken the paycheque, and continued apace on the high-profile comedy and news program, which has won 24 primetime Emmy Awards. Wood isn’t sure that broadcast television is the future, where comedy is concerned.
“Any comedian who is not working on being present in multiple spaces at the same time is rolling the dice on their own longevity,” Wood said.
“Being able to have an hour [comedy] special is still an honour, and it’s still worthwhile. But also have the flexibility to put a couple of jokes on TikTok. You’d be surprised. Some of that stuff gets more views than the polished stuff.”
Wood is making his Victoria debut Friday — ironically, as host of a comedy program. He’s at the helm of the Just For Laughs Comedy Tour, the touring showcase for up-and-coming comedians. Just For Laughs is celebrating 20 years of touring, and Wood is paired with fellow comics Malik Elassal, Joyelle Nicole Johnson and Arthur Simeon for a 16-date run of theatres across the country. He opens the show with a set of his own material, and guides the evening as the comics enter and exit the stage.
He is clearly familiar with hosting duties — Wood used to emcee a lot of college comedy shows during his time at Florida A&M University — but he’s enjoying the novelty of the Just For Laughs run. “It’s different to be out first on stage, but that is what’s exciting. I really get to experiment with the crowd.”
Wood did some impressive crowd work in April when he hosted the infamous White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, a Washington, D.C. tradition attended by the president and vice president of the United States and the press gallery that covers them. It is considered of the biggest platforms a comedian can ascend to, and is the one gig practically every comic is behoved to accept.
“It is probably the freshest hour of comedy that anyone will witness, because we’re writing right up until the day of [the dinner],” Wood said. “But it’s also the one where literally everything on Earth could go wrong. Every joke could bomb. You name it, it could happen.”
It’s a tough room, no doubt. But Wood seized the opportunity. He even went rogue right off the top, suggesting that President Biden accidentally left classified documents at the podium following his address. Did he worry if his brand of humour would fly with such an austere audience, or that he would be admonished for veering off-script?
“At some point, I have to trust the same instincts that got me to where I am,” he said. “[The joke] felt like something that would get a laugh, based on the metrics and type of shows that I’ve done over the last 25 years. Thank god I was right, because if you bomb the first joke it’s a long 19 more minutes.”
Politics play a prominent role in Wood’s life, personally and professionally. His father, Roy Wood Sr., was a pioneering journalist who covered the civil rights movement, later becoming a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The comedian was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and eventually followed his father’s footsteps, receiving his degree in journalism from Florida A&M.
Wood says his comedy mindset reflects his unique background and upbringing.
“Comedy is needed more than ever, because it can reach people who aren’t necessarily going to laugh about things. It’s the responsibility of the comedian to put out what they think is funny, and not necesarily what the people are going to absorb or respond to. The slippery slope is always changing based on the audience, instead of change starting with you. You’re the rock in the pond that creates the ripple in the room.”
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