Review: Jay & Eytan, Live at the Underground
Jay Wells L'Ecuyer and Eytan Millstone blur the boundaries between stand-up and sketch on Live at the Underground. The Brooklyn-via-Toronto duo start in standard-but-solid microphone territory, riffing through the pains of being in your 30s — “I feel like my body’s a kid I’ve bullied its entire life that’s finally speaking up for itself” — planning a wedding, and the differences between relationship and employment “work”.
But when they pivot into increasingly premise-driven scenarios, it amps up: the duo deliver a pitch-perfect impression of the same moment in every horror movie trailer, explain the revenge-fuelled invention of toilet paper, explore a job interview with someone who can only speak in lines from NBA Jam and offer so many other delightfully absurd riffs.
Set closer “Who’s That Chick” feels like a stumble despite its energy — featuring two bar bros whose male gaze leads them onto each other — but everything else strikes a playful, ribald balance of raunch and wit, highlighting the duo’s skillful dynamic with one another.
Live at the Underground was released March 13, 2020 on Comedy Records.
Listen to it here