Review: Nick Reynoldson, I'll Be Fine

I can't decide which part of Nick Reynoldson's I'll Be Fine is the most "Toronto." I don't mean that in an insulting worst-of-Toronto kinda way (like chair-throwing girl, people who sit in the platinums at Leafs games, lining up for Chick-fil-A, or Trinity Bellwoods crowds). After all, Reynoldson is a genuinely funny dude. No, what I mean is that Reynoldson, without even really trying, seems to have captured the ludicrousness of the day-to-day Toronto experience.

In the running for "most Toronto" right now are, a) Reynoldson's story about sketchy clubbing in Scarborough, b) being a mixed race confuser, and c) the unspeakable horror of when raccoons invade your home. If I'm being truly honest, though, the most Toronto tale here has to be No Headphones On The Bus, the awkward tale of an unruly youth riding on public transit and loudly listening to music without headphones. When said youth encounters a friendly crackhead who's really feeling his tunes it thoroughly ruins his DJ moment and awkward hilarity ensues. THIS is the swirling magic dust that churns from the butthole of Timothy Eaton's ghost and binds the city together.

Will people from the Rest Of Canada get these jokes? Who gives a shit? Toronto will get them, though. Hashtag #DeadRaccoonTO

I’ll Be Fine was released May 22, 2020 on Comedy Records
Listen to it here