I’d say there’s a level of Hell reserved for bad stand-up comedians but the truth is it’s on Earth. On stage. There are few more painful feelings in life than fighting an audience. Bad comedians live down their own mediocrity with every mute brute, every sour glower, and every true “Boo!”
Moses Kim (Daniel Jun) might have a promising career as a Stand Up Man. He works a Toronto crowd with self-deprecating humor about his origin city of Winsdor, a Canadian town so bland its residents are jealous of border buddy Detroit. What does it take to be jealous of Detroit? Try being from Windsor. Moses’ first five minutes on stage don’t exactly thaw Pharaoh’s funnybone, but they show promise.
And then, marriage. Moses and Yoojin (Rosalina Lee) aren’t even up to the part in the reception where a druncle would make an ass out of himself when their permanent paths are commanded, as if from on high. Mr. and Mrs. Moses, Sr. are headed to Africa to enforce their personal morality on strangers and have a tiny request: Hey, Moses, why don’t you and Yoojin take the Windsor house and run our successful “Korean” restaurant. I didn’t end that with a question mark because it wasn’t a question.
What’s better than having your whole life ahead of you? Having every step of it dictated.
Unfortunately, this is the last time in the film I felt for Moses. Barely ten minutes have expired. The film fast forwards a year and the couple, now with baby, are equally as miserable as they had imagined. Their house is nice, but it comes with a high Windsor advisory. The restaurant is failing. Moses can’t make his dad’s dishes with the same panache, and the dwindling customer base reflects the situation. Now, I would totally feel for Moses, but he’s a dick about all of it. He doesn’t seem to like his wife, baby, life, or town in any capacity. He complains of lack of sleep and sex (well, what did you think was gonna happen when you had a baby?) and has no answers. Worse than that, he seeks no answers. This is what drives me crazy about the film.
In Act II, we get a substitution. [For the next hour, the part of “Yoojin” will be played by a Korean nightmare.] Youjin goes with baby to South Korea. In her place, orange-haired teen 
cousin Joon-ho (Daegun Daniel Lee) shows up to attend Canadian high school. This provides audience relief as instead of focusing on Moses, who is miserable, we focus on Joon-ho, who is also miserable – but for completely different reasons.
I shan’t spoil it for all of you who dig team dance competitions. Suffice to say it takes a while to smile in Stand Up Man. The biggest issue with this film is getting our “hero” Moses to work either end of the titular double entendre – his comic stand-up resurfaces briefly and painfully, while his ability to be an honorable stand-up guy takes a back seat for 84.5 minutes of the 85 minute run-time. Hard to root for a guy who never does the right thing.
In lieu of lyrics or a poem, I will deliver some Windsor, ON stand up of my own:
- Why is it a health hazard to race from Michigan to Toronto?
You get wind sore. - What kind of loop do you use to tie on April Fools Day in Southern Ontario?
A Windsor … not! - What does the Detroit River separate?
A city that really sucks and Detroit.
Not Rated, 85 Minutes
Director: Aram Collier
Writer: Aram Collier, Nathalie Younglai
Genre: Getting around to the right thing, eventually
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Stand up comedians from Windsor
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Parents who find children ungrateful
Apologies to all my readers from Windsor; I’m sure your city is actually very nice although that never filtered through in this film.
