If you don’t go to see Jamie Kilstein, the Republicans have already won.
Wild times, folks, wild times. Last night I went to see Jamie Kilstein’s show at the comedy festival, Revenge of the Serfs with Bellekitten and my mother. 
I’m a brave, brave man.
I had high expectations of the show after seeing Jamie at the UMSS Q&A session on Why People Think Atheists are Dicks, and he didn’t disappoint. The first half of the show is an over-caffeinated thrill ride that strips bare political ideology and gives the religious right a good spanking with a happy ending; the second half takes the pace back and steps from the international stage to more personal matters (and Nickelback).
The key message in Jamie’s stand-up is that nothing is sacred: Politicians shouldn’t be celebrities, religion is mostly bullshit, and you might have been wrong as a teenager. Above that though is the feeling that we can and should be stepping up and making a difference — we can laugh at bigots and morons who want to deny rights to gay people and control women (and make no mistake, you will laugh at them) but the fact of the matter is that at the moment those bigots and morons are winning. If we’re going to beat them, it’s not enough to just be right; we have to be organised and active too.
If you weren’t planning to see Jamie Kilstein, you should change your plans — his show is playing Tuesday to Sunday until the end of the festival at the Victoria Hotel; if you’ve already seen him spread word around, particularly to your well-intentioned but somewhat lazy friends. If Jamie’s brand of brutally accurate comedy can’t get them off the couch and into activism, nothing will.
Oh — my mum thought it was really funny too. And isn’t that really the most important thing?
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Jamie Kilstein’s show Revenge of the Serfs is playing at the Victoria Hotel on Little Collins until the 18th of April, 8.30 PM Tuesday to Saturday and 7.30 PM Sunday. Tickets can be booked online here. For more Jamie Kilstein, you can check out his radio show Citizen Radio and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
I say this as a Canadian. Nickelback is not sacred.