By: Winona Young, Arts Editor
They’re bold, bitchy, and funny, as all hell. From the weekly podcast Las Culturistas, comedians Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang came to Vancouver on a clear Thursday night with 30 local comedians for their recurring live show special, “I Don’t Think So, Honey.”
The evening was spent in the boozy Biltmore, complete with bright lights, too loud microphones, and a lively audience. The duo spent the first fifteen minutes shooting the shit as per usual, laughing and ranting along the way. Yang raved about how at home he felt in the Vancouver streets packed with fellow Asians, likening himself to a Pokémon episode where he felt he was coming to the Bulbasaur village (Yang: “This is the Bulbasaur episode!”). The two talked about their plans to prowl through the city, Diet Coke (like Tayla Swiff), weed, and more. It’s clear that the duo’s chemistry is just as palpable in life as it is on air, being just as high energy and even more hilarious.
But the main event of the evening was the recurring segment, “I Don’t Think So, Honey.” Each of the thirty comedians had to go on a hateful and hilarious rant for one minute, dragging whatever pop culture topic of their choosing. Comedians had the option of performing a pre-prepared rant, or being given an impromptu topic to rant from “The Troll Bowl”. Examples included: Red Dead Redemption, the lack of male nudity television, John Travolta as a concept, and many, many more.
Comedians were given the option of plucking out an impromptu rant topic from the “Troll Bowl,” which was purposely filled with topics that were hard to bad mouth. One such example was Oprah Winfrey, to which the duo said as an aside, “We have no taste, we’re bad.”
Once the 30 Vancouver comedians came on, the show began with energy and loud, loud laughs. Some key highlight performances came from Caitlin Howden, when she plucked the name “Celine Dion” from the Troll Bowl. Howden began her rant with a thick French accent with the phrase (then with actual French), “I don’t think so honey, Céline Dion, mais non mais non mais non!”.
Even an SFU alumni, Savannah Erasmus, made an appearance on the roster of comedians. Not one to shy away from the challenge, Erasmus chose from the Troll Bowl and went on an improvised rant on hockey, of all things. Key highlights from their set were lines like, “You’re only for white men. . . you literally smell.” Erasmus even quoted the duo’s rule of culture #12, that if 12-year-olds like you, you’re basic. To which, Rogers praised, “Savannah had the bibliography ready, bitch!”
Other notable comedians were Aaron Read, who targeted himself and began his rant with, “I don’t think so honey, myself!” while another chose to rant on their loving mom and dad who ended their speech screaming, “I don’t think so, honey, supportive parents! I love you!”. One rant even targeted Canadian punk sweetheart, Avril Lavigne, with one comedian despairingly crying out, “Avril Lavigne, bitch, you died! . . . I love you, why did you change? I would wear a tie for you.”
The roster was a brilliantly diverse mix of talent which made for an unforgettable night of laughs and more. And if anyone would think otherwise, all this author can say is, “I don’t think so, honey.”
The Las Culturistas podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other streaming services.
