Chris Distefano speaks 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' nerves, differences in the Canadian comedy audience

The New York comedian Chris Distefano continues to make people laugh with his hysterical Hulu Special It's just unhappy (on Disney+ in Canada) in addition to podcasts and live shows, but this week he took over the hosting tasks from Jimmy Kimmel, Guest Hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live. While Distefano has several awards, including the first stand-up comedian who sold both the Radio City Music Hall and the Theater in the Madison Square Garden on successive nights in 2023, he admitted that he was nervous when he got out to the moderator of Kimmel's show.

“It was one of these things in which I said at the moment: 'I have it' and then when the curtains opened and they said: 'Please welcome Yahoo Canada. “The whole fear that I pressed down only stormed directly to my head.”

But his mother in the front row of the show helped relieve his nerves.

“Usually I don't like to have my family in the front row because the comedy is a very vulnerable thing, but I almost felt like a child, my mother was in the front row and that calmed me down,” said Distefano. “When I saw her, I thought, oh my mother right there, you are safe. It was a very bizarre feeling.”

Differences in the Canadian audience

For Canadians in the hope of getting after his more Distefano Jimmy Kimmel Live The comedian goes with a show on July 26 to the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal on the way to the Laugh's Comedy Festival.

“The Montreal only for the Comedy Festival from Laughs is my favorite comedy festival in the world,” said Distefano. “I just love how the city takes over.”

“One of the best parts for me is that I can not only make my show, but can also jump on the shows of other comedians that they may live in another part of the country, another part of the world and they haven't seen them for a while … … I am sure that there will be a special guest in my show.”

Distefano had several shows in Canada over the years, but said that the audience in every region of the country differ.

“The audience in Toronto, they feel like New York, more blue collars, will laugh, have this edge. Montreal, you definitely have to work a little harder. They are a little more like 'impressive me', what I like. I don't like it,” said Distefano. “And then Vancouver is more LA [in their vibe,] They are cold. “

“But then I really like cities like Winnipeg and Edmonton because people are just hammering and laughing at everything.

Chris Distefano shines with comedy about his family

Distefano's fans know that he is one of the best comedians who really use their personal life for comedy, and a highlight in all his sets when he talks about his father.

“I love to make him funny because I know that he can take it,” said Distefano. “My whole life … [he] showed me what love means through comedy as if he and his brother, my uncle, who died, always play around with me and make fun of me. But basically said that they said: 'I love you.' “

“That is, I think why I make fun of him so much. Because I have the feeling that I really say it to my father: 'Hey, I love you.'”

Another fan favorite element from Distefano's stand-up is when he talks about his now fiancé Jasmin Canuelas.

“Definitely gets engaged.” I think she is now as you are as funny as you have to, we have to pay off this mortgage. “

In Distefano's career, the comedian realized that landing his Hulu special was a “turning point”.

“Netflix is great. All of these places are great. But Hulu, … You don't have that many comedy specials. So I had the opportunity to really emphasize and not to lose myself in the shuffle, and to be part of the first Hulu comedy -Specials class with Jim Gaffigan and Bill Burr, … Comedy Greats,”, “he said.

But when the landscape, how people can discover, has developed, especially for many stand-ups through clips on platforms such as Tikok, Distefano's thoughts have also shifted about the fame of social media.

“Initially, especially on social media, I would be recognized on the streets and some would say: 'Oh, are you not so comedian from Tiktok?' I would be almost insulted.

“It's not about being recognized. This is everything ego. It's about my work, and it was unforgettable enough that you say: 'Oh, I remember you.' Especially with the senseless scrolling, we make thousands of videos and pictures every day.