Comedians of the World episode 7 recap: Canada’s Dave Merheje
By Luke Lucas
Netflix released Comedians of the World on New Year’s Day. It’s a collection of 47 half-hour comedy specials from comedians from around the world. Episode four features a set from Canada’s Dave Merheje.
A quick recap of the show’s premise: Comedians of the World is a sampler and reference guide for stand-up comedy on a global level. There are four comedians from eight different regions around the world. At least one of the four comics from each region identifies as female.
Not all of the half-hour sets are traditionally staged as we think of it. There are episodes in languages other than English, which allows us to hear those comedians perform in their native language. There are sets in Spanish, Portuguese, and German just to name a few.
Dave Merheje
Dave Merheje was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. His family still lives there. A lot of his material revolves around his family, with special attention paid to his mother and father. His comedy is frantic, speedy, and engaging.
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Merheje won the Just For Laugh’s 2011 Homegrown Comic Competition. His first comedy special Good Friend Bad Grammar was released on Amazon in 2018. You can also catch him on the long-running CBC show , Mr. D.,You can catch him on the road with Ali Hassan as part of the We Ain’t Terrorists tour.
Beautifully Manic
The first few moments of Beautifully Manic completely earn their title. Merheje feels so strongly and emphatically in favor of people loosing it in public that his words sound forced out of his mouth. He gets so worked up that his sentences abruptly halt.
In the first section of his Comedians of the World half hour set, Merheje relies on observational comedy involving the floor plans and seat offerings at coffee shops. It’s fine. It’s a little too over the top and that’s likely the point. Once he settles in and starts discussing his parents, the real fun begins.
I’m not Lebanese and I’m not Canadian. Still, Merheje’s family interactions felt extremely relatable to me. I expect many other people will feel the same way. This is due in large part to the way Merheje constructs his his set.
There aren’t a lot of comparisons to things we might expect. He just comes straight at the audience with honest reporting of key moments from his childhood. Everyone has talked back to a parent only to have them apparate out of nowhere and impose their dominance over us. Everyone has witnessed a parent go off on the poor kid on the sports team who might not qualify for a participation trophy. And, this may be specific to me, everyone has witnessed their mom eviscerate their dad’s very existence in an argument.
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Overall, this is one episode of Comedians of the World that you should definitely check out. I like honest, straight to the point comedy that comes from a personal point of view. There is no room for cleverness or observational cuteness. This is just in your face and funny.
Are you streaming Comedians of the World? Who’s your favorite comedian so far? Let’s discuss in the comments!