Chad & JT were far from entertaining

Out-of-touch jokes about sex, women and almond milk that seemed to beg for relevance.

A cold and windy night brewed as I decided to do something I normally wouldn’t do: go see a comedy show. Tacoma Comedy Club hosted two acts at 7:30 p.m., Chad Kroeger and JT Parr, two comedians from the Netflix special “Chad & JT Go Deep.” Personally, I didn’t know who these two were, but I decided, why not?

A bouncer was sitting at the door, trying his best to be as intimidating as possible as he led us to the front desk. You needed to get checked in and seated, like a restaurant – something different from my past experience in 2017. There was massive change to the vibe of this club, multiple round black-clothed tables with candles lit for each—intimate lighting dimming with each minute. 

I was shocked when I noticed I had been seated in the front row, until I saw other couples beside me; anticipating the possible easy crowd interactions that the comedians would take. The waiter came up and told us the rule of the club, “You need to order two drinks or two items, or you get kicked out.” I thought about how excessive this was the whole time after.

The lights fully dimmed, as a half-empty room began to cheer for a projected advertisement. The host, Jack Slattery, told many jokes as he opened up for the two. Many of them were corny and couldn’t really get into the groove of the atmosphere, something along the lines of “oat milk” and “light ice,” a tired jab that is somewhat taxing by now. With minimal laughter from the crowd, they also weren’t feeling these jokes.

The food came to save the day, or maybe it was the drinks, but the nachos were mediocre and the onion rings were slightly okay. As I stuffed my mouth, the first of the two acts, Orange County native JT Parr, walked onto the stage. The first main act has to be good right? Wrong. Think of early 2000’s “Jackass,” except a not-so-funny version filled with cringe. His jokes on climate change, and countless references to women and sex could hardly save his clear and shaky nerves.

As he called towards the couples in the crowd, to support his relationship jokes, I somehow felt left out. At that point, the only high points of his set were the nachos and drink in front of me as he blabbed on about trauma. JT ended his time with a more “edgy joke,” he liked to say. Of course, he took the easiest path and made a corny joke about how you should be friends with school shooters. I felt as though my humor might have been broken as I noticed everyone found everything so incredibly humorous, but I was in a crowd of middle-aged people and married couples. 

I’d rate his act a 2/5. He could’ve been funny, but he was indeed not.

The second act of the two, Chad Kroeger, who is also from Orange County, came on stage in a more confident manner—this made me a bit more hopeful that this set would be more entertaining. Kroeger took a different approach by preparing for his set with notes on his phone. He used topics such as true crime docs set in the PNW, along with his girlfriend’s and other women’s obsession with them. He took more time using crowd interaction to his advantage, even acknowledging how this is an essential part of a comedian’s set.

However, despite the minimal smiles he got out of me with his zodiac, government, ADD and food jokes, his set was also easily forgotten. He had a final joke that was about Hinge, though I also can’t seem to remember it, saved the set.

I’d rate his act a 3/5, his planned-out tangents lacked creativity.

Chad & JT ended the show by coming together for what I thought was a back-and-forth act, but was merely a crowd Q&A session which was again, filled with bad jokes and weird banter between the two that made me regret even attending.

With it being a Thursday night and the wind storm approaching, I realized that the stale nachos and sweet alcohol did not save this night at all. I indeed felt more funnier than the acts –mind you – I am far from a comedian. Tacoma Comedy Club will have more acts coming soon, but I encourage people to attend their open mic nights as those are more casual from what I remember. You can find more on the date and times located on their website.