Mae Martin & Jay Foreman at The Vault Festival

Jay Foreman & Mae Martin
The Vault Festival
February 13th, 2014
Presented by Such Small Portions

by Joanna Orland

For its second year running, The Vault Festival returns to the labyrinth of tunnels that lives beneath Waterloo station.   With six weeks of performances until the 8th of March, the lineup for Vault could not be more varied with the likes of theatre, performance art, comedy and music.  One of the comedy highlights at The Vault has been the double bill of Mae Martin and Jay Foreman.

Jay Foreman opened the night with his blend of musical comedy.  Playing lovely songs on an acoustic guitar whilst singing cynical and often grim lyrics, his set was a joy to witness.  Not many men could get away with singing such offensive lyrics as “I’m glad John Lennon died”, but with such a lovely singing voice and an air of mischievous innocence about him, Jay Foreman managed not just to get away with it, but to have the audience laughing alongside him.

You can check out our interview with Jay Foreman here.

Mae Martin closed the night with a very strong set of old and new material.  The Toronto native has a vulnerability about her that enabled her to immediately captivate the audience through relatable stories of her adolescence, friends and family life.  Her presence is fresh, fun and completely engaging.  And of course, it is also very funny.  I can’t wait to see how this new material of hers develops.

Overall, a successful night of genuinely funny and endearing comedy was had at this year’s Vault Festival.  Thank you to Such Small Portions for curating an excellent lineup.