On Guard
YouTube · 2023
A relaxed club set from a comic raised by therapists.
Released , on YouTube.
Andrew Packer spends a generous stretch of time wondering why anyone would ever dispatch lifeguards as emergency responders. The routine imagines a home invasion answered by three teenagers with rescue buoys who arrive forty minutes late because none of them have a driver’s license. It is loose, unhurried club comedy built around low-stakes premises rather than high-concept theatrics.
Recorded in early 2023 at Comedy Bar in Toronto, the hour dropped through 800 Pound Gorilla Media just as Packer crossed a million subscribers with Man News, his satirical short-form video series. Though online audiences mostly knew him as a deadpan digital newsreader, he had spent nearly a decade touring stand-up clubs across Canada before those internet clips caught traction.
The stage material leans into domestic familiarity. He details life with an eleven-year romantic partner, specifically the humiliation of pleading with her to make an OnlyFans account where he is the sole paying customer. Another section touches on his family dynamic, where both parents and his sister are licensed therapists, leaving him and his accountant brother to sit through dinner conversations saturated with clinical jargon.
Notable bits & set list
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Lost dog versus lost cat signs
Packer feels overwhelming empathy for a lost dog pictured in the rain, but feels nothing for a lost cat, reasoning that cats are independent and simply moved out to find new families.
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Getting named Andrew on St. Andrew's Day
Explaining that being the third child meant exhausted parents who accepted a Scottish nurse's suggestion to name him after the saint's day on which he was born.
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Body hair development as city construction
Compares his late body hair growth to sluggish municipal construction, acting out a Brooklyn construction worker voice arguing with his requests for a beard.
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Male anatomy being inflatable
Contrasts the intentional sculpted beauty of women with inflatable male parts, likening them to cheap temporary inflatables and doing an impression of a defensive heckler.
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Canadian culture as drinking and looking at water
Theses that Canada's unifying pastime is getting drunk and looking at bodies of water—including hockey—highlighted by watching three Persian men tip over a canoe at a cottage.
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Hiking proposal and facial features
Addresses mixed reactions to proposing near a cliff by admitting his sharp nose looks like a sundial that warns people 'your time is up.'
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Suburban father discovering jerk chicken
Recalls his chain-smoking father discovering jerk chicken and cooking it so excessively for the family that Packer questioned his own cultural heritage.
How it plays
- Tone
- Silly, playful, observational, and self-deprecating.
- On stage
- Sharp, silly, and accessibly honest; notable for using distinct pitched voices, impressions, and character work reminiscent of Andy Samberg or early-career Brian Regan.
- About
- Canadian culture and cottage life, body hair and puberty, male anatomy, lost pets, cross-cultural relationships and seasoning food
What the critics said
Praised as sharp, silly, and clever, with reviewers highlighting his unique comedic voices and accessible takes on Canadian and domestic life.
In the room: Laughing uproariously and engaged with localized Canadian observations despite arriving through harsh rain.
Backstory
Filmed in February 2023 in Toronto and released in September 2023 around his marriage to his partner of 12 years.
Details
- Released
- Where
- YouTube
- Topics
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