Politics and parenting are okay as comedy topics, but what Bermudians love are jokes about themselves. This was in evidence at the latest annual Just for Laughs comedy event held at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.The show featured Alonzo Bodden as the host, Bermudian comic Jonathan Young, and international comedians Derek Edwards, Ryan Hamilton and Alun Cochrane. It was a real treat to hear such great talent.The Department of Tourism should take note that many of the comedians joked about feeling terrified on Bermuda’s roads. Canadian comic Derek Edwards had to pick bits of rock out of his back when the sidewalk he was travelling on in Bermuda suddenly came to an end and he found himself pressed against a Bermuda wall, with cars whizzing by him. Ryan Hamilton joked about how Bermudians will mouth “be careful ... we’ve seen things” at tourists on scooters, while zooming around them.The Just for Laughs show kicked off on one of the wettest weekends of the year, which made for some good material.“There I was sitting on a beach in Bermuda, alone, in a sweater,” Mr Hamilton told the audience. He had perhaps the freshest performance. How many times do you hear jokes about a disastrous romantic date in a hot-air balloon? His bit about skydiving from a plane in the “banana” position with a big guy called Roy strapped to his back whispering “isn’t it beautiful” was hysterical.Mr Edwards had funny material, but it wasn’t always fresh. He has performed at Just for Laughs Bermuda before and some of his work gives a distinct sense of déjà vu. An example of this would be “I’m a night person, and my wife is a b*tch.” Luckily, it’s still funny. His stories about living in a small town in Canada called Timmins, Ontario are great. Maybe being from a small piece of rock in the middle of the Atlantic makes it easier to identify with small-towners. He should use more Timmins material when he performs in Bermuda.Mr Hamilton’s jokes about being from a small town in Iowa also worked very well with the Bermuda audience, if only because they make Bermuda look sophisticated and urban compared to a town of a 1,000 people. In his town, when the annual parade passes, nobody goes home, because there’s only one street and the tractors in the parade have to come back the other way. Mr Hamilton was named one of Rolling Stone’s five comics to watch and has had standout appearances on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, among other things. Hopefully, we will see him again at another Just for Laughs event.British comedian Alun Cochrane had a very muted style of presentation, which was funny in itself. What stands out the most, two days later, is that he kept referring to Bermuda as a “ridiculous little island”. He also did a funny bit about journalists who ask annoying questions like: “If you weren’t a comedian, what would you be”.Bermudian Mr Young was funny when talking about parenting but tended to bomb when discussing the political scene. As he joked about faith based tourism, the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA), the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) and the United Bermuda Party (UBP) (both members) there were pockets of booing. The trouble with going the political route in a small community divided by politics, is that, if you agree with the comedian’s take on something like, faith based tourism, it’s not funny, it’s just true, and if you don’t agree with him, it’s not funny either.Just for Laughs Bermuda has cleaned up the show and there wasn’t a lot of swearing or vulgar jokes, which was a pity. The trouble is a lot of people like a little vulgarity. I’ve been to some rude shows in Bermuda, and there was no booing and those who walked out generally came back with drinks. I think we innocent little ocean rock dwellers can handle a dirty joke or two. Leave the kiddies at home! However, it is possible to go too far. During intermission some people were complaining about a previous years Just for Laughs comedian who apparently stuck his middle finger up at the audience, and made it clear he was not a fan of the Bermuda Department of Tourism. He was noticeably absent from this year’s line-up.Unfortunately, as funny as the show was, the parking situation was appalling. It was a full house at Just for Laughs and customers had to compete for parking with two other full house events at the hotel. The parking attendants could have done a better job of handling the chaos. Doesn’t the hotel know beforehand how many people to expect, or does a crowd of several thousand just show up? Why direct 200 cars up a hill, if there’s no parking up there. Couldn’t the guy at the top radio the guy at the bottom, or are those walkie-talkies made by a toy company?