False Profits
They promised the wealth would trickle down, and when we turned our backs they pissed in our cups. From the creator of SPERM WARS and THE SHOW MUST GO ON comes a solo comedy that takes aim at the rich and powerful in a satire of excess and greed.
Easily my favourite show of the year! Jeff poured his heart and soul into this show, and it showed. He told the story of a shadowy group of wealthy men, through the lives of the Coke family, their workers, and himself. Very funny, very sad. I laughed out loud, nearly cried. It left me simultaneously frustrated and hopeful for the future. And I want to be Jeff's friend.
This was my favorite Fringe show this year hands down. Take a chance on Jeff. He's got an incredible balance of story-telling, humor & heart packed into this show. Not to be missed. I for one will see every one of his shows in perpetuity.
One of the best shows I saw at Fringe this year! Engaging performance, compelling story and incredibly fascinating. Go see it!
This is hands down and without a doubt the single most excellent one-man-performs production my soul has ever had the opportunity to be moved by. If you also suffer from chronic Sadness for the World but struggle to put into words the interconnectedness of the who's and what's that are responsible for the dumpster fire that has become our political and physical environment, then this is the show you've been waiting for. Not only is the content brilliantly written, but the performance itself is technically and artistically spectacular.
Jeff Leard does what many performers haven’t been able: He delivers a hard-hitting message, in this case about corporate greed, without preaching at us. Not an easy task.
Somehow, through his stories, which are often hilarious, Leard is able to methodically follow the money to explain the corporatization of our world.
And then, just when we have gone down the rabbit hole of frustration and desperation, he provides a glimmer of hope - a fantasy perhaps, but at least it’s something to hold on to.
And then he reminds us of what it truly important.
Well done, with a well-deserved standing ovation (one of the few that was actually deserved).
FALSE PROFITS pulls a cloistered, well‑heeled class out of the shadows and into unforgiving daylight, revealing them as fragile, absurd figures rather than the mythic titans they pretend to be. What once read like invincibility now looks like a midlife spectacle equal parts grandiosity and farce.
Jeff Leard gives a powerhouse solo performance, tearing open the curtain on trickle‑down rhetoric and the billionaire mindset with razor‑sharp timing and righteous humor. He skewers the icons of extreme wealth, Jeff Bezos, Charles Koch, and Elon Musk, exposing a worldview that’s startlingly detached from everyday people. Leard holds the room from start to finish, blending outrage and comedy so you’re laughing even as you flinch.
Smart, savage, and unapologetic, FALSE PROFITS is essential viewing for fans of subversive comedy. Fringe audiences will devour it and leave wanting more.
I wasn’t looking to see another storytelling show this festival and wasn’t necessarily expecting it as this was billed as a solo comedy on the ticketing page. I don’t claim to be privy to all of the reasons why an artist chooses the genre tag they do, and most shows live in the in-between spaces, but I really felt this was a storytelling show first before it was a comedy. I am very picky with the types of storytelling shows that I like and it actually ranks pretty low on my list of preferred Fringe genres. Had I known this was a storytelling show, might’ve passed.
Pedantry aside, this artist is very talented. He is extremely well-rehearsed for such a dense script. His performance is charming and energetic.
Around the last third of the show, it started to feel very long. He got me back with the imaginary future action scene, but it wasn’t enough to make me think all 75 minutes of the runtime were put to good use.
The story is not the kind I love for a storytelling show. Didactic, historical, educational. Lightly funny but not my favourite style of humor either. I felt like I was watching a really, really impressive and effusive lecture. I just like something a little more artful or metaphorical from my Fringe plays.
F***ing phenomenal. It will make you laugh, it will make you mad, it will make cheer. Run, don’t walk.
Absolutely brilliant!
“Weird Choice Jeff!”
Analyzing the curse of the year and world we live in, this social commentary holds your attention and keeps it for long after the show is over.
Jeff Leard is a solo performer that has the uncanny ability to portray different roles and characters naturally and seamlessly. Though hilarious and sharp witted, False Profits held a heavy and layered message about the uber wealthy and how they dictate the world’s money and influence. “Well that is too big for me to mime!”, and yes, the amount of tragedy and injustice in the world surely is. Somehow, Jeff has done it.
False Profits was engaging, mortifying, touching, hilarious, relatable, and above all, memorable. Thank you for posing these questions, sparking conversation, and creating this piece.
Continuing asking if desecration of humans and our environment is simply collateral damage, or if it is finally time to change it the systems we live within.