Album Review: Kyle Bergstresser - You Gotta Get Used to the Boy

Posted by: Matthew Ardill  •  June 6, 2026 @ 4:10pm

Filed under: Reviews

A little over a year back, I settled into a seat to watch Kyle Bergstresser record his album You Gotta Get Used To The Boy at The John Candy Box Theatre in Toronto's Second City. I've had the pleasure of seeing Kyle perform many times around the city – heck, he's even sat in my office and recorded episodes of comedian Tracy Hamilton's now-retired podcast Love Is Everywhere – so I had the benefit of going into this album recording with a fair idea of who and what I was going to see.

Flash forward to a few weeks back, and Kyle let me know the folks at Howl and Roar had finally finished the edit and it was ready to hear. Listening to the album, I heard exactly the same experience I remembered from the theatre, a comedian who had put in the work and had the confidence not just on the stage but in the material; a solid hour(ish) set that makes for a proper comedy album.

With the increased accessibility of technology, comedians are releasing albums much earlier in their career, often without the quantity of material needed for a full album. But Kyle took his time to release this album, making it a mix of newer material as well as material going back to when Joker jokes were still hot takes. The big benefit of this is we get a fulsome experience, a breadth of material from his career covering topics from the aforementioned Joker to living in Toronto, but a big part of the set is dedicated to growing up and coming from a small town in Manitoba.

Kyle's material presents an honest image of someone who's had a journey from a town – where everyone knew everyone's business – to a city where you're just a face in the crowd, and there's something for people on both sides of that experience to enjoy in his material, but his material is neither timid nor overly aggressive. There's an aggressiveness, but it never comes across like the overly aggressive crowd work comedians that plague the modern comedy circuit. It's more akin to a person who's really excited to be telling you a story they've been holding onto.

Like the title of the album says, Kyle's someone you gotta get used to. He's intense, but once past that earnest intensity, he's cheeky, wry, and a lot of fun. He engages with the audience in a way that's incredibly positive and a pleasure to watch. You can stream the album at all the regular sources, but I recommend picking up a copy at Bandcamp to support the artist directly.

Tags: Kyle Bergstresser, Comedy, Album, Howl and Roar, Stand-up

Related Posts

• Order Up! - Order Up Investigates: Chef Boyardee
• Album Review: Cameron Esposito - Person of No Consequence
• JFL Vancouver Interview: Comic and improvisor Mark Little hosts 'The Alternative Show'
• JFL Vancouver Interview: Comedian and YouTuber Grace Helbig
• Review: Myq Kaplan – Rini

Comments Posted ()