The next four Wednesday nights are chocked full of comedy here in Calgary and I’m excited to be a part of each of the shows. It starts tomorrow night with KABOOM!, a unique showcase-style of performance featuring professional and amateur stand-up comedy (old and new material) as well as sketch comedy created by the Kaboom… Hooray! Comedy! group. You won’t see me on stage tomorrow night as my involvement with this “episode” of the show was as a sketch director.
It has been quite some time since I officially “directed” anything and getting back into it has been a treat – especially when working with a very funny group of comedians. The cast and people that are a part of Kaboom… Hooray! Comedy! are quickly becoming an ensemble to be reckoned with. (In a few weeks I’ll be posting a video sketch that we produced – it is just in the final stages of editing now.)
More details on KABOOM!, including show details, are available on their website. In short, showtime is at 8:00PM with doors opening at 7:30PM. It takes place at Yuk Yuk’s in The Elbow River Casino and every show has been a treat to watch and/or be a part of.
Next Wednesday night is the return (from summer hiatus) of Red Carpet Comedy. This is the show where the bulk of my (and a number of other comics’) new material gets its first try on stage in front of an audience. It’s the beginning of the third season of the show and it’s started to get quite the following from audiences that enjoy watching as comedians succeed and fail with each punchline (or lack thereof). Through last season’s eight shows I tried out about 80 new minutes of stand-up comedy and, along with my fellow performers, have managed to create some gems that made their way into my other shows. While it is a huge risk for the performers to go on stage without the net that their tried and true material provides, the reward when it does work is more than worth it.
You can catch the season premiere of RCC on September 28 at 8:00PM (doors at 6:00PM) in Lolita’s Lounge (formerly known as Club Paradiso – the same venue that has been used since the beginning). Tickets and more information are available on the show’s website.
October 5, the following Wednesday night, is the next episode of KABOOM!. Like tomorrow night’s show, I won’t be on stage but I’ll have directed a sketch that’s making an appearance. Each show is completely different – new sketches, different performers, different material, etc., which makes it a show that audience members are coming back to time and again.
To wrap up this string of Wednesday night shows, I’ll be appearing on a new comedy room in the city at Ceili’s Southland. Ceili’s Comedy Challenge is a weekly comedy competition for five comics to try their hand at writing a joke about a given topic. The best joke on that topic will win the night and the bragging rights that go along with it. I’ll be competing along-side other worthy opponents and the audience will get to decide who the winner is. Show time is 9:00PM on October 12. For more information you can visit the show’s page on Facebook.
Amongst all of the writing, directing and performing I will also be heading out on a short road trip for some comedy in Saskatchewan. I’ll be in Saskatoon on September 30 and Regina on October 1. This will be a return trip to Saskatoon and my first time in the room in Regina and I’m quite looking forward to getting back on the road after having been at home for over a month now.
Lastly, if you’d like to see a great comedy show and support a worthy cause, mark October 2 in your calendars. I’ll be a part of a fund raiser for Carpenters4Cambodia alongside, one of my personal favourites, Lori Gibbs, and several handpicked semi-pros from Calgary. The event is in Airdrie at Duck’s Pub & Grill – this detail (and more) are available through their Facebook event page.
This was certainly a larger update than I had thought it would be but I guess that’s what I get for not posting in a couple of months. Now that it’s about to be “corporate season” and comedy is reviving from the summer lull I should be posting much more regularly as I, once again, have things to write about.