| "A funny thing happened when I first moved to Calgary. I have to admit, I didn't know much about the place. I mean, I knew about the mountains, the tower and Stampede and stuff like that. And I kept hearing about the Big 4.
"This piqued my interest. Where I'm from the big four are a shit, shower, blow job and a beer. You can only imagine my delight when I found out there was actually a building called the Big 4. Then picture the look on my face when I went into the building, only to be greeted by a crowd of septuagenarian women in white cowboy hats and red skirts and vests.
"I actually thought about getting into politics once I got here, then I realized I don't know enough people to cause a scandal. Why bother?"
With that, the crowd in the local bar offers up everything from a full knee-slapping laugh to a polite smile. But the fact that there is a crowd shows how far Calgary's standup comedy scene has come in recent years.
"There was a time when I first started out there was the odd comedy room," explained Tony Binns, a longtime local funny man who has been doing standup for about six years. "The people were there not to see the comedians, they just happened to be there. Now people are there to see the comedians. There is a growing interest."
And he's not the only one who believes that Calgary is growing as a funny place. Take a look at some recent events: the Just For Laughs tour played to two sold-out shows; instructors from the Humber College School of Comedy, which includes Joe Flaherty of SCTV fame and Mark Breslin of Yuk Yuk's, were in town to teach a comedy workshop; a two-day standup comedy "Survivor Show" played to sold-out houses at the Firewater Restaurant, and the list goes on.
So what's behind the move to get out for a laugh? Several factors come into play including population growth, the development of local talent and places for the local talent to get onstage and wield some microphone magic.
In addition to numerous local clubs offering regular weekly open stage sessions, or booking comedian shows regularly, Calgary also hosts its own comedy festival each summer.
Funny Fest executive director Stu Hughes says he has seen paid crowds for the July festival double in the two years it has been held. Last year saw 8,000 people buy tickets for shows held at bars and clubs throughout the city, he says.
While the festival features many "name" comedians, it also offers an opportunity for those starting out to test their material and mettle.
"We're opening doors for comics," Hughes says. "I give everyone a shot."
New comedians with enough gumption to get on stage all alone are booked for one, and up to three, five-minute shows during the festival. "The most important thing is to develop a good crop of standup comics," he adds.
And by all accounts, with the availability of the open stages, the comedy festival and other comedy events, Calgarians could be laughing for a long time to come. Bill Robinson, owner of the Alberta Yuk Yuk's venues since their opening in the mid-1980s, says he has seen local interest explode and turn out a good crop of funny people. He estimates that he's seen the number of people at the club's new talent night reach 30 to 40 people a night, up from five or six people a half-dozen years ago.
"That has evolved and we've developed a program and run workshops prior to the show," Robinson says. "The professional acts will give a seminar to the amateurs. Now we're to the point where we're having trouble putting people on stage."
Get them on stage, and it appears Calgarians are glad to throw a few bucks at tickets. In October, for example, the Just For Laughs Comedy Tour added a second show in town "due to overwhelming demand."
And it's tours like these as well as TV shows featuring comics, and entire networks that have also helped standup comedy grow.
"The Comedy Network has helped generate more interest," Binns says. "There's no star system in Canada. Now, because of the Comedy Network, people can say 'I've seen him.' And the Just For Laughs tour is very helpful."
A comedian who has benefitted from the national exposure to standup and the growing number of local opportunities is Amy Trofimuk, who first appeared at Funny Fest in 2001.
"The first six, seven months it was slow," the Canmore-raised comedian says. "The last eight months have been out of control." She's performed at other comedy festivals in Canada, has been recruited for work in the U.S. and is being booked for corporate gigs as well.
Trofimuk admits she's had a strange life that lends itself well to comedic material, but also uses observation of others for her routine. And that approach to life, SCTV favourite Joe Flaherty says, is the key to Canadians being funny.
"I can't put it on one thing other than they're observers," he says a few days before arriving in town not far from where the glory years of SCTV were filmed. "They can see the Americans objectively and it puts them in a framework for satire or irony. But generally I don't know. They're coming out of the comedy closets. Before there were a special few, now they're everywhere."
But the big question remains, are local comedians funny?
"In the past two years there has been about five acts, maybe six that are no longer the amateur level," Robinson says. "They're doing club dates."
And Hughes, who also does standup, says he has heard many positive comments from out of town comedians. "To have people come from all over North America and say the calibre of the comics here is good, that's a good sign," he says. |
