Posted on July 12, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Culture, Front Slider, Theatre
Aside from props, the only difference between stand-up comedians and street performers is that one works inside and the other works outside. What could possibly go wrong? Rick Kunst is spending his summer outdoors. At the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival through July 17, the Florida-born comedian and his Canadian partner Dana Fadkin have an […]
Posted on July 10, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Culture, TV and Radio
And the funniest morning radio show in Edmonton is … (drum roll, hush from audience) The Pepper & Dylan Show on Virgin Radio 104.9 FM! (Cough, wind blowing) Surprised? Me, too. I thought Garner Andrews from Sonic 102.9 FM would win, or maybe Terry, Bill and Steve from K-97, but nope, it’s THOSE two guys […]
Posted on July 9, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Culture
Mankind is Jerry Seinfeld’s business. His mission is to explore tiny human stupidities, leaving the larger idiocies to other comedians. His tool is a microscope. His result is universal humour. EVERYBODY’S done the dumb little things he talks about, we’re all guilty of the trivial human mistakes he’s built a career on – even Jerry […]
Posted on July 7, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider
When Ken Valgardson isn’t teaching Grades 6-12 in a rural Alberta school, he’s hanging out in comedy clubs cutting loose with the sort of language that would get any of his students instantly expelled were they to utter such filth in the classroom. He performs tonight through Saturday (July 7-9) at the Laugh Shop in […]
Posted on July 6, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Culture, Family, Front Slider, Theatre
Jugglers! Tricksters! Clowns! Fools! But enough about the Harper government – the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival opens tomorrow! By fantastic coincidence, Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion plays through Sunday (July 10) at Rexall Place. This is the famous French-Canadian acrobatic circus that was started by – you guessed it – a street performer. What are […]
Posted on July 2, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider
Besides sexual bias, there is another reason you don’t see as many female comics as male ones: Female comics tend to have babies, from time to time, which is not conductive to being on the road performing nasty jokes for drunks. Performing July 6-10 at the Comic Strip, Felicia Michaels says she has had two […]
Posted on June 28, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider
News scoop! Neil Hamburger was fake! He’s actually some former punk rock musician named Gregg Turkington, who was only pretending to be an old school Catskills-style comedian, using the form to explore the concept of the “anti-joke.” Of course the problem with making a joke about jokes that aren’t funny is that the joke can […]
Posted on June 20, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Theatre
Once in a great while Edmonton is privileged to host one of the old-time stand-up comedians, a stubborn hold-out from the days of yore where men were men, women stayed in the kitchen where they belonged and show business was an honourable profession – not the cesspool of fart jokes it’s become today. Neil Hamburger […]
Posted on June 18, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Culture, Front Slider
Matt Lisac has attacked Edmonton’s comedy scene by stealth. He did a one-man show at the 2010 Fringe, innocuously called “A New Canadian Century,” for which he appeared on stage as a kindly, bearded Christian with guitar and a story to tell. About one minute into his opening number, it became obvious that this performer […]
Posted on June 15, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Front Slider, Theatre
To be willing to “fail happily” is one of the foundations of comedy improv – and also a happy life. When you truly shed your ego in the manner of the Buddhists, even death becomes OK. Cue the sound of one hand clapping. This may all seem too deep for Rapidfire Theatre’s Improvaganza festival, running […]
Posted on June 9, 2011
By Staff
Comedy, Culture, Front Slider, Theatre, TV and Radio
We’ve crunched the numbers and come to a startling conclusion that most people knew already – Edmonton is a funny city. The nominations for the Canadian Comedy Awards that came out June 8 revealed a disproportionate weight of local comic talent, largely thanks to a core group of improvisers and the locally-produced television show CAUTION: […]
Posted on June 6, 2011
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider
Let’s play the race card again. As long as there is racism in the world, comedians of race will play the race card. Stand-up comics are expected to be honest, right? Gilson Lubin is no exception. While the Caribbean-Canadian comic fits right in with shows like the Def Comedy Jam, where the audience is mostly […]
