Has Black History Month lost its meaning?

Has Black History Month lost its meaning?

The trouble with Black History Month isn’t over the fact that it happens to be the shortest month of the year. It’s the word “black.” Does it mean African, and if so what part of Africa? It’s a big continent. It could mean Caribbean or American, descendents of American slaves. And what about black people […]

End of the Earth, by Chad Huculak

End of the Earth, by Chad Huculak

COMEDY: Kathleen McGee’s act is a life examined

COMEDY: Kathleen McGee’s act is a life examined

Oprah’s truck balls, tweets of people’s genitals, Al Roker telling everyone he pooped his pants in the White House, Facebook status updates of breakfasts that look like poop – these are a few of our favourite things! We live in a world where the phrase “whoa, too much information!” is uttered by no one ever. […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Graham Neil honours brother with comedy

Don Neil loved stand-up comedy. He never missed a show by his brother – CTV Edmonton entertainment correspondent and sometime stand-up comic Graham Neil – and after he died of cancer three years ago, Graham and some comedy friends decided there was no better way to honour Don’s memory than with an annual comedy show. […]

COMEDY: Sterling Scott to hit the next level with DVD taping

The allure of the professional stand-up comedy trade is powerful when you’ve become hooked on making people laugh. It can happen as early as childhood. Some call it a sickness, others an addiction, and there is no known cure, no comedic “methadone.” There is often nothing for it but to … become a professional stand-up […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Die Nasty to end season with a real who-did-it

The burning question in the Italian town of Edmontonioni this weekend is: Who murdered the famous Parisian fashion designer Poni – whose real name turns out to be Antoine Horseman – at a potluck dinner held in his honour? (Insert cheesy organ, climbing up diminished chords to indicate mounting suspense, as needed.) Was it … […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Mike Dambra’s sperm cures cancer

Mike Dambra has become famous for, nay, almost dependent upon, a joke so politically incorrect it can cause even insensitive boors to swoon in shock – a routine about retards. That’s right: Retards. Being from New York is his excuse for using the word “retard” instead of “special needs” or some such – he uses […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Tony Woods cuts through the you-know-what

Like many African-American comics, Tony Woods plays the race card from time to time – not that there’s anything wrong with that; Chris Rock does it all the time – but some of his best material involves what people in the comedy trade might call “cutting through the bullshit.” Hey, it’s a dirty job, but […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Landry airs dirty laundry

It’s getting a little tiresome to see ethnic stand-up comics going on and on about their ethnicity time after time after time – but hey, write what you know, eh? Still, it seems a bit lazy. One of the best in Edmonton this weekend is the mono-named Landry, at the Laugh Shop in Sherwood Park. […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Rob Schneider, Dave Foley return to comedy stage

The trick to enjoying Rob Schneider movies is to have low expectations – and in that light, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is a comedy classic. To a lesser extent, so is Grown Ups. Conversely, when the Saturday Night Live star returns to the stage-up comedy stage from whence he came – Friday night at the […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Bonfire Improv Festival opens Tuesday

Without Canadian comedy, American comedy would consist of Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy. And Dennis Miller on Fox. And without Edmonton comedy, Canadian comedy wouldn’t have SCTV, Kids in the Hall (to an albeit small extent) or the rich legacy of comedy improv forwarded by the redoubtable Rapid Fire Theatre company. Conclusion: Edmonton […]

GIGGLE CITY: Wayans Brothers keep it personal

For all the complaining that stand-up comics do about being stand-up comics, it can be a road to the big-time. Just ask the Wayans Brothers – this amazing show-biz family from Brooklyn that used comedy to escape poverty. Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, White Chicks and the TV series In Living Color are just some […]

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