THE UNLIKELY COMIC: Craig Martell is his own punchline
Craig Martell doesn’t claim to be a real stand-up comedian – so does that make him a better stand-up comedian? It’s all so terribly confusing. He doesn’t fit the usual stand-up comedian profile. First of all, as co-owner and party captain of the Wunderbar Hofbrauhaus, he’s a pretty upbeat guy. “It seems like most comedians […]
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: Even one club down, lots of comedy ahead
Make that What’s Not So Funny – it looks like the Laugh Shop is out of business. There was talk the Sherwood Park comedy club would be moving to a new 124th Street location for an opening on Oct. 1, but that never came to pass. The owner-operators reportedly sold the building and that is […]
Right? Left? Bill Maher bound to make someone mad
When people hate you as much as some people hate Bill Maher, but you still make enough money to give a political cause a million dollars, you know you’re doing something right. At the Jubilee Auditorium on Friday night, Maher is an unapologetic agnostic. His latter-career political genesis started as a centrist libertarian on Politically […]
Jim Cuddy, Jay Mohr to headline 2012 Edmonton Comedy Festival
Jim Cuddy is among the big name comic talent coming in for the second annual Edmonton Comedy Festival, announced Wednesday … and wait a minute, Jim Cuddy is the singer from Blue Rodeo. He’s no comic. “Actually,” says comedy fest producer Andrew Grose, “Cuddy is a really funny guy.” Apparently he’s got some funny songs, […]
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: Arena comics risk Nickelback syndrome
There’s something strange that happens in the course of a stand-up comedian’s rise to success. While moving up from nightclubs to theatres is celebrated, prompting pats on the backs and kudos all around, hitting the next level – arenas – seems to result in a wee bit of a backlash. Consider that racist puppet guy, […]
COMIC INTERVIEW: Brent Butt gets mocked for optimism
The great thing about being a stand-up comic who gets a TV series is that you have a pretty sweet gig to fall back on once the series – inevitably – ends. A lot of TV actors aren’t so lucky. Ask Seinfeld’s co-stars. Brent Butt was of course the creator and star of the CTV […]
