Funny business afoot as Rapid Fire Theatre moves to the Citadel

The old idea that the Citadel Theatre is the Edmonton version of Broadway, this ivory tower that’s both artistically and financially above all other local theatre companies is about to get turned on its head. Rapid Fire Theatre is moving in. These guys are loud, known to cuss, usually hilarious, and they don’t even know […]

Magazine on mission to mount monument to Melonville

We may drive down Mark Messier Trail, meet at the Wayne Gretzky statue and pause beside the Rollie Miles mural – so maybe it’s time we erected a Monument to Melonville. That’s what Avenue magazine is after in its determined campaign to pay sculptural tribute to the great Canadian comedy series SCTV, which has its […]

Holy Batman! The real Batman to host Comic-Con in October

Gird your loins, adventurers, for an upcoming “Comic-Con” exhibition of pop culture is bringing in the REAL Batman – which, as everyone knows, is Adam West. The star of the popular TV 1960s series – and lately as Mayor Adam West on Family Guy – is just one of the special guests expected at Edmonton […]

FRINGE CITY: The Return of the Borg

It’s always nice when an ex-Edmontonian comes back to visit. Break out the good bong. And show your love for Wes Borg when he returns to this year’s Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival – running Aug. 16-26 at innumerable theatres around town – the first time since his friend and partner Joe Bird died suddenly […]

Seven ways the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is like Disneyland

Well, there goes another folk festival – into the inevitable Four Strong Winds, whose annual performance at the end of the event marks the beginning of fall in Edmonton. Suckers! Longtime festival-goers – especially longtime festival-goers with kids – may notice certain similarities between the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and Disneyland. It’s eerie when you […]

ANNOUNCING: Jeff Dunham, Wintersleep, The Wiggles

One of the biggest stand-up comics who gets away with murder because he can blame it all on his racist puppets is returning to Edmonton. You guessed it: Jeff Dunham – along with Walter, Peanut, Jose Jalapeno on a Stick, Melvin the Superhero Guy and the ever-loving Achmed the Dead Terrorist, and many more! – […]

NEW FESTIVAL NAME: K stands for Klondike, you nitwits

The most anti-climactic, waste-of-money contest in city history has wrapped up and we have a new fair name. The winner? No one, really. When Northlands announced a couple of months back that they’d be looking for a new name for Capital Ex, the collective yell for a return to the silly-but-lovely tradition that was K-Days […]

Street Fest costs money – what good festival doesn’t?

The health of a good festival, like any good tourist attraction, can be measured on how fast it sucks the money out of your wallet – and it looks like the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival is in the pink. This is not a complaint. It’s a compliment. This venerable busker’s fest has long been […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Aboriginal comics write what they know

The aboriginal comics featured at “Red, White, and Hilarious: A Night of Aboriginal comedy” at Yuk Yuk’s Wednesday night are expected to devote good chunks of their time to being aboriginal – saying things a non-aboriginal comic could never get away with. At least not without getting a Pilsner bottle thrown at him. Featured at […]

REVIEW: Bill Maher laughs with us, at them

There was a time when Bill Maher’s jokes were so shocking, he had to warn the audience. “I’m about to start talking about religion,” he would say, “and it’s usually right about now that some of you get up to leave.” But the guy used to star on a show called Politically Incorrect, too. These […]

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, […]