2011, REAREND IN VIEW: Comedy thrives in Edmonton
In almost a year of deep explorations of stand-up comedians and their comedy, two themes emerge: 1. Geez, what a dirty job. 2. But somebody’s got to do it. Yes, somebody has to tell the truth out there. We get lied to on a daily basis by the government, by corporations, by the media, by […]
GIGGLE CITY: Mike Dambra plays Pickle
Edmonton comedians Mike Dambra and Drew Behm suffered minor injuries over the weekend when they were assaulted by two disgruntled hecklers in Rimbey. We can laugh about it now. Or is it … too soon? Mike Dambra doesn’t seem to think so. Doing the emcee gig at the Comic Strip this weekend (for headliner Daniel […]
GIGGLE CITY: Harland Williams comes from a happy place
Like many Hollywood stars whose stand-up comedy made them into a Hollywood star, Harland Williams still goes out on the road to do stand-up comedy, from time to time. He does it to pay the bills, to maintain the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed, but that’s not all. “I love it,” he says. […]
GIGGLE CITY: Debra DiGiovanni laughs at herself
Comedians teeing off on themselves is a time honoured tradition. Black guys talk about being black, fat guys talk about being fat, women talk about being women – know yourself, write what you know, right? Debra DiGiovanni has especially made a career of self-deprecation, sometimes to the point, she says, that audience members feel sorry […]
GIGGLE CITY: J. Chris Newberg comes out from behind his guitar
Unlike rock musicians, stand-up comedians don’t have anything to protect them from the audience, no instrument or prop to hide behind. Well, unless they’re a prop comic or something. A guitar may be a prop, too, or a crutch. Either way, comedian J. Chris Newberg has been relying on his six-string less and less over […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Holy S***! Pepper & Dylan win!
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 […]
GIGGLE CITY: ‘Farts never go away’ – Brian Scolaro
Maybe it’s his tough Brooklyn accent. Maybe it’s because he’s large and hairy and releases a record called “Sneezes, Farts and Orgasms.” But Brian Scolaro seems to have suffered far too many hecklers for a guy who’s been on TV and is not known for “working the crowd.” Most comics we interview usually come up […]
GIGGLE CITY: Tom Green plays the Peanut Butter Game
He dry-humped a dead moose. He put a severed cow’s head in his parents’ bed. He put dog poop on a microphone and held it out to interview people on the street. He married Drew Barrymore. No, wait – that last one wasn’t supposed to be funny. Or was it? What Tom Green has done […]
