YYComedy is going down as the biggest comedy event to ever tickle Calgary’s ribs. The week-long laugh fest (Sept. 24 – 29) is bringing our city’s finest comedians, luminous international talent and dozens fresh faces together for a barn burner of chuckles. In addition to the massive Gala Show on Sept. 28 at the Jubilee Auditorium which features Kids in the Hall vets Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney, there are many shows worth seeking out. Here are some of the standouts of the new stand-up festival.
Comedy Monday Night
Seasoned pros handling hecklers and delivering perfectly timed punchlines is part of the allure of stand-up. On the flip side, career ambitions dissolving into an on-stage car crash is the reason many of us love open mic nights. Dip your toes into the tides of a stand-up’s humble beginnings — you’ll appreciate the veterans even more. And don’t feel too bad; the five-minute set limit brings mercy before anything gets too nasty. Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. Broken City , 613 11 Ave. S.W.
Best of Calgary Sketch
Live from Calgary, it’s Tuesday night! Two of Calgary’s finest sketch troupes, Kaboom… Hooray! Comedy! And The Late Late Breakfast Show, team up to unleash a fully cranked SNL-esque comedy spectacle on YYC. Sept 25 at 8 p.m. Yuk Yuk’s, 218 18 Ave. S.E.
Harland Williams
If you’re familiar with his now-famous roles in There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, this is the show for you. Williams is stranger in real life than either of those cameos and his talent for crowd work is top-shelf. Sept. 27 – 29 at 8 p.m., Sept. 28 and 29 at 10:30 p.m. The Laugh Shop, 5940 Blackfoot Tr.
Lori Gibbs
Gibbs went from amateur to journeywoman comic within the span of a few months when she started stand-up in Calgary six years ago. And now she returns from the mountaintops of the Canadian comedy scene as a seasoned pro to headline one of the clubs where she got her first laughs. Sept. 27 – 29 at 8 p.m., Sept. 28 and 29 at 10:30 p.m. Yuk Yuk’s, 218 18 Ave. S.E.
A Very Fubar Gorilla Theatre
David Lawrence’s now-legendary head-banger character, Terry Cahill from the two Fubar films, was birthed during an impov session at the Loose Moose Theatre Company when he was just a teenager. Now, Lawrence comes back to the Moose for a victory lap, in character as Cahill, ready to give’r his best effort as part of the theatre’s 35th anniversary celebration.
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Image courtesy of pierrotsomepeople.
