Tye Carson
Broken City’s comedy night: Either you’ll find your next favourite comedian or it’ll be an exercise in schadenfreude.
Calgary’s standup comedy scene in a nutshell
If you’ve ever been cruising through late-night cable TV and stumbled across a Canadian standup comedy special you might have been left a little cold. Maybe the audience laughed too hard at a joke that seemed too soft maybe it was just too easy to get up and check the fridge. One thing’s for sure: there’s just no substitute for live standup comedy.
Like live theatre and live music live comedy doesn’t package well. An energizing audience amps a comic up and the energy feeds back into an experience that you’ve literally got to be there for. And for those of us with masochistic tendencies there’s also something sublimely fun about watching a disaster unfold.
In Calgary as it is everywhere standup comedy is packaged into two (mostly) distinct flavours: professional and amateur. With professionals you’re paying for consistency — a host (the comedian who introduces the acts) a “middle” (the comic equivalent of an appetizer) and a headliner. With amateurs you’re rolling the dice on a longer night of open mic comedy that for less than the price of a pro show still gives you a professional headliner.
Deciding between them shouldn’t be a problem. When it comes to standup one thing Calgary doesn’t want for at the moment is options.
PROFESSIONAL
Calgary has three main clubs devoted to standup comedy. Bringing in headliners from across the country and the U.S. tickets at these clubs run between $10 and $20 depending on the club and the day of the week.
Yuk Yuk’s ($12 to $19) the heavyweight of the Canadian comedy club scene has franchises across the country. Calgary’s club used to be in the Blackfoot Inn but it’s since relocated to shinier blinkier digs in the Elbow River Casino. Expect to see local headliners like Marcus Beaubier and Karen O’Keefe and any Canadian comic currently on the company’s roster.
The Laugh Shop ($10 to $15) meanwhile has taken up residence in Yuk Yuk’s’s old digs in the Blackfoot Inn. It’s one of several in a Western Canadian franchise and local faces on the Laugh Shop roster include Trent McClelland and Brad Muise but they’ve also boasted the likes of Steve-O and Tom Green.
And last there’s The Comedy Cave ($10) a tiny club tucked into Travelodge on Macleod Trail. The Cave is a modest club and the servers aren’t always cheery but it’s hard to beat the price.
Beyond Calgary’s three main clubs star headliners can pack venues like MacEwan Hall and the Jubilee Auditorium though the vagaries of a famous comic’s touring schedule aren’t great for planning your evenings. For an annual event that’s more reliable there’s FunnyFest which unfortunately will be over by press time but you can catch it next spring.
Finally if you want to see professional comics but you’re also in the mood for a bit of risk consider checking out Red Carpet Comedy ($10) at Club Paradiso in Inglewood. It’s a monthly show run by local comic Donovan Deschner that brings in local pros and makes them perform only brand new material. Like an open mic Red Carpet Comedy removes some of the security an audience would otherwise get in a conventional club gig. But the next show isn’t until September.
And if that’s not enough risk for you…
AMATEUR
It’s a little misleading to bunch all open mics under “amateur” because it’s standard to have a professional headliner anchoring the show but even pros have to start somewhere. Open mic nights are where first-timers come to test their mettle and the returning wannabes struggle to catch the club manager’s eyes. Or just have fun.
Comedy Monday Night ($5) run Mondays (duh) at Broken City. With a lineup of comics that changes reliably week-to-week CMN is the longest running open mic in town. It has loyal followers both audience members and comics.
Broken City also hosts Talk Show Thursdays ($5) a monthly event created by Chris Gordon Amanda Brooke-Perrin and Don Wood. Standup comedy performance art and a general sense of mayhem make for a wild time assuming you’ve got the cojones to stay out late on a weekday.
While Talk Show Thursdays revel in the wacky Going to Hell Sundays roll in the mud at Juliet’s Castle Sports Lounge. With a headliner and local guests culled from the best of the amateurs and semi-pros Going to Hell Sundays aims to do exactly what its name suggests: Using Sunday to tell Calgary’s most irreverent dark and sometimes vile jokes. Starts at 7 p.m. on Sundays. Check gthsundays.com for updates.
Yuk Yuk’s ($5) also runs an amateur room on Wednesdays.
Yuk Yuk’s
Yuk Yuk’s located in the Elbow River Casino is Canada’s national standup comedy chain. 218 18 Ave. S.E. 403-258-2028.
The Laugh Shop
Located in the Blackfoot Inn this club features a roster of local national and international touring comedians. 5940 Blackfoot Trail S.E. 403-255-6900.
Comedy Cave
Modest club located in the Travelodge on Macleod Trail features standup comedians from Calgary and across North America at an unbeatable price. 9206 Macleod Tr. S 403-287-1120.
Juliet’s Castle Sports Lounge
Going to Hell Sundays the city’s raunchiest comedy night takes place on Sunday nights (of course) at this bar on the TransCanada Highway. 440 16 Ave. N.E. 403-276-2844.
Broken City
Broken City Monday Comedy Night just makes Monday’s worth enduring. 613 11 Ave. S.W. 403-262-9976
