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This article was published 27/07/2022 (1198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Comedy Showcase

July 31, 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)
Park Theatre
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door

When the Winnipeg Comedy Showcase made its debut in January 2014, comedian and showcase host/producer Jared Story figured it might be a one-off.

He was (happily) proven (very) wrong: Sunday night’s show at the Park Theatre will be the 30th edition of the Winnipeg Comedy Showcase — a nice, round number that illustrates just how important the showcase has been for emerging and established local comics alike. When comedians are cutting their teeth, it’s often while being ignored at an open-mic night at a bar; the Winnipeg Comedy Showcase, meanwhile, offers comics the chance to audience-test bits and hone their tight fives in a theatre.

Featured funny people on Sunday night’s bill include Andy Noble, Emmanuel Lomuro, Karlee Liljegren, Abby Falvo, Matt Kay and Carson Košik. Advance tickets are available via Ticketweb, Eventbrite or from the comics on the bill.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Minnedosa ready to R-O-C-K out

Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa
Friday to Sunday
Rockin’ the Fields stage at Minnedosa Beach, three kilometres north of Minnedosa
Weekend passes: $225 plus fees; day passes:$95 plus fees at rockinthefields.ca

The band that didn’t just rock, but also taught the world how to spell it, will kick off Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa Friday night.

Helix, the Canadian heavy metal band who hit the charts in 1984 with the audacious Rock You, take the stage near Minnedosa Beach 6 p.m., and launch three nights of cranked-to-11 blasts from the past.

Following Helix on Friday’s 1970’s and ‘80s-focused lineup are Sweet (7:30 p.m.); Foghat (9 p.m.); and Nazareth (10:30 p.m.).

Saturday night takes a look back at Canada’s grunge years of the 1990s and 2000s with Finger 11 (7:30 p.m.); Big Wreck (9 p.m.); and Our Lady Peace (10:30 p.m.) performing.

The classic-rock weekend wraps up Sunday with Streetheart (6 p.m.); Chillwack (7:30 p.m.); Honeymoon Suite (9 p.m.) and Tommy DeCarlo (10:30 p.m.) , the vocalist from the group Boston, on the bill.

Headlining the event’s secondary hilltop stage are Doug and the Slugs (Friday night); Snake Oil (Saturday) and Harlequin (Sunday).

— Alan Small

 

Cirque du Soleil tumbling through Winnipeg

Aug. 3 to 7
Canada Life Centre
Tickets start at $93.50, including fees, at ticketmaster.ca

Amazing ants, flexible dragonflies, silky spiders and crazy crickets. Cirque du Soleil’s buggy high-flying show, OVO, starts a five-day residency at Canada Life Centre next Wednesday.

OVO takes audiences inside a larger-than-life ecosystem full of colourful fauna and 52 circus performers dressed up like all manner of insects.

Originally presented as a big top show, the biodiverse production about a bug’s journey through new colonies of insects has been reimagined for an arena setting. The current North American tour is Cirque’s first since the pandemic began.

Winnipeg audiences can expect two-hours of high-energy stunts featuring trampolines, aerial acrobatics, tandem juggling and balanced contortionists.

Tickets are available for the local run, which includes matinee and evening shows on Saturday and Sunday. OVO is appropriate for children, but does contain flashing lights that may trigger patrons with photosensitivities.

— Eva Wasney