Winnipeg Comedy Showcase celebrates nine years with 32nd show

Sunday, Feb. 19, 8 p.m.
Park Theatre
Tickets cost $20; $15 in advance

Curated by Winnipeg funnyman Jared Story, the Winnipeg Comedy Showcase has proven to be a juggernaut in the local comedy scene. This Sunday, the popular stand-up series will celebrate nine years of existence with its 32nd (!) showcase.

And this instalment is stacked with talent. On the bill: Paul Rabliauskas, whose TV series Acting Good — a loosely autobiographical comedy based on his life growing up on Poplar River First Nation — debuted on CTV Comedy Channel in 2022; Tyler Penner, who recently headlined Rumor’s Comedy Club to a sold-out crowd; Chad Anderson, whose debut comedy album, Live at Wee Johnny’s, was released via Toronto imprint Comedy Records in 2020; Jon Wilson, who was the voice behind Jokes on You on CKUW; and Sarah London, one of eight local comics to be featured on the 2022 album Winnipeg Comedy (Comedy Records).

Making his Winnipeg Comedy Showcase debut is Brandin David, who was a 2022 finalist in Winnipeg’s Funniest Person with a Day Job contest at Rumor’s.

Tickets for the Winnipeg Comedy Showcase cost $15 in advance and are available at myparktheatre.com and from any of the comics on the bill. Tickets cost $20 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Showtime is 8 p.m.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Vance Joy’s concert fulfils long-delay joy

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m.
Centennial Concert Hall
Tickets: $54-$144.50 (including fees) at centennialconcerthall.com

Vance Joy’s fans in Winnipeg are certainly a patient lot.

They’ve had to wait almost three years for the Australian indie-pop singer to make his way to the city, after his headline performance scheduled for the 2020 Winnipeg Folk Festival was struck from the books by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So instead of enjoying songs under the summer skies at Birds Hill Provincial Park, Joy’s fans will leave the tarps at home and make their way to the Centennial Concert Hall Tuesday night for the Winnipeg portion of the singer’s In Our Own Sweet Time tour.

Joy has kept busy since 2020, releasing the percussive single Missing Piece, in May 2021, the same day the song appeared on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, and a new album, In Our Own Sweet Time, last June.

According the concert hall’s website, Joy’s show is a hot ticket. Only about a dozen of the priciest seats, located in the first two rows of the main-floor seating area, were still available at press time.

— Alan Small

 

Robert Houle, beading and film screenings at the WAG

Regular museum hours and admission costs
Feb. 20-23

Regarded as one of the most influential First Nations artists in the world of contemporary art, Robert Houle’s 50-year retrospective exhibition returns to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. “I basically grew up in this gallery,” the St. Boniface-born Houle said when the exhibit first opened in October. Red Is Beautiful features over 90 large installations, paintings and drawings created by Houle between 1970 and 2020. “His artwork has much to do about ourselves, about our land, about reconciliation,” Stephen Borys told the Free Press’ Alan Small in October. See for yourself, with a 2 p.m. tour scheduled.

Meanwhile, the WAG is also hosting several events that are free with the price of gallery admission: films in French and English will screen in the Muriel Richardson Auditorium and Ilipvik Theatre at 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m. From 1-5 p.m., a family crafting area will be up and running in the gallery’s Eckhardt Hall. Claire Johnston will be leading a beading workshop from 1-4 p.m. (registration required). And Jocelyn Piirainen, the associate curator at the National Gallery of Canada, will be offering tours at 1 p.m.

— Ben Waldman

 

Bovey launches chronicle of Western Canadian art and artists

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park location
Free admission

Canada’s first museologist and art historian to be appointed to the Senate hopes you’ll join her for the launch of a new volume chronicling Western Canadian art and artists.

Long before her appointment to the Senate in 2016, Patricia Bovey had made a name for herself as one of the country’s most prominent art historians, and from 1999 to 2004 served as the director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Bovey’s new book Western Voices in Canadian Art, published on Feb. 13 by University of Manitoba Press, details art and artists in Western Canada, from the first European-trained artists to work in the region in the 18th century through to today’s creators — both settler and Indigenous. In addition to Bovey’s words, the book is illustrated with more than 260 images depicting the art and artists.

The free launch of Western Voices in Canadian Art takes place at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and will be hosted by local performance artist Shawna Dempsey. The launch will also be streamed on McNally Robinson’s YouTube page.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Dining out on a dime

Now until Feb. 26
Various locations
Visit ciaowinnipeg.com for more information

The city’s longest-running food festival is currently underway. Dine About Winnipeg, an annual event hosted by Ciao! magazine, has been celebrating the local restaurant scene and encouraging diners to step outside their comfort zone for the last two decades.

More than 20 restaurants are taking part this year, including Cho Ichi Ramen, Fusion Grill, Café Carlo, Glady’s Caribbean Kitchen and Hermanos Restaurant and Wine Bar.

This year’s event, which runs until Feb. 26, is designed with budget consciousness in mind. Participating restaurants have created multi-course prix fixe menus at four different price points: $19, $29, $39 and $49.

At North Garden Restaurant on Pembina Highway, for example, patrons will receive their choice of soup, appetizer, entrée and dessert for $39 per person. On Sargent Avenue, Gojo Ethiopian Restaurant is offering samosas, a shareable platter and a beverage for $19 per person.

Reservations are recommended.

— Eva Wasney

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