Steinberg hosts new comedy festival

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/02/2002 (8916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AHH, wintertime in Winnipeg — January is the coldest month, February is the shortest month, and March is the funniest month.

Funniest? Huh? That’s right, March is the funniest month — or, at least, it will be, thanks to a new CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival that will run March 21 to 24 at the Gas Station Theatre and a dozen other various venues around town.

“It started out as a big deal, and it’s grown into a huge deal,” veteran comic and festival co-ordinator Al Rae said of the fledgling funny-fest, which already boasts a roster of more than 40 acts.

“There’s a big appetite for comedy in this city; it made sense to try to do a big event in the style of Just For Laughs. We’re so good at festivals here, and this is a perfect kind of festival to do in the winter, when people really need a laugh.”

The brand-new event will showcase the talents of local performers, Canadian comedy greats and some bonafide international stars — including Winnipeg’s original comedy pioneer, who rose from humble-but-funny beginnings in the north end to the top of Hollywood’s comedy heap.

David Steinberg, seen most recently in Global TV’s music-industry satire, Big Sound, is scheduled to host the festival’s second gala evening, Prairie Homecoming, at Pantages Playhouse on March 22. Steinberg will also moderate a panel discussion on What Makes Winnipeg Funny, on March 23 at the Gas Station Theatre.

Among the other performers scheduled to appear at the inaugural CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival — which will feature standup, improv and sketch comedy in both formal theatre settings and free-stage venues — are local favourites Dean Jenkinson, Al Rae, Gerry Barrett and the Spleen Jockeys, and touring headliners Ron James, Derek Edwards, Brent Butt, San Cullen, Glen Foster, Barry Kennedy, Teresa Pavlinek and John Wing.

Also scheduled to attend are radio personality Arthur Black, comedy legend Dave Broadfoot and improv veterans Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie.

The festival will open at noon on Mar. 21 with a free comedy reading by playwright/performer Ian Ross (Joe From Winnipeg) at the Centennial Library solarium, and will close on Mar. 24 with a Late Night Live performance by Jeb Fink and friends at the Gas Station Theatre.

Rae said what happens in between is designed to appeal to the broadest audience possible.

“This is a very diverse comedy festival,” he explained. “There’s a series of films at Cinematheque — including some rare Laurel & Hardy two-reelers and a nice print of Dr. Strangelove — that would appeal to people who might not be interested in conventional standup.

“At the library, there will be two days of programming for children; there will be a comedy show for ‘tweens at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre, which is a style that has never been attempted; and there’s free shows at the three downtown malls throughout the festival.

“We’re really trying to expand the definition of ‘comedy.'”

The festival schedule includes three gala concerts — the Prime Minister Show (March 21), featuring comical perspectives on Canada’s best and worst PMs; Prairie Homecoming (March 22), starring a deep roster of flatland-born comedians; and the CBC Comedy Gala (March 23), featuring the likes of Arthur Black, the Vestibules, Bill Richardson, Nancy White and Dave Broadfoot.

The closing-day lineup includes a French-language show, A Francophone History of Manitoba, and an aboriginal-themed performance, the Dead Dog Comedy Hour and a Half.

The ever-popular Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie will be the festival’s busiest act, contributing at least five shows to the schedule, including a pair of performances/improv workshops at local high schools.

Rae said he’s particularly proud that the first-time festival’s lineup is 100 per cent Canadian.

“That’s completely by design,” he said. “It was the original idea, and quite honestly, I didn’t entertain any other notion except that it would be all Canadian.”

That’s very much unlike Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival, which sees scores of U.S.-based comedians and showbiz insiders migrate north for two weeks of intensive schmoozing and deal-making.

“This festival is all about performing, and not at all about landing a deal,” said Rae. “My hope is that these performers will come to town and entertain the people of Winnipeg to the best of their abilities, and that everyone involved will have a wonderful time. I don’t think having goals beyond that will make this festival any better than it already is.”

Tickets for festival events range from $8 for individual performances to $30 for the three gala concerts.

Several of the shows will be recorded for later broadcast on CBC radio and television, including a trio of hour-long prime-time specials that will air on CBC-TV.

PHOTO