Calgary comics cultivate community, hilarity

Think you’re funny? You’re not. Think you got what it takes to get up on stage and tell jokes? You don’t.

That shouldn’t keep you from honing your skills, though. There may not be a better time in Calgary to see your comedy dream come true.

A new wave of independent comedy has hit this city and the support and camaraderie of its comedians and fans has helped establish a healthy community where experimenting and exploring are encouraged.

“There’s a lot of independent stuff going on and a lot more funny people coming up that are actually hungry for it and passionate about it,” says veteran Calgary-based comedian Donovan Deschner who created Red Carpet Comedy, a niche event that requires its stand-up performers to tell only new jokes. “What all of them are doing now is exposing comedy to a much brighter light in the city of Calgary.”

In the past year several more niche nights have emerged, giving the long standing go-to open mic night, Comedy Monday Night, some friendly company.

Newly formed events like Going to Hell Sundays, Aww... Burn!, and Kaboom… Hooray! Comedy! have been established to satisfy the diverse range and tastes of the cities’ comedians, a trend Jeff Kubik, founding member of Kaboom… Hooray! Comedy!, recognizes.

“In addition to waves of people coming up, it feels like there’s also different groups that come up together that are more aligned with each other,” he says.

Kubik is happy his hybrid stand-up/sketch comedy night has found an audience as twisted as he is.

“We want to find people to get off on the same stuff we do.”

Audience support is growing as fast as the new venues allow, the University of Calgary Comedy Club has gone from a 20-person audience to a full room almost every week in only six months of existence.

Co-founder Brent Constantin believes the nights’ success rests heavily on a willing audience.

“People are going specifically for open mic night,” he says. “Nobody heckles; everyone is super supportive all of the time. It’s a great place for people to launch their first set, it’s the lowest pressure I think you can get anywhere in the city. My hope is that comedians take this opportunity to develop themselves.”

With new venues and comedy nights established, and the receptive audiences to go along with them, Calgary’s new wave of comedians are free to experiment. They are free to fail and learn from it — an essential part of progressing as a performer.

Deschner — who created calgarycomedy.ca to keep tabs on new venues and groups — welcomes the fresh faces and artistic freedom, knowing full well he’ll be required to evolve with them if he wants to stay on top of his game.

“It is nice to see people coming up and pushing boundaries, because when the amateurs come up and they’re starting to write really well and they’re finding their voice it reminds you, ‘Oh yeah, this is my job; I need to maybe up my game as well.’”

One of those people keeping Deschner on his toes is Doug Mutai, an immigrant from Africa who has been doing stand-up for a year. He feels overwhelmed by the supportive network of colleagues he has found himself surrounded by.

“It’s a close community; there’s lots of love. You just feel at home.”

Click to view a map of current open mic nights in Calgary.