Comedy
Winnipeg comedy fans should be familiar with Steve Patterson (@patterballs on Twitter), the longstanding host of CBC's The Debaters (@cbcdebaters).
Big Daddy Tazz has been performing at comedy clubs and theatres across Canada and beyond for years, making people laugh about the mundane while also opening up about his own struggles with bi-polar disorder.
Full disclosure upfront: the first stand-up comedy CD I ever purchased and listened to multiple times over was Demetri Martin's 2006 debut, These Are Jokes. I bought the CD while on a road trip to Minneapolis to see a concert, and listened to the album multiple times on the 8-hour drive home.
This year marks the fifteenth Winnipeg if... Improv Festival, which takes place September 30 to October 4 at the Gas Station Arts Centre. The event features members of Hip. Bang!, Rapid Fire Theatre, Der Kaktus, and The Kids in the Hall.
Graham Clark is a comedian based out of Vancouver, BC. He and fellow comic Dave Shumka co-host the popular Maximum Fun podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself.
With only a decade of on-stage experience, Shane Mauss has achieved a Master's education in stand-up comedy. He started telling jokes in 2004 and made two appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien within his first three years.
There are few Canadian comedians operating on the same level as Mark Forward. He is an absurd storyteller and an unusual talent. His debut stand-up comedy album, Things I Thought Of, was released earlier this year.
I was first introduced to the comedic mind of Daryn Jones on his early 2000s Comedy Network show Buzz, which featured he and Mista Mo in various sketches and random bits and interviews on the streets of Toronto.
Stand-up comic Phil Hanley has had a great last couple years since moving from Vancouver to New York to take his comedy career to the next level. He's appeared multiple times on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, as well as shown up on John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central.
The first thing you realize when watching Debra DiGiovanni -- whether it's on stage or during her appearances on television shows such as Comedy's Match Game or Much Music's Video on Trial -- is that she's ridiculously funny.
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