Bah humbug I say, this past weekend we found ourselves having to cancel our plans. We had planned a weekend trip to a place we visit once or twice a year just south of the border. The main reason we go is for the huge indoor water park and since E has a cast which can't get wet I thought taking her to a place for swimming wouldn't be nice.
So I was left to figure out what to do with a suddenly free weekend. One of the things I thought to check out was if anyone of interest was coming to a particular comedy club which happens to be fairly close to our house. Then I remembered something I live in Winnipeg.The land that comedians, American and Canadian alike seem to forget exists. It seems Winnipeg has fallen off the map for anyone who lives outside of Manitoba and it is skipped over not just by comedy acts but by any other type of entertainment you can think of. Invariably if I see an ad for some tour and check out where they will be visiting the closest performance will be in Saskatoon or Fargo.
Ok I may be exaggerating just a little bit, Winnipeg doesn’t seem to be skipped over quite as often as it once was but this particular club doesn’t seem to have had a decent booking in ages. I’ve been checking their website every few months for probably a few years now, and I rarely see a name I even come close to recognizing.
Except for one spot, in this spot I do see names that are recognizable these are found in the banner at the bottom of the page. This banner has a rotating list of comedians who at one time or another have played here in the past. The only problem being that I don’t believe any of these comedians have actually played here since oh I don’t know my guess would be 1990 something.
I would have loved to have seen Russell Peters, Scott Thompson, John Stewart or Greg Proops. I don’t know when they were last at this particular club but it has clearly been awhile. I mean Frank Gorshin is on the list and didn’t he pass away about 5 years ago?
Claiming a comedian who hasn’t actually been to your club in half a decade or more due to death or otherwise as having been “recently seen on stage” is a blatant lie. That is not recent. If it has become a club for new or upcoming comedians fine but then advertise it that way, not as a destination for known acts.
Ok I’m done. I just couldn’t fight the urge to go on a rant any longer. I know there are other places and sometimes something good does come this way however this particular club seems to have forgotten how to attract anyone of interest. I think I understand now why they give out so many free tickets.
So what if Winnipeg doesn’t have an exactly thriving comedy scene at all times and hey we may even be the go to city to poke fun off on both sides of the border but at least it doesn’t rhyme with anything. I’m looking at you Regina.
