Magic ends as Comedyworks shuts its doors
Re: “After 24 years, Comedyworks’ closing comes as a shock” (Gazette, June 21)
Lying in my bed on Saturday morning, it really hit me.
The place where I grew up artistically, where I went to “school,” the Comedyworks, has suddenly died. For myself and the other English comedians of Montreal, the closing of the Comedyworks is akin to the sudden shutdown of Concordia University — but while you’re studying for your degree.
Actually, I don’t think I experienced nearly as many emotional highs and lows at Concordia as I did on and off the stage of the Works.
This place was the premier comedy institution in the city, and a place you figured was immune to the realistic hardships of business.
The institution was old school; a small, intimate setting with a stage in front of the classic red brick wall. And the place’s owner, Jim (Jimbo) Skomorowski, was old-school, as well. If you were a comedian, Jimbo always gave it to you straight. If you asked him to watch you (to audition for weekend time) and he thought you weren’t ready, he’d tell you, and he’d tell you why.
I’ve performed in many clubs and rooms in different cities and had some really great shows. At the Comedyworks, I had shows that, when revisited in my mind, feel like dreams. There was a type of magic in that room that is very hard to find in other clubs. That magic is associated with a classic era of standup comedy that I feel lucky to have been a part of.
A huge part of that is gone in Montreal right now.
The closing of Comedyworks will alter the English comedy scene in Montreal dramatically — not just for the 30-40 English comics working the scene, but also for Montrealers of both languages in ways you don’t even know.