Hilarious fun with Snowed In Tour
Stand-up comedy shows have become standard fare in North America so it’s a challenge to avoid becoming formula fare.
Snowed In Comedy Tour, now celebrating 10 years, followed the formula at Kelowna Community Theatre last weekend.
A warm-up by host Dan Quinn, a natural storyteller, was followed by routines from Scott Thompson, Paul Myrehaug, Pete Zedlacher and Damonde Tschritter.
With outside temperatures dipping well below zero, the sold-out theatre was more than ready for heart-warming belly laughs with a belly full of beer. In fact, the start of the two-hour show was delayed due to long lineups at the beer counter and many fans headed down the stairs with two or even three beers in their mitts.
Judging from the clinging odour, that wasn’t the only intoxicant, so jokes about marijuana’s pending legalization in Canada found a receptive audience.
The show got off to a rousing start when producer Paul Breau announced it would be filmed for CHEK TV on Vancouver Island and he asked for a loud cheer to adjust the recording microphones. The audience enthusiastically complied but his second request: “Quiet for one second” was ignored by many until a male voice yelled: “Too many women!” A hearty laugh from everyone was followed by several seconds of “room tone.”
“It turns out our fans like to drink,” quipped Quinn who then related the humorous story about losing his wedding ring on his recent honeymoon. When he shouted to his new wife on the beach asking her to help him search the shallow water offshore, she responded as if he was drowning: “You’re OK. Just stand up.” And she walked away.
Zedlacher, who hails from Wawa, a small mining town in Northern Ontario, draws heavily from his Canadian working-class roots.
When checking into a Canadian hotel, “it doesn’t matter what day it is, there’s a children’s hockey tournament there … on your floor,” he said to laughs. And parents are always in the parents’ lounge while their children create chaos.
His authentic Canadian logger attire — red, white and black plaid shirt plus blue jeans — was complimented by his full, dark beard.
At 35 years, his body decided it didn’t want to work anymore, Zedlacher admitted, so he decided to only work for an hour a day doing standup comedy and spend the other 23 hours applying for jobs that don’t exist, such as ones he creates at La Senza lingerie store, “a perfect place for a creepy guy like me.” The punchline can’t be repeated in a family newspaper.
Tschritter joked about smokers who brag marijuana makes them more alert when driving a vehicle. “It certainly makes everyone else in the car alert,” he said to laughs, likely the most from those who indulged that night and their friends.
Thompson, who is well known to fans as a member of the Kids in the Hall, opted for crude
humour, reminiscent of the style from Ron James and Gerry Dee at Kelowna Community Theatre last year. Almost all of his material can’t be repeated and the audience reaction was muted compared to the other comedians.
To complete the evening, Myrehaug was the piece de resistance with his physical humour, whether it was mimicking a Toronto raccoon or Calgary rabbits, a telemark skier or watching cartoons while stoned.
The Kelowna show completed an Okanagan circuit that included Big White Ski Resort and Silver Star