Tour sees comic friends hit dizzy heights on Island
ON STAGE What: Snowed in Comedy Tour featuring Pete Zedlacher, Dan Quinn, Craig Campbell, Paul Myrehaug Where: Royal Theatre When: Saturday, 8 p.m. Tickets: $45 in person at the Royal McPherson box office, online at rmts.bc.ca, or by phone at 250-386-6121 Note: The Snowed in Comedy Tour also stops tonight in Courtenay and Friday in Nanaimo
Four comics each doing 25-minute sets is the essence of the Snowed in Comedy Tour. But for the funnymen whose names appear on the marquee, the snowbound trek through Canada has a few more incentives.
The tour — which features Canuck comics Pete Zedlacher, Dan Quinn, Craig Campbell and Paul Myrehaug — is booked to take full advantage of winter weather.
Many of the cities on the sixweek Alberta-B.C. leg of the tour just happen to be blessed with popular ski hills, a big benefit for tour founder Quinn and his fellow comics. Without the benefit of what amounts to a working vacation, the Snowed in Comedy Tour participants would be facing long, difficult drives with little respite.
No comic with half a brain is signing up for that. “We wanted a vacation and we didn’t want to pay for it,” Quinn said of the tour he founded in 2008. “It’s gotten bigger over the years, but the philosophy has sort of stayed the same. Snowboarding is a big part of it, and once a week, we go out for a really nice meal and whatever the bill is, the tour pays for it. No one is really complaining.”
The comics kicked off the tour on Jan. 3 in Prince Rupert. By the time the extensive run of dates comes to a close, Quinn and Co. will have hit more than a dozen ski hills in Alberta and B.C. (the four friends snowboarded in Smithers and Prince George last week, and hit Mount Washington on Wednesday.)
It’s not all fun and fresh powder, Quinn says. Travelling the highways in a packed Jeep Cherokee isn’t as glamorous as some might think.
The tour is running two vehicles at the moment — Campbell and his family in one, and Zedlacher, Quinn, and Myrehaug in the other. “We don’t have a lot of room,” Quinn said of the nonfamily ride.
“When you’ve got six weeks of clothes and your snowboard gear, it doesn’t leave a lot of space.”
Quinn is hoping to one day move up a level, in terms of production values, and obtain the services of an official tour driver. “It would be great if we had a bus just driving around with our snowboards — that’s when we’d know we made it. Who’s that? Oh, that’s just our snowboard driver. It would be awesome.”
The tour wraps up on March 17, in Thunder Bay, Ont., the farthest east Quinn has taken the Snowed in Comedy Tour during its 10-year history. The run now tops out at 48 dates, a massive undertaking for an all-Canadian collection of comics.
“We’re not famous American acts or anything. The reason why we’re selling tickets is that people have come, told their friends, and come back.”
Quinn has clearly found a sweet spot with audiences, as a good percentage of the stops sell out in advance. Few tickets remain for the shows in Courtenay (tonight), Nanaimo (Friday) and Victoria (Saturday). Stops in Port Alberni and Campbell River this week were sold out, according to Quinn.
The success of the tour comes down to the personalities of the comics, Quinn said.
Though each member of the tour has spent some time in the spotlight, be it Just For Laughs appearances or guest spots on CBC’s The Debaters, they are not household names. The everyman appeal is endearing to audiences, especially in some of the smaller cities on the tour.
“There’s a real personality to the shows. Craig [Campbell] isn’t for everybody, but man, some people love him, because he’s just who he is. And if you don’t like him, there’s three other comics on the show.”
The possibility for expansion is always on the table for Quinn, who does the booking and manages the finances. But he’s also aware of the risks, having grown the tour from seed to stem.
“Next year, our plan is to completely dip our toes into Ontario and hit Toronto for the first time,” Quinn said. “It’s tough, though. We’re a business and it’s a financial risk. Nobody is guaranteeing us any money — we only get paid if people show up.”