Comedy Festival

Trevor Boris has come a long way from the farm he grew up on near Winnipeg. A two-time Canadian Comedy Award Nominee, he is one of the stars and producers of MuchMusic’s hit show Video on Trial, has starred in his very own Comedy Now!, is coming off a very successful performance at the ’08 Just for Laughs Festival, and recently filmed his first U.S. stand up special One Night Stand Up in Washington, D.C.

A former high school phys.ed. teacher, Gerry has made quite the name for himself in Canada and across the border.  He won Toronto’s Funniest New Comic in 1999 and went on to tape his own half hour Comedy Now! Special on CTV and The Comedy Network. In 2002, Gerry became the first Canadian in 27 years to win the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition. He has attended a variety of comedy festivals including The U.S. HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and Just For Laughs Festival. Most recently Gerry finished third on NBC’s Last Comic Standing.

Ottawa-born comedian Jon Dore spent three years co-hosting Rogers Television’s Daytime Ottawa, sharpening his skills to a fine point. For his work, creativity and quick improv skills, he received the Impression Award for best on-air personality in 2001. Many of Jon’s hosting skills come from working as a stand-up on the comedy club circuit in Canada. Jon has worked with Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival since 2003 and had a sold-out run for his Toronto Just For Laughs Festival show. Jon’s television credits include CTV’s Canadian Idol, The Jon Dore Television Show on The Comedy Network, his own Comedy Now! special as well as Comedy Central Presents. Jon has been hailed by TV Guide as one of Canada’s top "rising stars of the future”, and has recently been named on Variety’s Top Ten Comic’s To Watch list.

Multiple Gemini Award winning writer and comedienne Cathy Jones celebrates her 24th consecutive year on CBC Television this year, having started at CBC Halifax in 1986 with Codco and this year completing her 17th year on This Hour has 22 Minutes. A founding member of the Codco comedy troupe, the well respected stand-up and character actress has won rave reviews for her one woman shows, Wedding in Texas and Me, Dad and the Hundred Boyfriends.

A former member of The Second City, Peter co-wrote and starred in sixty episodes of the Gemini award winning series, The Comedy Mill. For 14 seasons he played Ranger Gord on The Red Green Show and created the role of Jim Walcott with Ken Finkleman for The Newsroom, which won an International Emmy. Peter has been on such series as Made In Canada, Billable Hours and Slings And Arrows. He can currently be seen in the new CBC series 18 to Life. A busy voice-over artist, Peter can be heard on dozens of radio commercials and in animation series nationwide. Peter is a fifteen time Gemini Award nominee and a four-time winner in the category of Best Performance in a Comedy Program or Series. He was also nominated twice for a Canadian Comedy Award and for an Actra Award for his role on The Newsroom and was the 2008 recipient of the Actra Award of Excellence.

Elvira is a Second City Alumnus who has had many years of comedic success in Canada and the U.S. She has starred in The Comedy Network’s series’ Popcultured with Elvira Kurt  and Elvira Kurt: Adventures in Comedy and has had her comedy specials air on Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, CTV, CBC and The Comedy Network. Kurt was voted Funniest Female Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards and received a Gemini nomination for her one-hour comedy special Elvira Kurt: I’m A Big Girl Now. No slouch in the writing department, Kurt contributed to the CBS pilot and HBO special for Ellen DeGeneres. 

Kevin is widely known for his work on Kids in the Hall which he founded with friend Dave Foley. He has also appeared on The Martin Short Show, Ellen, That 70’s Show, Seinfeld, Friends, NewsRadio, Arrested Development, Corner Gas and Less Than Kind. In 2006 Kevin hosted a CBC TV special featuring several of Canada’s best sketch comedy troupes. Sketch with Kevin McDonald won a Canadian Comedy Award.  Kevin recently reunited with Kids in the Hall at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and his new Kids in the Hall mini-series on CBC called Death Comes to Town.

Tim Nutt is a comic who can’t be judged by his cover. Long-haired, bearded and “rough around the edges” audiences expect Nutt’s material to match. But he surprises with razored-down punch lines and well conjured-up premises that place him as one of the top comics working today. Tim’s way of cutting through the Nonsense of everyday life has made him a favorite comic across the country. Tim is happy to be making his third Winnipeg Comedy Festival appearance.

Steve began his full-time comedy career in 1996 when he was fired from his full time copywriting job for making an ad about an amusement park "too amusing". Nominated for "Best Male Stand-up" at the 2007 Canadian Comedy Awards, Steve Patterson has emerged as a top international headliner and one of Canada’s best comedic hosts. Before taking of as host on CBC Radio One’s The Debaters, Steve starred in the CBC TV pilot, The Truth About and his own CBC Radio One special, Talking Funny with Steve Patterson.

Popular stand up comedian and actor, Boyd began his career in Edmonton, Alberta as a teenager. He has toured across Canada and is one of the favorite alternative comedians on the scene. In addition to stand-up comedy Banks is a well known character actor. He is often recognized as a familiar face from several “zombie” movies including Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead. Boyd can also be seen in movies such as Jackie Chan’s Tuxedo, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and the critically acclaimed Lars and the Real Girl. He has also appeared on many television series and movies of the weeks including CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and the new ABC series Happy Town.

Irwin is a comedy writer and performer currently working as a staff writer for the award-winning Rick Mercer Report. Irwin has made several appearances on CBC radio’s Madly Off in All Directions, and is a regular writer/performer for CBC Radio’s Debaters series.  He has appeared in numerous television comedy specials including Comics!, Comedy Night in Canada, The Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs International Comedy Festival. His comedic style has been described as “cleverly thought out introspection,” and it has delighted audiences everywhere he’s performed.  Diagnosed in 2007 with leiomyosarcoma, Irwin’s first year of cancer treatments was the subject of a CTV documentary entitled That’s My Time.

Originally from Toronto, Aaron was the winner of the 2007 COCA Comedian of the Year Award. He has travelled the UK, United States and Canada as a headliner. Aaron has been nominated for two Canadian Comedy Awards (2004-Best One Person Show, 2005- Best new Stand-up) and is the writer/performer of The Underbelly Diaries, the sordid tales of his part time experiences as a male stripper. Aaron has also appeared in films including M. Night Shyamalan’s Devil and the cult hit Detroit Rock City. Aaron has made guest appearances on CBC’s The Border and The Debaters and ABC’s Copper. His new solo show Machiavellian Messiah premieres in Toronto this summer.

Not only is Steve one of Canada’s finest stand-up comedians, he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.  As well as being a stand-up comedian, Steve is a TV host, a TV reporter, an actor and a popular school teacher.  Steve has performed at the Evening At The Improv (Los Angeles, A & E Network), Cityline and Breakfast Television (reporter CITY TV), Just Kidding (Host CTV), Grumps (Host Men TV), The Martin and Lewis Story (CBS), Comics (CBC TV), the Ha!lifax and Winnipeg Comedy Festivals and numerous corporate, community, charitable and educational functions.  He has performed with Jim Carrey, Jay Leno, Howie Mandel, Alan Alda and Keanu Reeves among others.

Don is a Cree from the Alexander First Nation located outside of Edmonton. The youngest of 15 children, coupled with the fact of growing up on the reserve, taught Don a variety of means of defending himself, not the least of which became his use of humour. Don has been involved within the healing/personal wellness movement for the past 17 years and has utilized humour and performance to provide a holistic approach to healing. Don wrote and performs the one-man play I Am Alcohol - Healing the Wounded Warrior. His highly acclaimed comedy show You Might be a Redskin – Healing Through Native Humour is a comedic performance that humorously portrays First Nations people, their habits, likes and dislikes.

Bruce Clark is a Winnipeg writer and comic who is one of the few Canadians to have performed on the Tonight Show. He has appeared at Just For Laughs and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and is a regular performer in Las Vegas. He has sold television pilots to VH1 and Comedy Central and writes for the Winnipeg Free Press and the Huffington Post.   Bruce is also the co-producer of this year’s Winnipeg Comedy Festival Storytellers show.

Graham Clark resides in Vancouver, BC. He has appeared regularly on CBC’s The Debaters and for the past year was a co-host and writer of City TV’s The CityNews List. He has twice been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award, (Best newcomer both times), and in 2008 he won Yuk Yuks Great Canadian Laugh Off. He has appeared at the Bumbershoot festival, Ha!lifax Comedy Festival and Just For Laughs. Graham been a guest writer on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, filmed his own hour long Comedy Now! special for CTV and is the co-host of the popular weekly podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself.

Charlie is an author and comedian based in Vancouver, BC. He is a frequent contributor to CBC Radio, and as a stand-up comedian he has performed across Canada and in numerous festivals including Just For Laughs Montréal and Toronto. The Globe and Mail noted his novel, The Prescription Errors, for its "arresting characters, and scenes humming with note-perfect dialogue," while his book of essays, Vancouver Special, was praised by the same newspaper for its "blend of acute observation, wit, intelligent reflection and lapidary prose."

This performer is under development...

Animateur de l’émission Carte blanche à CKSB Radio-Canada et bien connu comme humoriste, Vincent sera maître de cérémonie et animateur de la soirée. Préparez vos blagues, il est prêt à vous passer le micro!

Host of CKSB Radio-Canada’s drive home show and well known as a comedian, Vincent will be master of ceremonies and host of the show.  Prepare your jokes, he’s ready to hand you the mic!

Sam Easton was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. His career started out with a bang by winning the Phil Hartman award and being nominated for the Tim Sims award, as well as two Canadian Comedy Awards. His acting skills have been showcased on many movies and TV shows. He most recently starred in Final Destination 3. He’s also a regular on the Showtime series The L Word as well as the CW series The Mountain.  His one-hour comedy Special airs on both CTV and the Comedy Network.

Stand-up comedian Derek Edwards’s award-winning humour has made him one of the hottest properties in Canada. A regular at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, where he was recently hailed as a “virtuoso at the peak of performance”, Derek’s comedic gift is in making the ordinary extraordinary. Derek is the only Canadian winner of the prestigious Vail, Colorado Invitational Comedy Competition, is a two time Gemini nominee and has been nominated five times as Best Standup Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards.  Derek is currently touring his one-man show, It’s a Blunderful Life, in a 60 city cross-Canada tour. 

Scott Faulconbridge was nominated for a 2009 Canadian Comedy Award as Best Male Stand up.  Hilarious story telling and improvisational wit have led critics to claim that he is “among the best stand-up comedians on the continent”.  It has also earned him regular appearances on CBC radio’s popular The Debaters where he goes head to head with the best comedy minds in Canada. Scott recently opened for Howie Mandel at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and is a regular at Just for Laughs.

A headliner on the Canadian comedy circuit for over twenty years, Glen has also performed in The United States, Great Britain and Australia. He has starred in his own Gemini Nominated Comedy Network Special That Canadian Guy, where his hilarious but dead-on portrayal of the conflicted Canadian psyche struck a cord with the nation.  Glen has also appeared on numerous other television shows including CBC’s Comics, Just For Laughs, Open Mike and Comedy at Club 54. He has also written for a number of television shows, and has even provided humorous political commentary for CTV’s W-Five.

British-born comedian Chris Gibbs began his performance career in 1991, working as an acrobat on the streets of London. He’s toured extensively as a stand-up comedian and improviser, written and performed five hit, award-winning one-man shows, was a regular guest on NBC’s comedy series Howie Do It, played at the 2009 Just For Laughs Festival, starred in the Canadian indie feature Run Robot Run and is even a published author. In fact, the only thing he hasn’t done is appear at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Now that this goal is being achieved he’s open to suggestions about what to do with the rest of his life.

Shannon has been seen in professional shows such as Death of a Salesman (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre) and The History of Manitoba… (Manitoba Theatre Centre). She has taken part in several Fringe hits including The Clock In the Lobby and Eternal O.  Shannon is also a member of Winnipeg’s Hot Thespian Action.  The group was selected as part of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival’s Best of Fest two years in a row and was invited to the 2009 Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival.

Rich Hall quit his job as a hurricane namer for the United States Meteorological Service eighteen years ago and hasn’t looked back since. He has won the Perrier Comedy Award, Time Out Comedy Award, and two Emmys. He’s appeared on QI, Have I Got News for You, and The David Letterman Show, and made the documentary How the West Was Lost in 2008. His books include Things Snowball, Otis Lee Crenshaw: I Blame Society, Self Help for the Bleak and Magnificent Bastards.

Tyler Hawkins has toured all over Canada, and parts of the U.S. In 2001 Tyler was the winner of the first Funny Fest Contest in Calgary. Tyler has opened for some well-known comedians such as Bobcat Goldwaite, Jamie Kennedy, Rich Hall, and Norm Macdonald. In 2008 Tyler Hawkins won the Just For Laughs Homegrown Competition in Montreal, filmed a Comedy Now Special for CTV, and was a semi finalist in both the Boston and Seattle Comedy Competitions. He can also be heard on XM radio, and seen on Rooftop Comedy.

Identified as a “Canadian Master” by Just for Laughs, there is little doubt that Dave Hemstad is one of the most talented comedians in the country. Twice nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award, Dave Hemstad has also made three appearances at the world famous Just for Laughs Festival. He has made four appearances on CBC from the Ha!lifax Comedy Festival, and has his own Comedy Now! special on CTV. He has performed on CBC Radio on both Madly Off in all Directions as well as The Debaters. An accomplished actor, Dave has made numerous guest appearances on television and in films.

Chadd started improvising in high school and has not stopped since. As a member of Outside Joke he’s had the opportunity to perform not only in his hometown of Winnipeg, but all across Canada. Chadd also has been teaching improv almost as long as he’s been performing it and for that reason he has been highly involved with the Canadian Improv Games and Manitoba Improv League.

With accomplishments ranging from appearing at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, to five-star reviews and a completely sold out run at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, to writing and performing in a commissioned national radio play for CBC Radio, Hot Thespian Action continues to astound audiences with their unique brand of often physical, sometimes musical, always stripped down sketch comedy.

Since starting his comedy career over a decade ago, Dean has gone on to do television appearances on The Comedy Network’s Comedy at Club 54, CBC’s COMICS! and Global’s Comedy on Stage.  CBC news viewers recognize Dean from his award winning satirical commentaries on shows like Canada Now and Saturday Report. His 1998 play How Do You Know When You’re Done co-starring Al Rae was named among the Top Ten at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. He currently writes for This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Keener Dougherty has been making a name for himself on the Winnipeg comedy scene for over five years. From his over-analysis of sports and animal behaviours, to his strange past relationships, Keener will bring you into his quirky world with a little bit of edge and a whole lot of self-deprecation. Combining his standup and alternative comedy material, Keener produced his own one-man show, Keener Live in 2009. Currently he is preparing to launch a comedy show, which will be featured in the 2010 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. And after all is said and done, and you still can’t remember his name...  Don’t worry, he has it written on his shirt.

As a stand-up comic Don has performed across North America and has appeared on numerous television and radio comedy showcases, including his own national television specials on CBC’s Comics!, CTV’s Comedy Now!, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Debaters and many other national and regional programs. Don is currently host and writer of the Gemini-nominated television show Fish Out of Water on APTN. The show explores Don’s adventures as an urban Indian trying to learn the traditional skills and wisdom of Aboriginal peoples across Canada…with hilarious results.

Barry has appeared in over thirty movies and TV productions, headlined at Canadian and US clubs from coast to coast, overseas for the Canadian troops, and at the Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montréal comedy festivals. He has written three novels; Through the Deadfall, The Hindmost, and most recently Rock Varnish and can currently be seen as the host of Discovery Channel’s Out in the Cold, in which he has the honour of indulging his passion for the country by meeting people who live and work in frigid climates from the Yukon to Hudson Bay, Newfoundland to the high arctic of Ellesmere Island.

A true outsider, Michael was raised Catholic but converted to Islam after reading Alex Haley’s Autobiography of Malcolm X. He has written several novels and his 2002 novel The Taqwacores (described as a Catcher in the Rye for young Muslims) was made into a feature film that just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

A co-founder of the Yippies with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, Paul has led an extraordinary life. He’s dropped acid with Groucho Marx and edited Lenny Bruce’s autobiography. He’s been a free-speech advocate and has been published in Rolling Stone, Playboy, Mother Jones and countless other magazines. He has written several books including Confessions of a Raving Unconfined Nut, Who’s to Say What’s Obscene and One Hand Jerking.

Dan has been seen on Season 5 of Last Comic Standing where he was a semi finalist and his own episode of Comedy Now on the Comedy Network. He has trained and performed with Second City in Toronto and is a favourite at comedy clubs and corporate comedy events across North America. Audiences and clients have described him as clever, quick witted, hilarious and down to earth. They also mispronounce his name a lot. 

This performer is under development...

Jacqueline is a member of Hot Thespian Action, a Winnipeg group that has produced fantastically well received, sold out, shows for the last two years including Fringe hits Hands On and Hands Off. When not working with HTA, Jacqueline also performs in various independent and professional theatres around Winnipeg (selected: Top Girls (Manitoba Theatre Centre), Macbeth (Shakespeare In the Ruins), Surf (Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Carol Shields Festival)). Jacqueline can also be seen in the films Taken in Broad Daylight (Lifetime), Capture of the Green River Killer (Lifetime), and The Plague (Sony) She also works as a stunt performer in films such as The Assasination of Jesse James and a fight choreographer for shows at Prairie Theatre Exchange and Shakespeare In the Ruins, to name a few.

The St. Lucian born comedian, described as off-kilter, is a natural story teller who recently appeared on Russell Simmon’s Def Comedy Jam on HBO. This laid-back comedian is a Canadian Comedy Award winner and tv personality most recognized from MTV Live Canada. Aside from family he credits comedians such as Bill Cosby, Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock as his influences.

Originally from Flin Flon, Manitoba, Cara is the 2008 winner of Winnipeg’s Funniest Person with a Day Job, an annual contest held at Rumor’s Comedy Club and is the current title holder of Winnipeg’s Funniest Comic competition sponsored by the Winnipeg Free Press and Hot 103. She is the first and only female comedian to win either title. Armed with her quick wit and sassy self-deprecation, Lytwyn performs with a fresh attitude and dynamic energy.

Winnipegger Jimmy Mac is the co-host of CityTV’s Breakfast Television. He stumbled into comedy in 1991 on a dare, and from that point on, it turned into a career that’s taken him from coast to coast appearing in a number comedy network specials, and local appearances.

In addition to his successful and well received live performances all over North America, Mike MacDonald has appeared on numerous TV shows including Late Night With David Letterman, Just For Laughs, Showtime’s Comedy Club All-Star Show and Comedy Central’s The A List. His first special, Mike MacDonald; On Target was the first one-hour primetime special by a stand-up comic in the history of the CBC and easily won its time slot. Mike’s next special, My House! My Rules! also won its prime time slot when it aired in Canada and was nominated for two Gemini Awards for “Best Writing” and “Best Performance” in a comedy special.

Dylan’s rubber face and array of charismatic stand-up characters have made history by making him the first Canadian comic to be a back-to-back finalist at the prestigious San Francisco and Seattle Comedy Competitions. He has made appearances at Montréal’s Just For Laughs and The Boston Comedy Festival and was selected to perform for The Comcast Network. Dylan recently starred in his own Comedy Now! special for The Comedy Network and CTV. As a writer Dylan is working and developing zany new concepts for his first comedy show and future DVD release.

For the past six years, Chantel has traveled the comedy circuit from Thunder Bay to Montreal.  In 2006 she made her first appearance at Montreal’s Just for Laugh’s Festival and has been part of the improvised soap opera Soapscum at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg.  Having performed at a number of comedy clubs in Canada, Chantel returns to the Winnipeg Comedy Festival where she first performed in 2008 as part of the Big Daddy Tazz & Friends show.

Patrick honed his comic skills with Second City troupes in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as by performing his stand-up comedy routines throughout Canada and the United States. His exuberance and talent was rewarded when he won a double Gemini at the Gemini Awards -- one for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series” for his work on Traders, and one for “Best Performance in a Comedy Program or Series” for his role Harold Green in The Red Green Show. Patrick has made guest appearances on numerous series including: Blue Murder, The Associates, Made In Canada, Trudeau and Blackfly. McKennna’s most recently appeared in the film Everywhere.

Ryan mixes a traditional stand-up comedy sensibility with a loose improvised slacker style and he blends it all together with characters, multimedia, music and hilarity. Based out of Winnipeg, McMahon is a comedian/actor/writer that is making a name for himself as one of the most dynamic Native Comedians working in North America today. McMahon steers clear of tired, cultural stereotypes onstage, and instead, his live show combines standup, improv, and sketch comedy weaving stories and characters in an original style of comedy that he calls – Indian Vaudeville.

Originally from Winnipeg, Aaron is a comedian and actor living in Vancouver.  He has been a part of Second City’s Touring Company and the artistic director of the False Idle Factor Theatre Company in Toronto.  Aaron has appeared on Much Music’s top-rated show Video on Trail and was the host and sketch writer for their comedy special LOL.  He appeared on the Showcase TV series Retail and is in the movie Foodland.  Aaron is also a regular on the Comedy Network’s series House Party and CTV’s Less Than Kind both, filmed in Winnipeg.

Garth is a member of Hot Thespian Action, a comedy group whose unique brand of witty, stripped-down, truthful comedy gives them universal appeal. Garth has appeared in professional theatre (Pippi Longstocking with Manitoba Theatre for Young People), many Fringe Festival hits (Eternal O, Rib, The Bald Soprano), and several productions with HTA and sister troupe Foolish Wit Productions. He spends the bulk of his time doing film work including Full Of It (New Line), The Plague (Sony), and two Lifetime Network MOWs Taken in Broad Daylight and The Christmas Hope.

Ryan first started training at Manitoba Theare for Young People when he was 7 years old. He quickly developed a passion for acting and continued to study at Prairie Theatre Exchange and at Manitoba Theatre and Dance School. Ryan is a founding member of Commedia Dell’Arte troupe Foolish Wit Productions. He has been acting at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival for the past 6 years and has received critical acclaim for his performances in shows like ‘dentity Crisis, Heart’s Desire, and the hugely successful productions of Hot Thespian Action. HTA’s unique brand of witty, stripped-down, truthful comedy gives them universal appeal.

Twice winner of Best Live Performer at The London Comedy Festival - John Moloney is a well-traveled comedian who has delighted thousands at Festivals around the world. From Melbourne to Edinburgh, from the prestigious Just For Laughs in Montreal to The Liffey Laughs in Dublin – John has been recognized as a true multi-award-winning comic talent.

After working as an animator on the Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show, and providing voice-overs for Saturday morning cartoons, Morton focused his talents on stand-up comedy. He quickly became a club favorite in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK. Greg regularly headlines in Las Vegas, and Atlantic City Showrooms and can be heard on the Nationally syndicated radio program, The Bob & Tom Show. One of Greg’s musical parodies which has been gaining momentum online, sang to the tune of “Candyman,” is his own “Obama Man.” Currently the song has logged over 3 million hits on You Tube. His slapstick, physical, style, improvisational skills, and talent for mimicry create a show that leaves audiences gasping for breath.

Susan is Manitoban born, raised and hospitalized. She has performed locally at the King’s Head Pub, the University of Manitoba, and at Rumors Comedy Club as part of The Funniest Winnipegger With a Day Job Competition. With a unique perspective on life, death, and disability that was born out of her sudden neurological illness, she may be the funniest woman on life-support (in the Southern Manitoba area) that you will ever see.

Craig is a founding member and one of the principal singer/songwriters of the band Odds.  Odds inventive and soulful approach to classic pop won them many fans among their musical peers.  A friendship with the comedy troupe Kids In The Hall offered Craig the opportunity to write the musical score for the 1995 feature film Brain Candy. He received a Genie nomination for the film’s signature song Some Days It’s Dark. In 1999 he wrote and recorded the score for Bruce McCulloch’s first feature film Dog Park.  Some of Craig’s work has been for and with artists like Rosanne Cash, Colin James, Gin Blossoms, Wide Mouth Mason, Steven Page, Damhnait Doyle, and the Waltons.  Craig and longtime friend Jesse Valenzuela penned and performed the theme song for CTV’s outrageously successful Corner Gas. He has toured with Kids in the Hall as musical director and guest performer and worked in some capacity on a few of the Kids’ other endeavors – producing and writing with Bruce McCulloch on his album The Drunk Baby Project and performing with Kevin MacDonald in his show Hammy & the Kids. Recently Craig created the music for Kids in the Hall’s Death Comes to Town and is concurrently scoring Brent Butt’s new series Hiccups for CTV.

Karen is sassy, silly, and always witty. Hailing from Canada’s Northwest Territories, she now lives and laughs in Calgary. She shares her take on dating, drinking, and getting along with other humans, usually while in front of an audience. In 2006, Karen was featured on the CBC Radio One series So You Think You’re Funny?, where she was named one of their top five new Canadian comics to watch. Since then she has gained exposure on XM satellite radio’s Laugh Attack, The Debaters on CBC radio, and performed at the 2009 Ha!lifax Comedy Festival.

Nikki is a comedienne who hails from Nova Scotia and is one of Canada’s most original comics. Her no-holds-barred style of comedy and her lisp are two things which make Nikki standout as an innovator in the Canadian comedy scene. She is the recipient of three Canadian Comedy Awards and two nominations for Gemini’s. Her Comedy Inc. special on CTV was one of the networks most viewed. She has appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and is a regular on Much Music’s Video on Trial.

In the old days, Rollin used to write and perform a weekly comedy sketch for CBC Radio called The View From Greenfield. The “fame” which this brought him led to the opportunity to turn the Greenfield sketches into a live show, which Rollin performed across the country. Then one day a concert presenter requested that Rollin bring his show to Virden, Manitoba, but also requested that he bring a back up band for the musical part of his performance. So immediately Rollin set out to find a suitable band and the result was Rollin Penner and The Traveling Medicine Show. Their debut album, This and That, was released this past September.

Since beating out thousands for the enviable spot as part of the Final Five on NBC’s Last Comic Standing 2, Tammy’s current schedule is jam-packed with headlining appearances at top comedy clubs and venues across the country, as well as adding her comedic observations to specials on VH1, E!, G4, Country Music Television and TV Land. Giving pros a run for their money in the poker department, Tammy recently participated in the GSN poker series Poker Royale: Comedians Vs. Pros, making it all the way to the finals. Tammy also recently appeared in her own half-hour special for Comedy Central and co-stars in the upcoming indie films Everybody Wants to Be Italian and Made in Brooklyn.

This Canadian treasure has established himself as actor and writer; engaging in many disciplines including novel, play and screen writing, stage, radio, television and film. He wrote and starred in the seminal Canadian film, The Rowdyman and later went on to write the novel. Since then he has gone on to become one of Canada’s most recognized actors and was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 1998. Gordon has appeared in such television series as The Red Green Show, Due South and Power Play. His film credits include Who Has Seen the Wind, The Shipping News and Away from Her.

David Pryde is a Montreal comic whose humor is often called “cerebral”, a word which he hasn’t looked up but assumes means “hilarious”. He has performed comedy for CBC Radio’s The Debaters, numerous Just for Laughs festivals, and was nominated this year for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Stand-up. He is excited to attend his first Winnipeg Comedy Festival and will try to be the cerebralist he can be during his visit.

Al Rae is a Winnipeg stand-up comic and comedy writer. He is the winner of the Just for Laughs National Homegrown Comic Competition 2000. Prior to Little Mosque on the Prairie, Al was a writer on the sitcoms Blackfly and Big Sound (GLOBAL) He has hosted two comedy information shows for CBC Radio, That’s Capital about finance and Spin Off, a highly popular election satire show. His twenty part comedy drama series Monsoon House with Russell Peters aired on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006.  He is the winner of an Italian Prix Roma Screenwriting Prize and a Gemini Award and nomination for Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Bill Richardson has a long history with CBC Radio. He is now the host of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and In Concert on CBC Radio 2. He has published a number of books and is making very slow progress on a new one. A recent happy collaboration was with Veda Hille, with whom he co-wrote Do You Want What I Have Got: A Craigslist Cantata.

Ali has appeared in TV’s Next Comedy Legend Instant Star, Missing, 72 Hours: True Crimes, Video on Trial and MTV Live. On the festival circuit, he’s appeared at the 2007 Just For Laughs Homegrown Competition, Yuk Yuk’s Great Canadian Laugh Off and the 2006 Boston International Comedy Festival (Second City).

Dan grew up in Winnipeg. An animation filmmaker and avid astronomer, Dan has sprung his geeky sci-fi jokes on stages from Toronto to Los Angeles. Dan often refers to himself as bi-sci-fi owing to the fact he adores Star Wars and Star Trek equally. With jokes clean enough for the brain surgery theatre and far out enough for Carl Sagan, Dan’s deadpan, Vulcan delivery might leave you wondering “What would Kirk do?” at every crossroads in your life.

Lors d’un spectacle d’humour ou d’improvisation,  Michel sait faire rire. Et il le fera encore cette année, avec un spectacle tout neuf et encore plus drôle!

Using stand-up comedy or improv, Michel knows how to make people laugh. And he’ll do it again this year, with an even funnier, brand new show!

A much loved headliner with the Yuk Yuk’s chain of comedy clubs, Derek has worked with some of Canada’s best; like Russell Peters, George Strombolopoulous, Steve Patterson, Jeremy Hotz, Mike McDonald, Sugar Sammy, Mike Wilmot, Mike Ward and the list goes on, often at their behest. Following last summer’s French Comedy Bastards show, which was a huge critical and commercial success at Just for Laughs, demand for Derek’s appearances have skyrocketed. He has appeared at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Global Vancouver Comedy Festival, the Ha!lifax Comedy Festival, and The Grand Rire du Québec Comedy Festival just to name a few.

Sandra has worked with Second City and Theatresports, and as a puppeteer on Fraggle Rock before deciding to strike out on her own. In 1987, she applied to the Edmonton Fringe Festival to perform her first show, My Boyfriend’s Back and There’s Gonna Be Laundry. It became the smash hit of the festival, and soon Shamas was on tour performing the show across the country. Two sequals, My Boyfriend’s Back and There’s Gonna Be Laundry II: The Cycle Continues and Wedding Bell Hell were also great successes. After taking a hiatus, Shamas returned with a new series of shows, Wit’s End. Shamas has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Stephen Leacock Award for the Laundry trilogy. She won a Gemini Award in 1991 for Best Performance in Comedy, and won the Best Theatre Award at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in March 2003.

John is a comedian from small town Newfoundland, and for a province whose population is about that of half a city block in Toronto that’s saying something. He has performed at the Ha!lifax Comedy Festival, twice at the St. John’s Comedy Festival where he garnered rave reviews, and has toured with Yuk Yuks. John was also featured in the premiere episode of CBC television’s The Republic of Doyle, took part in CBC radio’s The Debaters, and has a steadily growing list of corporate clients.

Arthur Simeon is simply unique. Born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, Arthur moved to Canada as a teenager and has taken the Canadian comedy scene by a fiery storm. An intelligent and enchanting performer, Arthur is a storyteller like few before him, bringing a unique perspective to being an African in North America. He has been nominated for a Cream of Comedy award, and has been featured on CBC’s Accent on Toronto and The Debaters series. He has also been to the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and toured with Russell Peters. A truly remarkable journey continues as Arthur sets out to build an international comedy career.

This performer is under development...

Franco is able to reach out to the outsider in all of us. Together we laugh and celebrate being stranieri in America. His comedy, like our lives, is neither rooted nor stuck in "nonna’s old world". Hilarity ensues when old world meets the new world with only us as its translators! It is comedy about the immigrant as the Hero not the victim. It is empowering while being damn entertaining. Franco performs nationwide and has appeared on both CTV and CBC. Having just returned from a triumphant 18 city cross country tour, he’ll walk you down that memory of our youth, just in case you happened to "fuggedabout" it.

For more than a decade and a half, Tazz has been delighting crowds at fundraiser, corporate events, festivals and television. He recorded his own Comedy Now! special in 2008 and has appeared in many national festivals including Just for Laughs, the Moncton Comedy Festival and of course, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. At the 2008 festival, Tazz earned the moniker “Marathon Man of Mirth” after performing an unprecedented 8.5 continuous hours of stand-up.

Jane is a longtime member of the Winnipeg improv troupe, Outside Joke and Hot Thespian Action. HTA has produced fantastically well received, sold out, shows for the last two years including Fringe hits Hands On and Hands Off. When working with scripts, she tends to stick to sketch comedy with Hot Thespian Action and writing for CBC Radio’s Comedy Factory. However, she is known to do the occasional full-length play, such as Little Munsch On the Prairie at Prairie Theatre Exchange and Théâtre du Grand Cercle’s Bouche à oreille. Jane last appeared in Prairie Spirits, the sequel to the Winnipeg Fringe Festival favourite, The Good Daughter, by Ginny Collins.

Scott  is a Canadian television comedian, best known for his time as a member of the comedy troupe Kids in the Hall. The troupe’s series aired starting in 1989 on CBC in Canada and on HBO in the United States, but moved to CBS for the fourth and fifth seasons. Best-known for his monologues as the lisping Buddy Cole, he also acted regularly on The Larry Sanders Show and Felicity and made numerous guest appearances on other television series including Politically Incorrect, The Late Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Train 48 and Star Trek: Voyager as Ambassador Tovin.

Ron Vaudry, a twenty-five year veteran of stand up comedy and is one of Canada’s top comedians. He has appeared on Open Mike with Mike Bullard, Yuk Yuk’s:The TV Show, The Arsenio Hall Show, Comedy at Club 54 and has had his own CBC Comics special. Ron has appeared at The Seattle Comedy Competition, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Just for Laughs, Funnyfest and The Great Plains Comedy Festival. He headlined the Yuk Yuk’s chain as one of their best for decades as well as Toronto & Montreal’s top comedy clubs.

Francois is an award-winning stand-up comedian, actor and playwright. His energetic and animated portrayal of life as a teacher and his observations about growing up with a bilingual name in a small town create a memorable comedy experience. His French Canadian story-telling roots and boy-next-door demeanour shine through every time he steps onto the stage.  Francois has performed at the Ha!lifax Comedy Festival, HubCap Comedy Festival,Off-Centre Comedy Festival, P.E.I Comedy Festival and the Island Stand-up Showcase. He has also headlined and toured with Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Clubs throughout the Maritimes and Ontario.

George is a Gemini and three-time Canadian Comedy Award-winning writer, actor and musician based in Toronto. George began writing and performing comedy while he was still in high school with former classmate Al Rae. Their unique style of musical comedy took them across Canada, the United States and Britain with numerous appearances on radio and television. Since then, George has had a successfully eclectic career as a comedic musician in a number of bands and as a writer, including two seasons of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Jeremy is the worst thing to happen to Winnipeg in a long time. Williamez has been performing musical comedy in Winnipeg for the past five years, leaving a trail of disgusted, disappointed and downright angry fans in his wake; however, the 32-year old is showing no signs of letting up or slowing down. With songs on a variety of subjects ranging from STDs to time-travel and fornication, Williamez is sure to disappoint and disgust pretty much anyone with even the smallest shred of good taste or common sense.

A stand-up Comedian for more than twelve years, John is described as "a savage amusement" or "a very dry comedic martini”. He has made his deadpan, sarcastic wit a style to be reckoned with. At the 1993 Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, John’s performance was strong enough to earn him a Gemini nomination. Since moving to the U.S. in the late 80’s, John has made appearances on The Tonight Show, Fox’s Comic Strip Live, MTV’s Half Hour Comedy Hour, VH-1’s Stand Up Spotlight, and A&E’s An Evening At The Improv. He has worked in comedy clubs and colleges in thirty states and in every Canadian province.