2025 WINNIPEG COMEDY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 100% CANADIAN LINE-UP!

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival (WCF), presented by Manitoba Liquor Marts, launches its 24th annual festival with an all-Canadian lineup! Running April 28 – May 4, WCF 2025 delivers a full week of seriously funny laughs—just when we need them most. With everyone talking tariffs and checking labels, remember: they can tax our lumber, but they can’t tax our laughs!

Artistic Director Dean Jenkinson says, "From day one, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival has been by Canadians, for Canadians. Our country’s comedy scene is bursting with seriously funny artists, and we’re thrilled to showcase them to Winnipeg audiences and elevate them to a national stage on CBC. Join us this year—elbows up, Eh Game engaged, and laughs guaranteed!"

This year’s festival features a mix of fresh programming and returning fan favourites.

NEW PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

  • Comedy in the Brewery: A Queer Comedy Night
    Mon. Apr. 28 & Wed. Apr. 30,
    8 PM at Good Neighbour Brewing (110 Sherbrook St.)
    An intimate night of belly laughs and brews. Free parking in the Food Fare lot. Ticket includes a jar of beer!
  • Steve Patterson is PatterDad
    Wed. Apr. 30, 7:30 PM at GSAC (445 River Ave.)
    Steve Patterson returns to WCF with an all-new show about fatherhood—outwitted, outrun, and outnumbered, but never out-joked.
  • The Crowd Work Show
    Thurs. May 1, 7:30 PM at GSAC (445 River Ave.)
    A fully improvised stand-up show where comics take the stage with zero prepared material—just their wits and a microphone. Crowd interaction welcomed, but be prepared, these comics are sharpening their wits and their tongues!
  • Bannock Bums
    Sat. May 3, 7:00 PM at GSAC (445 River Ave.)
    Fierce, funny, and full of heart, this all-Indigenous showcase proves laughter is medicine.

FAN FAVOURITES RETURNING FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF LAUGHS:

  • Laughing with The Stars
    Tue. Apr. 29, 7:30 PM at GSAC (445 River Ave.)
    (6 PM pre-show tasting with Good Neighbour Brewing)
    Back for a 4th year, featuring local celebs Richard Cloutier (CJOB), Marcy Markusa (CBC), Taz Stuart (Winnipeg’s favourite bug guy!), and Jen Zoratti (Winnipeg Free Press).
  • The Debaters
    Fri, May 2 (7 PM) & Sat, May 3 (2 PM) at MBCI’s Jubilee Hall
  • Dark & Dirty Show
    Sat, May 2, 9:45 PM (18+)
  • Free laughs on the GSAC Patio, including The Great Patio Showdown: A Comedy Game Show hosted by Dave Hemstad (April 30 – May 3).

RECORDED-FOR-BROADCAST MEGA SHOWS:

  • Maybe It's Me
    Thursday, May 1, 7:30 PM
    A hilarious show about how sometimes your worst enemy lives in the
    mirror. Hosted by Ashley Callingbull, Cree actress, model, activist, and the first Indigenous Miss Universe Canada!

  • 100% Beef
    Friday, May 2, 6:30 PM
    Grievances aired, nobody spared. Comics get complaints off their chests and into your ears. Hosted by Ugandan-born, Toronto-based comedian Arthur Simeon.

  • Sick Jokes
    Friday, May 2, 9:15 PM
    A funny bone-breaking look at illness and injury, because laughter is the second-best medicine. Hosted by K. Trevor Wilson (Letterkenny’s "Man Mountain of Comedy").

  • Old School
    Saturday, May 3, 6:30 PM
    Comics young and old skewer later life. It’s comedy that ages like fine whine, hosted by Stacey McGunnigle (22 Minutes, The Second City).

  • Unusual Suspects
    Saturday, May 3, 9:15 PM
    Spend some time on comedy’s Island of Misfit Joys. Unconventional comics. Uncommonly funny. Hosted by Jon Dore (The Lake, Conan, Inside Amy Schumer).

For media inquiries or to schedule an interview, contact:
E. Anne Dawson
Director of Communications
204.396.0468
anne@winnipegcomedyfestival.com