Call for Submissions
The 22nd Annual Winnipeg Comedy Festival is May 2-7, 2023
The festival is accepting submissions from October 1 - 31, 2022. Please email to: submissions@winnipegcomedyfestival.com.
Please tell us:
- which theme(s) you are pitching for. (See themes below).
- where you would be flying from.
- your contact info and if you have representation (their contact info if applicable).
Important:
- Be TV-clean.
- 8-10 minutes sets are ideal.
- Video links preferred. Written submissions, or links to websites with clips also accepted. Material cannot have previously aired on national television, streaming services (including YouTube), and podcasts.
Themes:
Below are six themes, FIVE OF WHICH will become our five TV galas. Feel free to submit to more than one.
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A show about how we increasingly live our lives in a digital or virtual space. Comparing our digital selves vs. our real-life selves, the metaverse, email etiquette / online etiquette vs. real life etiquette, online dating, catfishing, trolls, edge lords, reply guys, online jargon, Insta filters, TikTok, influencers, NFT’s, curated social media, the unreality of it all, interest groups online, online support groups like “patients like me,” it’s a show that says RIP IRL!
Squad Goals
How you identify and the group you identify with. Tell us who are YOUR PEOPLE, your pack, your community, who you fit in with. Could be religious, could be related to national home or origin, could be personality types, could be interests (sports, hobbies, collections, fandom), could be political point of view, could be age range. What’s that something that gives you a pack mentality or sense of belonging, and sometimes forms strange or unlikely bedfellows. Perspectives could be first or third person. What makes birds of a feather flock together?
Thank You, Next
Material about break-ups, romantic and otherwise. Culling the herd, quitting your job, breaking up with a professional (a hairdresser for example), unfriending, cutting people out of your life, buzzkills, being broken up with, getting rid of the weak links. Tell us your break up stories! YA DONE!
Spill The Beans
Confessional material, vulnerable material, comics reveal themselves in a brave way, tell us your personal idiosyncrasies, who you are when no one is around, your secret thoughts and obsessions, it’s a show about how we’re all so weird so in a way we’re not so weird.
All The Feels
The mental health show. A show about mental wellness, neuroses, struggles, depression, hang ups, feeling ‘sick and tired,’ obsessions, how we cope with being overwhelmed by a flood of info, self-care, therapy, internal vs external treatments or care, the way we’re conditioned to feel what we feel, overcoming boxes we’re put in, neurodiversity, the different ways we process, being stuck, fight or flight moments. Let’s talk!
The Root of All Evil
A show about money and our relationship to it, capitalism, consumerism, wealth distribution, income inequality, crypto currency, branding, “securing the bag,” buyer beware, money being a main reason why relationships fail, how hard it is for couples to talk about, the gig economy, etc, etc.
Some friendly advice:
- Please don’t send one 10-min set and tell us you think it could fit into any or all the themes.
- Please don’t send a set filled with F-bombs and the assurance the jokes work just as well without them. Take one evening to do the set TV- clean and show us.
- Please showcase your material, not your crowd work.
- Be timely while being timeless. Keep in mind our shows air a year after taping and beyond, so avoid topical jokes that date your material.
- Remember - we're not making a list of our 30 favourite comics; we're casting TV shows. We have 6 spots to fill in each of 5 shows. Each of those 6 spots is different and ought to touch on a different aspect of the gala theme.
- We will contact you if we are interested.
- Although we book US and international acts, those spaces are limited due to Canadian content rules on the TV show. We know putting your heart and soul into a submission is hard work. We greatly appreciate you taking the time! Good luck, and may this be your year!
Submission Guidelines: PDF