Some of the city's best up-and-coming comedians are mixed with some of the city's most established comedians, and Mike McGuire will be there, too.
McGuire is not like the others, you see. He is the outlier. The exception. The punchline, even.
There are six comedians on the marquee for this extravaganza April 6. Yet it is called Mike McGuire: One Man Show. How could this be when the billing also has Cindy Klassen, Kylie Lewis Holt, Neelam Pahal, Monita Ranu and the evening's emcee is Virginia O'Dine? One man show? It's a head-scratcher.
O'Dine and Klassen have been on so many comedy stages around the city over the years that audiences are quite familiar with them by now. They are known comedyties (yes, that's a play on words).
The other three on the undercard are lesser known but that's changing by the week. They are taking advantage of the all too few opportunities to work their material at open mic events, opening act positions, amateur nights and so forth. Each of them is new, but has experience at places like Sonar, Nancy O's and Nelly's Pub.
"I was a class clown in school, I saw some standup, and I always felt I could do this, but I was really a lot more reserved," said Ranu. "I would joke around with my friends but I never wanted to be the centre of attention, until some things happened and I had some breakthroughs in my life, and I suddenly saw myself going for it."
Now she has five stage appearances under her belt (and counting quickly) and she hosts a radio show called Laugh Lounge on CFIS-93.1.
Holt also started out in comedy from a reluctant beginning in Toronto where she attended a show at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club "and I saw a couple of comics who didn't do very well, and they got booed and I thought nope, that's not anything I want to sign up for, I want no part of that" but as the years went by and her personality developed a fierce, outspoken streak, it almost naturally led her to a microphone.
Before long she was opening for comedy star Brent Butt.
For Pahal, the relationship with comedy has been on-again, off-again. She kicked butt at an amateur competition, and did some more of these entry-level shows, but she was also a university student so she had to concentrate on studies more than new material. But the stage kept calling so she would binge-joke.
"I was doing every weekend for awhile, there, and I was definitely burning out. Something had to go," she said. "But I am done school right now. I start my master's program in a year and a half, so all I have to do for that time period is work and comedy. I could see myself taking standup a lot farther, I could see myself touring, and I really love it, that's what keeps driving me to do it, so we will see what happens with this window of time I have."
All three of them point - literally, they pointed right at him - at McGuire as a reason they are approaching comedy with new confidence. As perhaps the single most experienced and consistent standup artist in town, he has been careful to use his veteran status for the benefit of newcomers.
"I've always been open about just yelling at people, so I think I've come a long way because Mike was honest with me right to my face, but respectfully, about how I had all this energy but no real substance," said Holt. "I needed more punch line payoff, not just glitz and glam and roarrrrrrrr. If I have Mike giving me pointers and feedback, then yes, I think I could do comedy as a profession, but definitely I'm going to keep doing it just for my own fun."
"It changes for me," said Ranu. "I always think of it as a hobby, but then I see how my act has been developing, and comparing that to other people, and admitting how I feel about it, I love it, and I can see the possibilities, I know it is out there as an option for me, but for now I'm happy to have it as a hobby."
In case, it was still flying under the radar, the show is called Mike McGuire: One Man Show because he is the only act in this event with outdoor plumbing.
"I often come up with the name of the show before I even have the material for it," he said. "I had the title One Man Show pop into my head, and once I was conscious about the way that could be a play on words, and turned that over in my mind a bit, it became really clear to me that this city has a really strong contingent of women doing comedy. Women probably comprise 40 or 50 per cent of the regular standup performers in Prince George, as they should, because it is 2019, so it just unfolded from there."
The comedians in the area have some social media chat rooms they frequent for peer communication, so McGuire tossed the idea out into those streams. "Within an hour I had everyone," he said. "I texted Virginia directly, because she is the most experienced and has a lot of recognition for her funny work, and Monita was the first to respond that she was in on this, and it just tumbled together in a flash."
McGuire and the five non-male comedians in the One Man Show take the stage at Artspace on Saturday (doors at 7 p.m., jokes at 8). Tickets are $15 in advance at Books & Company or at the door while supplies last.
