Three Canadian comedians are using weather as an excuse in case they don't make it on stage for their gigs.
You'd think they know better. Nobody in Canada thinks anything less than the Buffalo blizzard is any excuse for not showing up. We send our kids to school at minus-40, for Rudolf's sakes, so we all expect Michelle Christine, Andrew Barr and Michael Flamank to be at the mic on the Nancy O's stage on Dec. 8 even if they keep calling this the Weather Permitting Tour.
Ah, but these are three hardy Canuck comics. They are plowing their way across the Canadian shield and the prairies right now, headed our way, and they have already borne witness to shocking Canadiana. Christine explains.
"We were on the highway out of Sault Ste. Marie on the way to Thunder Bay when all this traffic was backed up in front of us. We had to slow right down, and we could see that some kind of incident had happened ahead. We couldn't tell if it was a big crash, but something was causing everyone to look at the side of the road, and as we passed by we got to see what it was. It was a pile of dead bison. It was literally a graveyard of bison scattered on the right side of the road. I don't know if they were dead before the crash or not, but there they were, an omen for us. We are on the quintessentially Canadian tour when you see a pile of bison on the side of the road."
But can they make a joke out of this? That is the question mulling about in their own heads, since their surreal encounter. And if you can craft humour out of the great buffalo massacre of Sault Ste. Marie, is nothing sacred?
Believe it or not, the timing of this tour was actually deliberate and logical. Yes, there are summer months when travel across the Great White North isn't, well, white. And icy. And (as) death defying.
But it could have been worse.
Christine said that the idea came up at the end of summer, they had to take time to call almost every bar and hotel in Canada to set up a viable series of shows, then they had to acquire gas money, and they had to admit if they let the idea fester until spring they'd probably get distracted by some shiny thing, but they didn't want the full onslaught of winter to hit, so it pretty much had to be now.
So here they come.
In brief, the three are rising comedy stars based in Toronto who have vaulted over the amateur crowd and are knocking on the door of the real pros.
Christine was selected to perform at Second City as part of the Fresh Meat showcase 2014. She has been in the Rising Star contest for the Brantford Comedy Festival, the quarter finals for Sirius XM's search for Canada's next top comic, and the semifinals of the Border City Comedy Festival. She has appeared on MTV and in the NXNE Festival. Her blend of storytelling is high energy and personal, and includes stories from working at the Police Impound.
Barr is known for his eclectic brand of humour and stage persona often described as "so dry it would make for good kindling." From snappy one-liners to thorough recounts from his life, he explores all avenues of comedy, everything tied together with unyielding logic. A featured performer in North By Northeast 2013 and 2014, Barr has also showcased for Sirius XM and recently brought his comedic stylings to television, appearing on iChannel and MTV.
Flamank has worked with many of the best stand-up comedians in Canada while hosting and producing his acclaimed show Comical, based in Toronto. He moved to Toronto from Kamloops to further his stand-up career, and loves heading back west. He has co-headlined two wildly successful cross-Canada tours - The Sleeping In Our Car Tour and The Sleeping in Our Car 2'er - and is excited to be back on the road again.
This time, the wheels are new and stylin'. The Weather Permitting Tour caught the attention of the owner of Westowne Mazda in Toronto who provided the car and four winter tires. Christine thinks it might be because they didn't want to read in the news about three missing comedians last seen somewhere near a pile of dead bison.
They knew, though, that they had to get themselves out of Toronto and into the rest of Canada or it was their careers that would be disappearing.
"Toronto can be a tough nut to crack because of how much there is to do on any given night," said Christine. "It's not just how many comedy shows are on in one night, its all the different kinds of comedy, plus all the theatre and concerts and Cirque du Soleil and everything else there is to do. We are going out on the road to stretch our legs, get polished, get the stage time, which you cannot get in Toronto because the nut is just too hard to crack."
Well the jokes on you, Weather Permitting punks, because Prince George has Cirque du Soleil coming soon, too, and I'm sure there are some concerts around here somewhere.
Just to prove their Canadian mettle, the three are not sticking to the main cross-Canada medium markets like Prince George where they had a nice cozy comedy stage all ready for them at Nancy O's based on the recommendations of their comedy friends who've already been here. They are also doing shows in places like Williams Lake and Clinton - Clinton! - to cover all the dates on their tour calendar.
Tickets to see these three, Weather Permitting, are $15 at the Nancy O's door in advance of the night of the show.
