One to Watch

Boom time. Winnipeg comedy is absolutely exploding with three new stand-up nights added to an already thriving comedy scene.
   
Times Change(d) and The Fyxx Espresso Bar (Albert St. location) recently began holding monthly comedy events, while The Cheer Bar and Grill (formerly The Academy) now hosts Stand Up & Cheer every Wednesday at 9 p.m. The trio joins already established events such as Comedy at The Cavern, Stand-up at The Standard and the King’s Head Pub’s Tuesday night Free Laughs series.
   
"The more stage time the better it is for everybody," says Benjamin Walker ,aka The Old Ball Coach, 31, host of Stand Up & Cheer and co-host of Shaw TV’s The Week Thus Far.         "When I first started two years ago, there was maybe two nights, now some weeks you can go up four or five nights. It’s like anything else; you can only get better by performing. I think there’s room for (all the shows). The more the merrier I always say."
   
Produced by Winnipeg comedy vet John B. Duff, Stand Up & Cheer features six to eight specifically selected comics, serving as a showcase for the Winnipeg comedy scene. Times Change(d)’s stand-up show, Comedy on the Corner, runs in a similar style, but with a twist.
   
"We’re the only show in the city that I know of that actually pays the comics and not just the host and promoter," says Aisha Alfa, 31, host of Comedy on the Corner, which goes down at 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month. "We split the door money with Times. It’s the one show where promoting it more, pimping it out to your friends actually means money in your pocket."
   
And even if the take home isn’t all that much, the experience is priceless.
   
"Our show is different than just your typical open mic night in that we have fewer comics and every comic gets at least 10 minutes," says Alfa, who won Rumor’s Comedy Club’s most recent Funniest Person with a Day Job contest. "The purpose is to allow local comedians the opportunity to practise stuff so they can build towards 20, 30 or 40 minutes and hopefully at some point headlining sets, not just randomly linked-together five minute sets."
   
It may be amateur comedy, but Melanie Dahling, host of Your Comedy Fyxx at The Fyxx (8 p.m., first Friday of every month), says professionalism is key.
   
"You have to take ownership of it," says Dahling, 27, a finalist in the Winnipeg Free Press’ recent Winnipeg’s Gone Wacky contest. "When it comes to creative pursuits, a lot of people have a hobby mentality, but you can’t, you have to see it as your job. When I get too busy to write jokes I see a real dip in my performance. You have to go, ‘What am I going to do with my comedy today?’ Even if you’re not making money at it right now, you have to treat it the same way you treat your job."
   
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