June 7 is the seventh day of the sixth month of the year, which may not be impressive on its face, but if you step back and think about it, long-festering tensions between the two adjacent numbers could bubble up at any unexpected moment, and that is definitely something we should all fear when we each rise on that seventh day of the sixth month of the year.
Canada's only exclusive stand-up and sketch comedy label, Comedy Records, has teamed up with Exclaim! for the Comedy Records Showcase, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month at Wenona Lodge (1069 Bloor St. W) in Toronto. Show times are at 9 p.m. sharp!
Our June 7 edition features Casey Corbin, Sarah Donaldson and Chris Locke, so we asked each of them to tell us more about themselves and here are the things they opted to share with us at this time.
Casey Corbin is from Arnprior, ON but currently lives in Toronto.
"I grew up watching SNL and SCTV but it wasn't till I saw Eddie Murphy's Delirious that I knew I wanted to be a comedian," he says. "I started watching as much stand-up as possible — Evening at the Improv, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and of course Just For Laughs. At 16, I told my family at my uncle's wedding that I was going to become a standup comedian. I didn't step on stage till I was 20.
"That stage was the original Yuk Yuks in Ottawa," Corbin adds. "The stage where Norm Macdonald, Jeremy Hotz, Jon Dore and so many other amazing comedians had gotten their start. I always enjoyed laughing and the only thing more gratifying than laughing was being the person creating the laughter. To this day, making people happy and helping them laugh is the best.
"No wait, getting paid to make people laugh might actually be better."
Corbin says that his upbringing in the Ottawa Valley continues to inform his material, which is smart but delivered in the manner of a simpleton.
"I tell stories and write observational material with plenty of misdirection and wordplay," he says. "I don't believe that any topic is off-limits. However, I have gotten rid of certain trigger words that set people off from my act. I can be edgy, but I don't do a lot of dirty sex jokes, because it's just not my thing."
Beyond our showcase, Corbin can be found performing in Toronto at Absolute Comedy, the Corner Comedy Club, and occasionally at the Comedy Bar. He has a new album due out this summer, and he hosts the NeverSleepsNetwork's Talk'N Wrestling podcast, which is available every Thursday.
Sarah Donaldson originally hails from St. Catharines, ON but now lives in Toronto, which isn't very far from St. Catharines by car or truck.
"From a young age I obsessed over anything that had to do with comedy," she recalls. "When I was 12, I decided I was going to finish high school and be a performer on Saturday Night Live.
"My dad is hilarious," she continues, "and I would watch him, in awe, be the life of the party, always making everyone laugh. Seeing him control a room with just silly stories was what I wanted to do. I didn't realize it was standup comedy."
Witness Donaldson's energetic, no-holds-barred approach to comedy at our showcase, or every Friday and Saturday night at Toronto's Corner Comedy Club.
Chris Locke not only is from Toronto, he still lives there.
"When I was a teen, my all-time favourite thing was skipping school, getting high and laughing at insane ideas with my friends," he recalls, presumably through a haze. "Then I would watch Richard Pryor Live over and over again. I dabbled in standup after dropping out of university and started taking improv classes at Second City."
"I am insane," Locke adds. "Everything I talk about is nuts and it's really funny. Okay."
You can also catch Locke hosting his monthly standup show, Hell, at Comedy Bar, May 30, and headlining the Ottawa Comedy Explosion, June 1 and 2. All eight episodes of his web series, Learning Nature with Chris Locke are up on Funny Or Die.
Come see these people get a little nutty on Thursday June 7 at the Wenona Lodge.
A ten-dollar ticket includes one pint of Steamwhistle; you can buy tickets in advance here.
Canada's only exclusive stand-up and sketch comedy label, Comedy Records, has teamed up with Exclaim! for the Comedy Records Showcase, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month at Wenona Lodge (1069 Bloor St. W) in Toronto. Show times are at 9 p.m. sharp!
Our June 7 edition features Casey Corbin, Sarah Donaldson and Chris Locke, so we asked each of them to tell us more about themselves and here are the things they opted to share with us at this time.
Casey Corbin is from Arnprior, ON but currently lives in Toronto.
"I grew up watching SNL and SCTV but it wasn't till I saw Eddie Murphy's Delirious that I knew I wanted to be a comedian," he says. "I started watching as much stand-up as possible — Evening at the Improv, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and of course Just For Laughs. At 16, I told my family at my uncle's wedding that I was going to become a standup comedian. I didn't step on stage till I was 20.
"That stage was the original Yuk Yuks in Ottawa," Corbin adds. "The stage where Norm Macdonald, Jeremy Hotz, Jon Dore and so many other amazing comedians had gotten their start. I always enjoyed laughing and the only thing more gratifying than laughing was being the person creating the laughter. To this day, making people happy and helping them laugh is the best.
"No wait, getting paid to make people laugh might actually be better."
Corbin says that his upbringing in the Ottawa Valley continues to inform his material, which is smart but delivered in the manner of a simpleton.
"I tell stories and write observational material with plenty of misdirection and wordplay," he says. "I don't believe that any topic is off-limits. However, I have gotten rid of certain trigger words that set people off from my act. I can be edgy, but I don't do a lot of dirty sex jokes, because it's just not my thing."
Beyond our showcase, Corbin can be found performing in Toronto at Absolute Comedy, the Corner Comedy Club, and occasionally at the Comedy Bar. He has a new album due out this summer, and he hosts the NeverSleepsNetwork's Talk'N Wrestling podcast, which is available every Thursday.
Sarah Donaldson originally hails from St. Catharines, ON but now lives in Toronto, which isn't very far from St. Catharines by car or truck.
"From a young age I obsessed over anything that had to do with comedy," she recalls. "When I was 12, I decided I was going to finish high school and be a performer on Saturday Night Live.
"My dad is hilarious," she continues, "and I would watch him, in awe, be the life of the party, always making everyone laugh. Seeing him control a room with just silly stories was what I wanted to do. I didn't realize it was standup comedy."
Witness Donaldson's energetic, no-holds-barred approach to comedy at our showcase, or every Friday and Saturday night at Toronto's Corner Comedy Club.
Chris Locke not only is from Toronto, he still lives there.
"When I was a teen, my all-time favourite thing was skipping school, getting high and laughing at insane ideas with my friends," he recalls, presumably through a haze. "Then I would watch Richard Pryor Live over and over again. I dabbled in standup after dropping out of university and started taking improv classes at Second City."
"I am insane," Locke adds. "Everything I talk about is nuts and it's really funny. Okay."
You can also catch Locke hosting his monthly standup show, Hell, at Comedy Bar, May 30, and headlining the Ottawa Comedy Explosion, June 1 and 2. All eight episodes of his web series, Learning Nature with Chris Locke are up on Funny Or Die.
Come see these people get a little nutty on Thursday June 7 at the Wenona Lodge.
A ten-dollar ticket includes one pint of Steamwhistle; you can buy tickets in advance here.
