What's so funny in Winnipeg? Your comedy guide to the 'Peg

Winnipeg is a big small town.

Sure, the 'Peg's population is 700,000 plus, but a good chunk of that is lost souls from Swan River, country folk who got confused when Salter Street suddenly switched its name to Isabel to Balmoral to Colony to Memorial to Osborne in a span of 30 seconds, and they just decided, "Screw it!" and put down roots.

And, like any run-of-the-mill Manitoba municipality, Winnipeg has a low cost of living, super short commutes and an abundance of friendly folks.

Winnipeg also boasts a burgeoning comedy scene, one with a small-town feel. I should know. I am a stand-up comedian in Winnipeg and I hail from a tiny town called "Around Dauphin." Sometimes we'd go to actual Dauphin for shoes, but that's beside the point.

Hey, I'm not here to talk about me.

I'm here to talk about the Winnipeg comedy scene and how community-minded it is.

"We're not fighting for business here. Well, we are, but it's not as obvious. There's not a lot of industry, not a lot of fierce competition. A lot of us are doing comedy because we love to do comedy. We love to write and perform and be funny. I think it is that small-town attitude."

That's Tim Gray, a Winnipeg stand-up comedian, a member of the sketch comedy troupe H.U.N.K.S. and the producer of the comedy room Wee Johnny's, a basement bar located in the city's Exchange District.

We love to write and perform and be funny. I think it is that small-town attitude.- Tim Gray

Gray, 32, is originally from Stonewall, a small town located 25 clicks north of Winnipeg. He says while Winnipeg has a lack of comedy venues, that shortage has led to some really funny people.

"We don't have as many rooms, which is a good thing and a bad thing, but it's a good thing because it makes us all appreciate the stage-time we get a lot more," says Gray. "It's not like, 'If you don't want me at your open mic, I can do 500 other ones.'"

Mike Green runs Comedy at the Handsome Daughter, a Thursday night open mic in Winnipeg's West Broadway neighbourhood that's survived eight years, three different bar names, and a super scary audience member that goes by the name Stevie Bang Bang.

But Comedy at the Handsome Daughter isn't just surviving, it's thriving. The place is packed week after week for open mic stand-up, so much so that Green recently started programming a paid booked show at 8 p.m. before the free laughs gets started at 9:30 p.m.

And on the last Thursday of every month, Green and the Handsome Daughter host the Battle Royale, a no-holds barred comedy brawl that's usually standing-room only.  

Green, 31, is known around town for running a neat and tidy open mic, a show that feels professional even when it's full of first-timers.

"I would say I run a tighter ship than any other mic," says Green. "I would say Spencer (Adamus, host of the Wednesday night comedy open mic at Wee Johnny's) runs almost a tight as ship as me, but, and he would acknowledge this, that's because I taught him how to do it."

"That's what's good about our scene, that there's a free exchange of information amongst anybody who is taking it seriously, whether it's help running a show or help writing a joke."

Dana Smith started the Women's Open Mic three years ago because she felt Winnipeg's funny women needed a stage where they could feel safe being themselves.

Smith doesn't see the Women's Open Mic as being separate from the rest of the Winnipeg comedy community. More so, she believes it's just another cool neighbourhood in this big small-town scene.

"It fosters a really fun energy in the room," says Smith of the Women's Open Mic, which takes place on the first Friday of the month at Wee Johnny's.

"When you're one of two women on a show, it's a different feeling in the crowd, because they're used to hearing more of the guy rhetoric. So, when an audience is already in the mode of seeing and hearing women, like at the Women's Open Mic, they find it easier to laugh at the jokes that are being said."

"It's not like you're always talking about being a guy or we're always talking about being a lady. But it's all still coming from your experience," says Smith.

Wee Johnny's is also home to the WOKE Comedy Hour, which showcases Indigenous, people of colour, womxn-identifying and non-binary comedians. WOKE also runs an open mic at The Good Will Social Club on the first Tuesday of the month.

Smith says Elissa Kixen, the co-founder of WOKE, was nice enough to contact her to make sure their show wasn't stepping on the toes of the Women's Open Mic.

"I was like 'No, that's a great thing.' We absolutely need a show like that. It's fostering a bunch of new talent," says Smith.

Smith says there's always room for more comedy in Winnipeg, pointing to what happened on Friday, Feb. 1 in the 'Peg.

In addition to the Women's Open Mic at Wee Johnny's, that night also featured performances by local sketch troupe Family Dinner at the Gas Station Arts Centre, Vancouver-based comedians Mayce Galoni and Sophie Buddle at Rumor's Comedy Club, and former Winnipegger Chanty Marostica — fresh off a Juno Award nomination for Comedy album of the Year — performed two shows at the Park Theatre.

There isn't a shortage of people wanting to laugh here.- Dana Smith

"And all of the shows were packed," says Smith. "There isn't a shortage of people wanting to laugh here."

Gray, who is married to Smith (I was at their wedding. Geez, this really is a small town), thinks the Winnipeg comedy scene would benefit from a little more competition.   

"I think this town needs some more rooms. It needs some more people to build their own little comedy communities in different neighbourhoods in Winnipeg," says Gray.

"You have to welcome competition, just like you have to welcome competition when you're onstage. I love it when somebody just crushes and I have to follow them. You just hope you can do better, because how good a feeling would that be? Ten times out of ten I don't, but I try again next week."

Green also isn't worried a healthy rivalry or two will do any damage to Winnipeg's tight-knit comedy community.

"That's one thing that's cool about comedy in general, if you can hack it, then you do gain a new family," says Green.

"Not to be cheesy, but the best friends I've made in the last 10 years are all my comedy friends and I share more experiences and memories with them than anybody else."