Winnipeg comedy club bans discrimination, hatefulness, harassment

Discrimination, hatefulness and harassment are no laughing matter for a Winnipeg comedy club.

Wee Johnny's comedy room posted a sign this week warning that anyone violating a new anti-harassment policy — which bans "sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, physical intimidation or any other form of abusive behaviour" — may be asked to leave the club.

And that means anybody, said Tim Gray, a comedy producer at the Exchange District club.

"This is for comedians, the crowds, and any warm body that walks into that room," said Gray. "It's for myself, it's for the other producers, for the hosts, it's for the staff — it's for everybody."

Gray, who has produced comedy shows in the city for the last decade, said there wasn't one particular event that sparked the policy change, but there have been small things.

He hopes to curb behaviour like he saw at a recent improv comedy show where an audience member shouted something about a female performer's physical appearance.

"It was very inappropriate so the show just stopped and we addressed it with that person," he said. 

"We addressed it in the moment and we moved on with the show and I think that person took a moment after and was like, 'Yeah, that was inappropriate and I won't do that again.'"

Gray said he knows enforcing the policy may not always be so easy, especially at a comedy club, where the lines between a good joke and hurtful behaviour can be subjective.

"I'm not going to be standing at the back of the room saying you can and cannot say this or that on stage," he said.

"I'm saying that if you're going on stage and you're intentionally hurting somebody or intentionally making a target out of somebody … it will be addressed."

Not all comedians convinced

Gray said the policy has had a "mixed reaction" from comedians.

Kate Schellenberg has been doing stand-up for the last year and took the stage at Wee Johnny's women's open mic night Friday, the first official day the new rules went into effect.

She's supportive of the policy, but said for the most part, comedians in Winnipeg are already following a similar code of conduct.

"In my experience, the comedians who have gone up and broken those rules on stage, I've always seen people in the community come up to them after and say, 'Hey, don't ever do that again,'" Schellenberg said.

"But I think the policy is good, we were doing it already, but it's nice to have it in writing, it reminds people of what we're aiming for in comedy — making people laugh."

Local comedian Tyler Penner understands why the new rules are needed, but wishes the mood of a room would be enough to keep them out of comedy clubs.

"I don't have to break any of those rules to be funny, but I like the freedom to say whatever I want to say," said Penner, who's been doing stand-up in Winnipeg for eight years.

"I don't think comedy needs rules, I mean, the crowd really dictates what is acceptable and what is not and for the most part the crowds have dictated that the things this poster outlines are not acceptable."

"If they're not laughing, it's not funny, and you broke a rule as a comedian," he added

But Gray said not all comedians have been so accepting of the rules.

"Some are saying, 'It's a bar, you have to expect things like that to happen in a bar,'" he said.

'They just can't take a joke'

It's that attitude that shows why anti-harassment policies are needed at places like bars and comedy clubs, said Sarah Martens, who manages the Red Tent, a local volunteer-run collective that offers safer space training for organizations, festivals and businesses.

"There's this idea that people are just too politically correct or they just can't take a joke," she said.

"As soon people can understand and acknowledge that we live in a colonial society, in an oppressive society, and understand that they hold some of that stuff, the sooner they can do the work of undoing it and then challenging it."

Martens said now that Wee Johnny's policy is in effect, it's important staff are all on the same page about how it's going to be enforced.

"The biggest challenge is that venues sometimes put these policies in place but then don't think it totally through," she said.

"People need to know how to validate and listen and refer — it sounds really easy — but I think not everyone has those skills."

Gray said he's still working out exactly how the policy will be enforced and plans to reach out to the Red Tent and the owners of both the Handsome Daughter and the Good Will, local clubs which each have similar rules for their establishments, to find out the best course of action.

In the meantime he's hopeful anyone in the club who feels the policy has been violated will reach out to him or a show host to talk about what happened and how it can be prevented from happening in the future.

"It's definitely a moving target," he said.

He said that if somebody challenges the policy or his own personal beliefs it'll serve to strengthen his point of view or broaden it.

"I think that'll only make us stronger and better as a society, as humans, and as individuals."