Four top international comedians have turned their love of snowboarding into a winter tour of B.C. and Alberta.
The Snowed In Comedy Tour, featuring Ed Byrne, Dan Quinn, Glenn Wool, and Craig Campbell, stops at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre on Saturday night.
It all started with Quinn’s plans to take a break from his busy schedule by going snowboarding in Western Canada.
Quinn envisioned paying for his winter adventure by arranging some comedy dates at various ski hills. Wool loved the idea, mentioned it to Campbell and Byrne, and all three asked to come along.
With four comedians on board, the show grew too big to fit only small venues, so the idea was hatched of playing in additional larger theatres on the weekends.
The original 2009 tour was such a huge success — with standing ovations, great reviews and some crowds of more than 500 people — that the four performers decided to try the same thing again this winter — only expand it to four weeks.
Their 2010 tour begins in Whistler, loops through Alberta and the Okanagan and ends in Vancouver in early February.
Audience members can expect to see four very different, but equally talented comedians, who jointly create an uproarious evening.
Bryne has appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien five times, hosted the Just for Laughs Gala, and has played to sold-out theatres all over the UK. Originally from Ireland, Byrne now makes his home in England and has made dozens of appearances on the BBC as well as in plays and movies. He was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Wool started his comedy career in Vancouver, but now lives in London, England where he has an international career. He has drawn huge crowds in Singapore, South Africa, Australia, Holland, Dubai, New Zealand, among other countries.
Quinn performs his one-man show at top clubs in the UK and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Quinn is an Albertan who lives in Vancouver and hosts a half-hour comedy special that airs monthly on the Comedy Network. Quinn won the Canadian Comedy Competition at the Just for Laughs Festival and was chosen Best of the Fest at the Moncton Comedy Festival, where he will be returning this year as one of the 10th anniversary favorites. He is also regularly heard on XM Radio.
Campbell is an Albertan who’s made good internationally. He started out in Calgary, and established himself as one of the country’s top comedians after moving to Vancouver.
Campbell has since relocated to the UK, from where he regularly launches world tours. He performs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Just for Laughs festival, and on the BBC and the Paramount Comedy Channel.
Tickets for the 8:30 p.m. show are $35 from the Black Knight Ticket Centre.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com