The Capital One Just For Laughs Comedy Tour is back on the road with its first-ever British edition featuring a side-splitting line-up of comics.
Handling the hosting duties will be Canadian comedy star Steve Patterson.
The troupe performs at the Memorial Centre Nov. 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Patterson, who is a 15-year stand-up veteran in his own right, is having a blast introducing the guys to the Great White North.
“I feel like I’m on the stage more than anyone else,” he explains with a laugh. Besides hosting the show, now in its 11th year, he also has time to hit the stage as an artist.
The tour includes Matt Kirshen who was a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Stephen K. Amos, Time Out Comedian of the Year Sean Meo and Perrier Award nominated Terry Alderton. Warming up the audience is Abandoman with frontman Rob Broderick.
Patterson said each of the guys brings something unique to the show.
“It’s been great. There’s lots of variety. Everyone adds something new to it, and by the time we get out west it will really be a well-oiled machine.”
As host of CBC Radio One’s successful The Debaters since 2007, Steve Patterson has become a household name with more than half a million weekly listeners.
In 2010, steady accolades for his work on that show earned him a third invitation to perform on one of Just For Laughs’ televised galas hosted by Steve Martin. Patterson’s performance prompted Martin himself to quip, “If I’d known he was going to be that good, I would have cancelled him.”
Patterson is a triple threat of funny, combining skills as a stand-up comedian with more than 13 years of touring experience, a successful radio and TV host and a published humour writer.
Described as smart, well-read, well-versed in current events, quick on his feet, and a riveting raconteur, Patterson can turn a crowd of strangers into a “roomful of laughing co-conspirators.”
Patterson began his full-time comedy career in 1997, shortly after ending his full-time career as a copywriter when he wrote an ad for an amusement park that his boss found a little ‘too amusing.’
As a kid, he admits he was typically the one joking around in class and learned early on the secret is to make the teacher laugh as well.
“Then you couldn’t get in trouble.”
During his university days, he finally tried his luck onstage and although he says it went well, he hopes there it’s not on a tape circulating somewhere.
Over the years, refining his technique proved both a quick and gradual learning curve at the same time. “People ask me ‘How do you know something is funny?’ I say you don’t really until you perform it in front of an audience.”
As his success grew, he opted for the national and international stage. Audiences loved what they heard — in addition to playing every major city in Canada, he has also headlined in Ireland, Australia the U.S., the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates leaving audiences everywhere united in their praise.
With back-to-back nominations for Canadian Comedy Awards as Canada’s best male stand-up comic in 2007 and 2008, and again in 2011, Patterson’s star continues to rise as he helms the televised version of The Debaters on CBC.
Tickets are available at Ticket Central (4922 – 49 St.). Call 403-347-0800 or email ticketcentral@centralalbertatheatre.ca.
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