CRUMBS at the Winnipeg Improv Festival

The Winnipeg if... Improv Festival is approaching so quickly, that by the time you read this, it might already be here (I don't know how fast you can read).

The festival dates are Sept 29th to Oct 3rd, 2015.

The Winnipeg if... Improv Festival kicks things off with a free sample show at the King's Head on Tuesday, Sept 29th. This show is hosted by CRUMBS with music by DJ Hunnicutt. This show has always been a great time. You get to see short improv scenes with a great number of improv guests and it's a nice way to see some improv and rub some shoulders.

There are of course other great shows to see, but another CRUMBS show happens right at the end of the festival too. Yes, CRUMBS is the bookend of the festival, first and last. Anyways, the show is a CRUMBS show with special guest Kevin McDonald from The Kids in the Hall. Last year we did this show and it worked so well, we are doing it again. That show is Sat, Oct 3rd at 10:30pm at the Gas Station Arts Centre.

BUY TICKETS FOR SAT, OCT 3RD LATE SHOW


You also might want to check out Lee White's creation "Knowledge & Punishment". This is a game show themed improv show where improvisers will do hilarious scenes, answer trivia questions and be punished cruelly when they do anything wrong. So much fun... to watch. This show is on Fri, Oct 2nd at 8pm at the Gas Station Arts Centre.

BUY TICKETS TO KNOWLEDGE & PUNISHMENT SHOW



But really, you are going to want to see all the shows. Why not get a FESTIVAL PASS that way you get to see it all AND you get to jump to the beginning of the line to get in first, get your good seat.

BUY FESTIVAL PASS ONLINE NOW!

See the official festival schedule:

Go the Winnipeg if... Improv Festival WEBSITE

FACEBOOK event

FACEBOOK fan page

Festival on TWITTER

CRUMBS again

Let's CRUMBS again. Let's keep CRUMBSing together shall we? CRUMBS is returning to the Fringe to perform at the King's Head pub again. You love it, we love, everybody loves it.

"It takes a lot of practice to be this good at making stuff up."   -CBC 2015 (5 STARS)

Here are the dates and times for you to program into you phone or write into your calendar:

Wed July 15 8:45pm

Thu July 16 10:30pm

Fri July 17 7pm

Sat July 18 10:30pm

Sun July 19 10:30pm

Mon July 20 7pm

Tue July 21 8:45pm

Wed July 22 7pm

Thu July 23 10:30pm

Fri July 24 10:30pm

Sat July 25 8:45pm

Venue #14 King's Head Pub

Here is the LINK to buy advance TIX

Here is the LINK to the facebook event page

Here is the link to a map to the King's Head

LINK to the 5 star review on the CBC website

But what other Fringe shows do you need to know about?

The Big Stupid Improv Show

The improv jam show hosted by CRUMBS and featuring all of your favourite fringe performers and improvisers and comedians together on one stage. An improv show that is so big and so stupid we were required by fringe laws to name it what we did. 

"Put it at the top of your list if you're looking for a laugh and are unafraid to put your best and worst ideas into action."   -CBC 2015 (4 STARS)

Wed July 15 6:30pm

Thu July 16 12pm

Fri July 17 9pm

Sat July 18 5:15pm

Sun July 19 12pm

Mon July 20 4:15pm

Wed July 22 9:45pm

Fri July 24 2:45pm

Sat July 25 5:30pm

Sun July 26 7:15pm

Venue #21

MTYP - Mainstage   2 Forks Market Rd. (The Forks)

The LINK to buy your advance tix

The LINK to the facebook event page

The LINK to the CBC review for 2015

What Could Go Wrong?

Hold on, you get a comedy show written AND performed by Caitlin Curtis AND Stephen Sim? What could go wrong?  

Thu July 16 9pm

Sat July 18 1:45pm

Sun July 19 7:15pm

Thu July 23 12pm

Fri July 24 5pm

Sat July 25 3:30pm

Sun July 26 5:30pm

Venue #2

MTC Up the Alley    174 Market Ave.

Enter from back alley (John Hirsch Pl.)

The LINK to buy your advance tix!

Facebook Event Page LINK

Revenge of the Meek

Andrew Lizotte has crafted a comedy play about religion. Hilarious right? Throw in a stellar cast of performers and some comedic and production guidance from Stephen Sim, and you have a very fringy play with a brain a heart and an everlasting soul. It's a comedy, we swear to God!

Wed July 15 10pm

Sat July 18 Noon 

Sun July 19 7:15pm

Mon July 20 6:15pm

Wed July 22 2:30pm

Fri July 24 4:45pm

Sat July 25 7:15pm

Venue #6    Tom Hendry Warehouse

LINK to get your advance TIX

LINK to the facebook event page

What other shows are coming up before the Fringe?

June 24th
HUNKS & Big Stupid Improv Show

See Winnipeg's newest improv troupe do their 3rd show at the Park Theatre and then take part in an improv show guided by the improv mastery of the Big Stupid Improv Show!

Facebook event LINK!

Tuesday, June 30th
Fringe Preview at the King's Head

The Comedy Knights last show of the season will be a Fringe Preview show! Come and get a free tasting menu of all the comedy and improv shows at the Fringe. Then when the Fringe comes along in July you'll know exactly what gourmet shows you'll want to gorge yourself on. (Metaphors)

CRUMBS, The Big Stupid Improv Show, DnD Improv, Hot Thespian Action, Revenge of the Meek (Thin Lizotte Productions), What Could Go Wrong? (Stephen Sim & Caitlin Curtis), Turned (the Zombie Improv Show), Biggest Little Child Star (Melanie Dahling), The Unchosen One (Cathy Herbert), and maybe even more.


Thank you, and we will see you at the shows.


p.s. Hi Dad

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival approaches!

Well hello there readers of websites, lovers of improv and seekers of the good comedy. You have come to the right place. I'll hook you up to the proper information that will reward you with comedy + comedy + comedy. While Lee White is touring the CRUMBS name across Europe (Here and Here and also Here), Stephen Sim is making the most of being in Winnipeg... helping out with the Winnipeg Comedy Festival!


The Winnipeg Comedy Festival returns for it's 14th year, produced by the Gas Station Arts Centre. The official festival runs from April 6th to April 12th and there are many, many events to enjoy.

Here are some of the shows that I suggest, and I suggest them because I have something to do with putting them together.

Tuesday, April 7th

Gas Station Arts Centre

The High School Super Improv Show

Hosts Stephen Sim and Caitlin Curtis have hand picked high school improv students involved in the Manitoba Improv League and will be showcasing the future of improv in Winnipeg.

7PM $5 

LINK TO BUY TICKETS

Thursday, April 9th

Metropolitan Entertainment Centre

T.V. Dinner A Multimedia Improv Show

Don't touch that dial! We turn down the sound and then turn up the Comedy on Classic Canadian TV. Plus you get to eat a delicious meal (inspired by TV Dinners) while the expert improv comedians weave the hilarity.

Who is in the show:

Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall)

Wes Borg (Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie)

Ryan Belleville (check out his credits)

Tricia Cooper (The Royal Lichtenstein Theatre Company)

Stephen Sim (Yes... me)

and music by DJ Hunnicutt

5PM cocktails

6PM Dinner

7PM Show

$40 Dinner and Show

$15 Just the show (Balcony and no dinner)

LINK FOR SHOW INFO

LINK FOR TICKETS

Thursday, April 9th

Gas Station Arts Centre

Hot Thespian Action UNCORKED

In the first ACT we will be showcasing some sketch comedy. Sketch comedy by Bucko and Wes Borg, as well as a presentation of some brand new sketches by a group of Winnipeg comedians under the direction of Kevin McDonald. The second ACT will feature Winnipeg's premiere sketch comedy troupe Hot Thespian Action.

9:30PM $18 (plus agency fees)

LINK FOR INFO

LINK FOR TICKETS

Friday, April 10th

Centre Culturel Franco Manitobain

Lost in Translation/Perdu En Quois?

The French and English improv show that was inspired by CRUMBS playing improv all over the world and in different languages (and how we don't understand what the hell everyone is saying). We've now done the show a couple times with our French improv friends. Come and see our latest bilingual creation.

8PM $10 (plus agency fees)

LINK FOR INFO

LINK FOR TICKETS

What other shows are cool?

Pre-Festival Outreach shows leading up to the festival will be a great way to get a free taste of some comedy, and to get you into the comedy mood. It will also be at these Outreach events that the Comedy Festival will be giving away free tickets to some amazing shows.

Mondays

HUB (at the U of M)

Host: Ben Walker

9PM FREE

Tuesdays

King's Head Pub (Comedy Knights stand-up show)

Host: Dan Verville

9PM FREE

Wednesdays

Jeckle & Hyde's stand-up comedy

Host: Ben Walker

9PM FREE

Thursdays

The Handsome Daughter stand-up comedy show

Host Mike Green

8PM FREE

Thursday, March 26th

McNally Bookstore

(Officially Winnipeg Comedy Festival Outreach Show)

Host: Al Rae

Improv with Stephen Sim & Caitlin Curtis
Sketch Comedy with Bucko
Stand-up comedy by Mike Green & Rachel Sommer

7PM FREE

Sunday, March 29th

The Purple Room

(Live Taping of The Supporting Act Podcast)

Host: Matt Moskal and JD Renaud

Guests: Al Rae (Artistic Director of the WCF)

Stephen Sim (Outreach Overlord of the WCF)

Melanie Dahling and Paul Rabliauskas

8PM FREE

Wednesday, April 1st (April Fool's Day!)

The Park Theatre 

(Officially Winnipeg Comedy Festival Outreach Show)

Host: Jared Story

John B Duff, Keener, Dana Smith, Tyler Penner, Matt Nightingale

8PM FREE     INFO LINK

And then... well... and then we have the rest of the Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

Lots and lots of shows and lots and lots of great local comedy, and lots of lots of great comedy and comedians coming into town to make the funniest city in Canada that much funnier. Now that's one hell of a sentence!

Friday, April 10th

Good Will Social Club

Portage Street Live

The comedy show that is "street" and "urban" that has "street smarts" and is filled with "hardcore hilarity". This show will be "off the hook". Am I in this show? No. Will I be there? Hell yes. Oh, and my good buddy DJ Hunnicutt will be there too.

9:30PM $15

LINK FOR INFO

LINK FOR TICKETS

What else should you do? Go see all the rest of the shows! There will be FREE shows every day at noon somewhere in the city. There will be huge Gala shows at the Pantages Playhouse that will be made into TV specials.

There will be shows at the Park Theatre. There will be shows at the King's Head Pub.

There will be comedic theatre shows at the Gas Station Theatre (like "HA!" starring my friend Wes Borg... which just happens to be THE BEST play ever written about being a stand-up comedian).

LINK FOR THE OFFICIAL WCF WEBSITE

LINK FOR THE WCF TWITTER

... Now go see all the shows, buy all the tickets and laugh at all the jokes!





Thanks Dad for the typo finding.

It's finally 2015!

The future is now... or at least the future is soon.

It is finally 2015, the futurist sounding year since 2001 and 2010. Unfortunately it happens to be the year that the Back to the Future franchise named in their movie so now we the public are going to be bombarded with Back to the Future references, jokes and complaints.

 The most common complaints will of course be:

- Where's my flying car?
- Where's my Hoverboard?

Instead it really should be:

-Why aren't we all using FAX machines so much?

But enough about Back to the Future... really... I'm wishing already that the movie franchise had been more ambiguous with the date.

2015 looks like a pretty good year, at least when it comes to shows. The first CRUMBS show of 2015 happened already at the King's Head, and it was pretty great. The Theatre Projects Manitoba season of 2015 started with "White Rabbit Red Rabbit" and that was pretty great. CRUMBS member Stephen Sim was lucky enough to be one of the rabbits.

When is the next CRUMBS show?

Tuesday, Feb 3rd at the King's Head

CRUMBS brings you an improvised show that has not only taken the world by storm, it has actually caused storms, and the storms are super crazy. Perhaps you've heard of a little thing called "Global Warming"? Yeah, sorry about that. The King's Head pub hosts a weekly comedy night aptly named "Comedy Knights". It happens every Tuesday and it happens to be FREE. These shows have been so good, the climate has changed so much, that the room has been PACKED and the icecaps are MELTING. Show up early to ensure you have a good seat and that your home isn't too close to the rising sea levels. Dj Hunnicutt will be serving up the sweet sultry tunes and the King's Head will be serving up the sweet sultry boozes. Let's all drink and laugh together before the world ends and all the Polar Bears have drowned.

When are the other CRUMBS shows?

Feb 17th + March 3rd (and they continue of course but you'll see some more updates)

What else is going on?

Comedy shows are so ongoing and weekly. Let me tell you about some of the live comedy shows that keep happening in Winnipeg.

Sundays at the Cavern:
This is an open mic comedy night that happens at the Cavern (below the Toad on Osborne St). It is hosted by John B. Duff and it happens every other week.

Mondays at the HUB:
This is a stand-up show all the way down at the University of Manitoba and is one hot room.

Tuesday at the King's Head:
This show is of course the legendary Comedy Knights comedy show and you of course know it. Sometimes it's CRUMBS, sometimes it's stand-up comedy, sometimes it hosts other experimental comedy shows... but it is always super awesome and super free.

Wednesdays at Jeckle & Hyde's:
This is a great stand-up room hosted by Ben Walker. This is honestly one of my favourite stand-up rooms.

Thursdays at the Handsome Daughter:
This stand-up comedy show is hosted by Mike Green at the bar that used to be the Rose & Bee (and it also used to be the Standard, Eddie's Garage and who knows what else).

Fridays & Saturdays... 
Just go to Rumors, or go out and and make your own comedy or find some special theatre show to go to at the Gas Station Theatre.

Speaking of the Gas Station Theatre:

Did you all know that the Gas Station Arts Centre produces the Winnipeg Comedy Festival? Did you know that CRUMBS' own Stephen Sim is now working for the Winnipeg Comedy Festival? Did you know that the Winnipeg Comedy Festival just got a whole lot funnier as a result of that?

Look for more Comedy Festival posts and info soon on this site and on their official site!

CRUMBS and the Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival!

The summer sets like the sun and the autumn falls upon us like a warm blanket.
-a poem

The fall means several things:
-We "fall back" and screw with our clocks.
-We launch the theatre season and comedy season and improv season of shows.
-We get excited about the 15th Annual Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival

CRUMBS has always worked at spreading improv across Canada and the world. We've toured our show and taught our master classes in so many cities and to so many people. CRUMBS has also grown improv here at home in Winnipeg. One of the ways we do that is by bringing improv players and improv ideas right here to our hometown.

The 15th Annual Winnipeg IF... Improv Festival is one of the best times to bring all these players and ideas and shows and workshops and parties together... I suppose that is what a festival really is.

This year CRUMBS is excited about doing a full show with Kevin McDonald (The Kids In The Hall). This show is sure to become legendary and everyone should probably get their Tickets NOW to ensure you are among the hundreds left without tickets huddled around the doors to try and catch a glimpse.

CRUMBS with Kevin McDonald
Sat, Oct 4th at 11PM
Gas Station Arts Centre

ONLINE TICKETS


Other cool things happening at this year's festival:

Collaboration with la Lim (the French improv in Winnipeg)
Thu, Oct 2nd at 8pm

Collaboration with the Winnipeg Spoken Word Festival
Sat, Oct 4th at 8pm

Collaboration with the Manitoba Association of Playwrights
Sat, Oct 4th at 8pm

Collaboration with the local Stand-up Comedy scene
Fri, Oct 3rd at 8pm

Collaboration with improv players from Germany, Edmonton and Vancouver with the amazing local players from right here in Winnipeg...

Every night of the festival from Sept 30th to Oct 4th!

Improv and the Comedy Festival

The CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival is almost upon Winnipeg and Winnipeg will soon be the funniest place on the planet for a week, not that Winnipeg isn't usually in the top ten on any day.

While I am going to be at the Gas Station Arts Centre introducing all of the shows for the Comedy Festival I will be hosting and performing in The Doctor Whom & the Lords of Improv show happening on Tue, April 8th. The is happening at the always wonderful Gas Station Arts Centre and will not only be featuring myself, it will also feature OTHER amazing performers too. Robyn Slade and Leif Ingebrigtsen will be there as well as some cast members of the Irrelevant Show including Mr Mark Meer. Who(m) is Mark Meer? Well, he will be playing the part of Doctor Whom and who better to play the part than Mark Meer, the king of the nerds! He is perhaps best known for being the voice of Commander Shepard on the monster hit video game Mass Effect. He's also quite beloved as an international improviser. Improvising for years with Edmonton's Rapid Fire Theatre and the long running improv soap opera Die Nasty. Winnipeg is happy to have my good friend Mark Meer on a Winnipeg stage. Check this show out!

Buy tickets to the Doctor Whom & the Lords of Improv Show

The next Comedy Knights improv show is Tuesday, April 15th at 9PM and free as always, the show will be CRUMB & Friends. Of course you do know that every Tuesday there is a show that happens, we rotate between improv and stand-up to ensure that all the comedy bases are covered.

How amazing was the Bizarro Comedy show that happened on April Fool's Day? If you missed it, then you missed a dozy. You missed some local stand-up comics giving improv a try… and rocking the stage with their improv-ness. You also missed some local improvisers giving stand-up comedy a try… and killing it!

It was such a success that it will most assuredly be returning with more stand-up and improv swappiness.

Outside Joke is presenting their 2nd Season of the Yuks. Which is Outside Joke putting on an actual season of shows at the Gas Station Arts Centre with some amazing guests. I say amazing guests because you might remember that CRUMBS was their guest at the season opener… and CRUMBS is amazing. But seriously folks, more amazing than that is Rapid Fire Theatre is sending over one of their own to guest with Outside Joke. Kory Matheweson will be partaking in some improv and teaching some improv workshops. The show will feature a "Nondescript, Non-denominational, Trademark-Free Short form Improv Competition show" that will be hosted by Stephen Sim (hey, that's me).

Tickets for the Outside Joke Show

What other shows are happening in Winnipeg?

Every Monday you can go see a live taping of the Shaw TV show "The Week Thus Far" and be in a real "Live Studio Audience". The show features a good cross section of Winnipeg stand-ups in a talk show formatted comedy show. The show is taped live at the King's Head and starts around 8PM.

Every Wednesday you should go to The Cheer in Osborne Village. The stand-up show there is called "Stand-up and Cheer" and it is hosted by the "always handsome" Ben "Ol' Ball Coach" Walker.

Every Thursday at the Times Change(d) on Main Street you can enjoy the "Workshop" hosted by the very talented Chantal Morastica. The evening is a show that has stand-ups and improv and sketch comedy performers work on new hilarious material. Always so much fun.

On the Sundays that this show is happening, you should really go. The legendary Comedy at the Cavern open mic stand-up show. The Cavern is under the Toad in Osborne Village and it hosts a legendary stand-up night that is hosted by the almost just as legendary John B Duff. This is where most of the city's stand-ups cut their comedy teeth (teeth, I might add, that are now razor sharp).

Hey Winnipeg, thanks for reading this, thanks for seeing live comedy shows and thanks for being so great.