Collaborative Comedy

Well that is a wrap folks! After 6 shows in 9 days... is done at . Thank you to all those who came to the show, gave us such great feedback and supported us through purchasing not only tickets, but Collaborative Comedy magnets. Thank you to our phenomenal techs Emily and Garrett who made it so easy to do the show and made us sound good. And last but not least....to all the comics who performed on the show.

Stay tuned to Collaborative Comedy on social media as we will be keeping it going with online shows...so folks can watch from wherever they are. Submitted a topic that we did not get to? We will be using those to start off the Collaborative Comedy online shows! Stay tuned!

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Sadly, we have arrived at our final show of at . Our lineup for this final show features Nick Gent ( performed across Canada including Kelowna Comedy), Aaron Hill (regular performer at comedy clubs & shows throughout Eastern Ontario) and Hamilton Burger (winner of the Trevor's Pad Pandemic Prime Time joke writing competition and regular performer on our predecessor, Collaborative Comedy Competition, where he won in person, online and European titles...even though lives in Ottawa.) Hope to see you there!

Ladies and gents...we give you the penultimate lineup of at , with our guest comics Ceilidh Henderson (family lawyer by day, comic/storyteller by night), Emmett Morrison (2 time finalist of Yuk Yuk's Mike MacDonald Summer Comedy Competition, Portland Maine Comedy Festival, Montreal Gigglefest) and Hart Shouldice (Appeared on CBC Radio and the Globe & Mail, club regular in Ottawa).

We kick off the 2nd half of our run at tonight at 8:30PM with show #4. Tonight's guest comics are Tommy Fitz (SiriusXM's Top Comic, regular feature or host at Absolute Comedy, performed all over Canada & United Kingdom), Matthew Champ (Best of the Fest at the Devil's Cup Comedy Festival in NY City, The Windsor Comedy Festival) and Kris Kingsbury (over a decade of slinging jokes, Dirty Bird comedy festival & two-time finalist for funniest person in the Ottawa Valley).

Thank you at Derick Fage for having me on Daytime Ottawa yesterday to talk about Collaborative Comedy @ Ottawa Fringe 2023, my comedy itself and Ottawa Fringe accessibility. Fun times!

Collaborative Comedy Michael Lifsh*tz, explains why he created his Collaborative Comedy show for this year's Fringe Festival.

A small lineup change for tonight's show as Glenys Marshall steps in for Sophie Hayes. Glenys is the co-creator and co-host of the Small Fish Show, a show focused on giving a voice to performers from marginalized communities here in Ottawa. Glenys is also part of and you can see her earlier in the night at 9PM at Trip the Light Theatre's show Nuit, also at the LabO Theatre. Glenys joins Zachariah Kang Xi (staple on Ottawa's indie scene & producer of the Meow That's Hot Thursday open mic) and Tash Naved who goes by his secret identity Nash Taved, as he is Ottawa's secret comic, so don't tell anyone, especially his dad.

After a fun opening night on Thursday, we are back with our second show at tonight at 8PM at LabO with Wardie Leppan (Finalist in both Yuk Yuks and Absolute Comedy 2022 selected in his first year of comedy as one of 25 comics to perform in the Comedian of the North competition in Thunder Bay), (winner of the Just For Laughs Stand Up and Pitch competition in 2022 and host of The Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Podcast (named one of the top 20 Comedy podcasts in Canada) and (Tik Tok videos with over 100 million views and YouTube sketches featured on Funny or Die & America's Funniest Videos). Join us for laughs on the topics you want to hear jokes about.

After months of waiting...it is finally here...opening night!!! See you tonight, 6PM at Labo theatre?

MEET YOUR COMICS
Hailing originally from Edmonton, Hamilton Burger now lives and works in Ottawa. Having performed stand-up for over seven years, he was the winner of the Trevor's Pad Pandemic Prime Time joke writing competition and has been a frequent performer on the Collaborative Comedy Competition, the predecessor to Collaborative Comedy.

MEET YOUR COMICS
Aaron Hill has been slingin’ jokes for the better part of a decade. A regular performer at comedy clubs, independent shows and private parties, his laid back delivery and well crafted punchlines make him a welcome addition to any occasion. He's cracked up audiences from the city streets of Centretown to the pugnacious pubs of Petawawa and all across the region. Also...he knows the meaning of the word pugnacious.

MEET YOUR COMICS
Gent survived growing up in Cornwall, On and a heart attack at the age of 21. He moved to Oshawa On, and started in comedy shortly after realizing there was nothing else to do. Massage Therapist by day and open mic’er by night, Nick has been begging for spots all over Canada for the past 3 years. On only his 2nd comedy performance, he won a Collaborative Comedy Competition, the old format of Collaborative Comedy. If that’s not enough, he was also casted as the Cowardly Lion in his grade 12 high school musical.

MEET YOUR COMICS
Hart Shouldice is an Ottawa-based comic whose work has appeared on CBC radio and in the Globe and Mail. He is a club regular in Ottawa and can be seen in Montreal and Toronto as well. Hart was the final winner of Collaborative Comedy Competition and is also a lawyer, although that’s not very funny.

MEET YOUR COMICS
Emmett Morrison was a finalist in the Yuk Yuk’s Mike Macdonald Summer Comedy Competition in 2021 and 2022, appeared at the Portland Maine Comedy Festival, Montreal Gigglefest, and opened for Elvira Kurt and Protest the Hero. While not performing, Emmett can mostly be found hanging out.

MEET YOUR COMICS
"Ceilidh" is the Gaelic word for an informal gathering for music, dance, and storytelling, and this comic is tone-deaf with two left feet. Therefore she's left with storytelling around Ottawa à la clubs and mics. Ceilidh is a recent 'comedy school dropout' of the Humber College program. Her 18-year-old classmates described her as a 'kind of hot mom,' which she was thrilled with. By day, Ceilidh is a family court lawyer, and her names’ spelling, akin to an STI joke, is proudly on the record!

MEET YOUR COMICS

Born in BC, raised in Alberta, this "wild rose " now makes his home in the capital region. Kris is a comic with high energy and talent to tell a hilarious story with many twists. He's been slinging jokes to audiences for over a decade. Kris has had an appearance at Dirty Bird comedy featival in '19 and was a two-time finalist for funniest person in the Ottawa Valley ('13 &'14) . He's also club regular in the Ottawa area. If laughter is what you're after, you won't be disappointed when watching Kris.

ASL Interpretation will be provided

MEET YOUR COMICS

Matthew Champ has been a fixture in the Ottawa comedy scene for the past decade, mostly because he can’t afford to move! Matthew has participated in The Windsor Comedy Festival, Cracking Up the Capital Comedy Festival and The Devil’s Cup Comedy Festival in New York City where he was asked to perform at Best of Fest. Matthew has also been a finalist in Absolute Comedy’s Prove Your a Comic Competition (2017) and most recently hosted the New Years Eve Comedy special at Shenkman Arts Centre. When Matthew’s not doing comedy he’s probably doom scrolling on Twitter or hanging out with his adorable toddler simply awaiting the eventual heat death of our planet. On that cheery note, come laugh with us. The earth should make it to June 22nd.

ASL Interpretation will be provided for this show.

Tommy Fitz has been making stupid people angry since 1976 and he likes it. You may have heard him on SiriusXM's Top Comic (Vancouver, 2016) or seen him at the Crack Up Comedy Festival (Ottawa, 2019), featuring or hosting Absolute Comedy (Ottawa, Toronto and - formerly, Kingston) and has performed all over Canada (Comedy at Club54, Comedy Nest, Laugh Shop, Yuk Yuks) and the U.K. (Comedy Store, London - Gong Show - 27 seconds!). He features very, very briefly in Isnt't She Great (2000) with Bette Middler and Nathan Lane. You have to get through a lot of them for a little bit of Tommy, but it is totally worth it. This is his first Fringe, be nice or he will make an example of you.

This show will offer ASL Interpretation.

MEET YOUR COMICS

Ottawa's secret comic, Tash Naved goes by his alter ego Nash Taved. "Nash Taved" has now been performing "comedy" for significantly longer than he thought he would be. So far he has appeared in nothing significant and is hoping it remains that way. If you think you have seen him somewhere, you have not. When not performing he enjoys panic attacks arising from worries about people finding out he does comedy....so don't tell anyone. (But feel free to tell people about the show and all the other comics.)

MEET YOUR COMICS

Sophie Hayes is a stand-up comedian who was recently named Ottawa's Favourite Comedian in Faces Magazine. Sophie was a finalist in the Mike MacDonald summer comedy competition and can be heard on Howl & Roar's "Diversity Hire" compilation album. When she's not on stage she can be found asleep.

MEET THE COMICS

Born and raised in Toronto proper this boisterous fellow made his way to Ottawa in 2013 after some years abroad (which he can't shut up about). After a number of years doing random shows in the Ottawa scene Zachariah Kang Xi took over as producer of the Meow That's Hot Thursdays in late 2020 - now including a monthly Saturday show--and has been a staple of the indie scene ever since providing his hosting chops and sultry/gravely voice to many an indie room in town.

MEET YOUR COMICS

Rory Gardiner's TikTok videos have over 100 Million views across all platforms, and his YouTube sketches have been featured on Funny or Die, America’s Funniest Videos. Winner of 2022 Ottawa’s best Comedian award from Faces Magazine, and you can catch his hilarious TEDx Talk, on using humour as a coping mechanism.

This show will offer ASL Interpretation.

MEET YOUR COMICS

Chad Noonan is a Podcaster, Writer and Stand Up Comedian. He was the winner of the Just For Laughs Stand Up and Pitch competition in 2022 and his podcast ,The Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Podcast, was named one of the top 20 Comedy podcasts in Canada. Chad has performed at some of the biggest comedy clubs in Canada!

This show will offer ASL Interpretation.

Another way for you to get tickets for Collaborative Comedy @ Ottawa Fringe 2023.

Wardie Leppan , a retiree originally from South Africa has been doing standup comedy since 2018. He has performed at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, the Fresh Meat Festival and was a finalist in both the Yuk Yuks and Absolute Comedy competitions in 2022 and was selected, in his first year of comedy, as one of 25 comics to perform in the Comedian of the North competition in Thunder Bay. He has opened for several major comics such as Derek Seguin, James Mullinger and Heidi Foss. He has two grandchildren and sleeps with a granny so is officially an old fart.

A fan favorite on the Ottawa comedy scene, Heather Hurst originally from Nova Scotia, can be heard on the JFL Atlantic album “Stand Up Atlantic: Cat Puke Nightclub, which can be found on all streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. (See link to album on Spotify in first comment on post.)

MEET YOUR COMICS

Featuring an energetic and interactive style, Lewis Hill brings the party to every show! His humour is both self-deprecating, and quite deprecating, but he will do both with a big smile on his face. He’s also been known to pull out the guitar and play a few hilarious tunes. (Lewis's tunes can be found on Spotify.)

Just 9 days to go until opening night of Collaborative Comedy @ Ottawa Fringe 2023 and we are using to source a backup of topics to tell jokes on, in case we get a shy audience or one who has no ideas of topics. (Whatever is a challenging answer in this type of format.) So...what topics would you want to hear jokes about if you were at the show? Please drop your ideas in the comments below and hope to see you at .