Laughs on the Side
Comedian Dave McConnell bringing comedy to the patrons of Shanghai Restaurant
It’s Friday night and the streets are busy in Ottawa’s Chinatown. Some 20 patrons sit in a dimly lit room near the corner of Bronson and Somerset, sipping wine and picking at bowls of Kung Pao surrounded by informal Asian-funk décor.
Without notice, Anto Chan – a young, Asian lad with a winning smile and straight black hair – gets up to a microphone set near the back wall. There is no stage and two dim lights bathe the “performance area” in a soft yellow glow.
“Welcome to Shanghai Comedy Night!” he intones to scattered applause and bemused looks from patrons who weren’t aware their meal came with a side of entertainment. Anto tosses out some jokes to loosen up the crowd, then introduces the comics.
A 16-year old newcomer who talks about the wonder of sex (“especially,” he quips, “when it’s with another person”), a professional comic who gets laughs simply by spritzing with the crowd, and a comic who flips through his notebook and fires off jokes, defending bits that fall flat (“That’s a good joke!” he snaps at one point). Local pro Alex Wood, has a sprained ankle, so he performs sitting at his table. He shouts jokes, while waving his walking stick at the patrons. The crowd laughs, groans, hoots and applauds, at the end, a basket is passed around for contributions to the “Get the Comics Drunk Fund”.
Clearly, this is not your father’s comedy club.
In fact, it’s not a comedy club at all. It’s Comedy Night at the Shanghai Restaurant, one of many “side rooms” infiltrating Ottawa’s comedy scene.
Ottawa, contrary to its boring government image, is filled with comedic talent. Norm MacDonald, Jeremy Hotz and Star Search winner Tracey MacDonald all started in the nation’s capital. The launching pad for many comics is the venerable and long running “New Talent Night” at Yuk Yuk’s and Absolute Comedy’s “Pro-Am Night”.
The side rooms are a different animal. The rooms are run by comedians, for comedians who love comedy at a different level. A microphone, a basic sound system and a willing proprietor and you’re set. A stage and lighting are nice, but purely optional. “It’s good to get used to playing any kind of room,” says Chan.
“The audience for side rooms are either there for the show or they’re not there for the show,” says Dave Atkinson, a full-time university student and regular performer. “It makes it harder, but it’s a nice challenge: changing people’s plan for the night. ‘Surprise! You have to listen to comedy now. Bet you weren’t expecting this!’
Side rooms provide newer comics with much-needed stage time (the only way to learn comedy). Professionals have hundreds of hours of stage time. In Ottawa, amateurs who rely on spots at established clubs get 6-12 minutes of stage time a month. “Doing new talent night at the clubs is supposed to be a learning experience, says Chan, but it’s really an audition. Mangers and money people are watching. With all that pressure, it’s not the best place to learn.”
The side rooms are quickly becoming a showcase for Ottawa’s best new talent as well as a forum for the city’s burgeoning “alternative” comedy scene. Local professionals can break away from their tired-and-true material and audiences can see new and established acts in an intimate, informal setting.
Side rooms are edgy, exciting and often exhilarating. And isn’t that what comedy’s supposed to be about?
Ottawa Side Rooms:
Shanghai Comedy Night
651 Somerset Street W (3 doors East of Bronson)
Broadway’s LOL Mondays
1615 Orleans Blvd.
Whispers Bar & Restaurant
249 Richmond Road
Finnigan’s Pub-Unknown Comedy Show
1074 Joliet Street
or visit ottawacomedyresource.com for everything you ever wanted to know about comedy in Ottawa.
Tags: Absolute Comedy, Broadway's LOL Mondays, comedy in Ottawa, Finnigans Pub, Shanghai Comedy night, side rooms, Whispers Bar & Restaurant, Yuk Yuk's
