Emokhare Paul Anthony
Daily Herald
One of Canada’s longest running comedy tours will be back in Prince Albert on Tuesday when comics Paul Myrehaug, Pete Zedlacher, Erica Sigurdson, and Dan Quinn arrive at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Snowed In Comedy.
Prince Albert is the first of five Saskatchewan stops on the tour. Zedlacher said it’s been a great experience so far.
“This year has been really phenomenal,” he said. “We have seen it grow year after year, but this year is really remarkable. We’ve had sold out shows … six weeks into the tour so far. It’s been really amazing this year.”
The Snowed In Comedy Tour has turned into a Canadian success story. Zedlacher jokes that it had humble beginnings as a way to get more time hanging around B.C. ski resorts so they could go snowboarding. It’s now celebrating its sixteenth year, has now grown to become one the biggest comedy tour in Canada.
“I think there was maybe six or eight shows that we did in that very first year back in 2009, and the response was great,” Zedlacher said. “People liked our comedy, but also liked the idea. It’s just four (comics) getting together and doing a show so they could go snowboarding, so when we did it again the next year we said, ‘let’s build on that’ and we did.”
This year’s tour now features shows in 68 cities coast to coast.
“It only has come from hard work and consistency of bringing a brand-new show to audiences year after year,” Zedlacher said. “If you’ve seen us in previous years, it will be a different show.”
Zedlacher is based out of Toronto and has become a mainstay on Canadian television, appearing regularly on CBC’s The Debaters while also performing on Just For Laughs, the Halifax ComedyFest, and The Ron James Show, among others.
Originally from the mining community of Wawa in Northern Ontario, Zedlacher said his comedy draws heavily on his roots.
“The best comedy really comes from honesty. If you come at it from an honest angle, the audience’s will appreciate it,” he said. “Coming from a small town, we’re always under the shadow of the big cities. On a larger scale, Canada is much like that as well, living under the shadow of the United States, so we always have an outsider’s view looking at what’s going on, and that’s exactly what a comedian does. We step outside of the norm and then go, ‘hey, have you noticed this? What’s going on with that?’ That’s where comedy comes from.”
The first steps of becoming a comedian is just relating to your fellow man around, telling jokes and making fun of things that are happening around and that’s what comedians do.” Zedlacher adds.
Zedlacher is one of four comics who will appear on the E.A. Rawlinson Stage. He describes Quinn as “the relationship comic” who jokes about relationships and adventures with his wife. Myrehaug is now based out of France, but returns to Canada every year to perform with Snowed In Comedy. Sigurdson is an award winning comedy writer who previously wrote for the Corner Gas Animated Series, and holds the record for most appearances on the CBC’s The Debaters.
“The accolades are numerous on this comedy tour,” Zedlacher said. “It’s not just four amateur comics getting together and doing this show. It’s a big event, and people come back year after year to see us again.”
The Snowed In Comedy Tour starts at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre. Tickets are available at the box office, or at earc.ca.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
