Stand-up comedy has historically been a straight white guy’s game.
Not anymore.
Laughter Zone 101 is out to change perceptions of comedy as it presents F is for Funny on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Anvil Centre Theatre. The show features the best in stand-up comedy from diverse perspectives.
Laughter Zone 101 owner and producer Janice Bannister is looking at the event as the catalyst to create more opportunity for comics in New Westminster and beyond, a press release notes. Traditional clubs are often limited in scope and, as such, reach a limited audience.
“By creating shows featuring comics with diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and perspectives, Bannister is hoping to reach a new audience and provide a new platform for some truly incredible comics to perform,” the release says.
F is for Funny is planned as the first in a series of comedy events produced by Laughter Zone 101 at the Anvil Centre Theatre.
It will feature headliner Fatima Dhowre, who has been featured on CBC’s The Debaters, at CBC’s Winnipeg Comedy Festival, the Seattle International Comedy Competition and many more. She was also recently seen in the Vancouver Fringe Festival hit The Lady Show.
Also performing will be Syd Bosel, voted fan favourite in the 2018 B.C.’s Funniest New Female Comic competition; Ash Dhawan, whose take on life as a single South Asian woman earned her back-to-back Funniest Female titles in 2014 and 2015; Katie Nordgren, a New Westminster resident who has been an invited performer at the Portland Queer Comedy Festival; and Naomi Yamato, a Hokkaido, Japan-born former weather reporter who also serves as a volunteer MC for the Japanese community.
The sole male on the bill is Ed Hill, who has been invited to perform at such festivals as the Just For Laughs Northwest Comedy Festival, Comedy Masala in Singapore, the Hong Kong Comedy Festival, the San Francisco Comedy Festival and more.
Bannister herself, who recently did her second B.C. tour with I Am Woman Hear Me Laff, will also perform. The event will be MC’d by Erin Jeffery.
Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets can be bought through www.ticketsnw.ca or 604-521-5050.
