If there were any doubt that there's an appetite for stand-up comedy in White Rock and South Surrey, it's been more than dispelled.
So says Eric Y. Lapointe of Yuk Yuk's Surrey, who was also one of the principal organizers of the inaugural South Rock Comedy Festival – which far exceeded ticket sale expectations during its three day run in September.
The work of comedian Lizzie Allan (also co-chair of the festival and co-founder of the comedy-as-therapy program Hilarapy) over the past decade has also helped build the local market for stand-up – along with the White Rock Buskers and Comedy Festival presented for several years by the BIA .
And the success of Yuk Yuk's Surrey's last season at the Oceana PARC Playhouse has amply demonstrated that the current appetite for stand-up is strong – and nowhere near sated, Lapointe said.
Yuk Yuk's marketing for a new 2024-25 season is moving into high gear as the debut show in White Rock (7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., Oct. 26 at Oceana PARC Playhouse) approaches (the season will also be launched at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, Abbotsford a day earlier).
Headlined by Katie-Ellen Humphries, the show will also include Michaela Chung as host, and Johnny Perrotta as featured comedian.
Described as "hilarious and original" by Corner Gas creator Brent Butt, Humphries has returned to B.C. after living part-time in New York since 2019 and her powerhouse performances – working up to the production of a new album by the end of this year – showcase years of growth and experience gained in both the Vancouver and New York comedy scenes.
"Katie Ellen is one of the associate producers of CBC Radio's The Debaters and she frequently appears on the show," said Lapointe.
"Even though it's a radio show, her name is recognizable and her voice is recognizable," he added.
"I think she's one of the funniest Canadian comedians right now and many people know her – we're very happy to have her headline the first show of the season."
Chung, originally from Ottawa, but now based in Vancouver, is an author and comedian whose recent shows have included performing alongside Allan.
Perrotta, a TV and film actor as well as comedian, draws inspiration for his relatable material from his Italian-Canadian childhood, and has shared the stage with top comedians like Brent Butt, Kevin Nealon, and Robin Williams.
Upcoming shows in the season offer such well-known headliners as Ron Josol (Nov. 23), John Beuhler (Jan. 11), John Cullen (April 5) and Patrick Maliha (May 5).
Individual tickets to the Yuk Yuk's shows are $29 plus service fees, but for those interested in buying season tickets, the $99-plus-fees price-point is a great deal, Lapointe said.
"That works out to five shows for the price of three – almost," he noted.
Tickets for the season are available at the White Rock Players website (whiterockplayers.ca/wryukyuks).
Lapointe said the first South Rock Comedy Festival, which came to venues all over the Semiahmoo Peninsula Sept. 19 to 21, more than met organizers' expectations.
"We ambitiously set our goals very high, but we knew it would be a challenge to sell even 600 tickets in the festival's inaugural year," he said.
"Of course, in this area, everyone waits until the last minute to buy their tickets, so we didn't know until the week of the festival whether we were going to hit that mark. But the local community came out and they supported us – and, in the end, we sold well over 800 tickets.
"Together with various complimentary and promotional tickets, I'd say we had not quite, but almost, 1000 people between all the shows.
"To me having well over 800 in sales was a phenomenal success. So we want to continue and grow on that."
There's another telling statistic in terms of customer satisfaction, Lapointe said.
Since the ticketing platform chosen for the festival invited feedback, including a rating, organizers were happy to learn that – of some 130 people who responded – 91 per cent gave it a favourable rating of either four or five stars.
"That leaves nine per cent that were not quite satisfied, but, of them, some may have given us three stars," he said.
He recognizes that parking was a challenge at some venues – particularly Beecher Place at Crescent Beach – and organizers will be working on strategies to provide more parking spaces for next year.
He also recognizes that some festival-goers may simply not have cared for the comedy styles they encountered.
"Comedy is a very personal thing, and we didn't try to censor the comedians' outlook and material in an attempt to please everybody. Some may have thought that this or that comedian went too far, or somebody else might have thought they didn't go far enough."
It's still a very high approval rating, he said, which is very encouraging for next year.
In all there were six venues with 11 shows, including Ocean Park Hall (featuring headliner Graham Clark), Elgin Hall (where Allan staged a very successful Hilarapy Showcase), Oceana PARC Playhouse (which featured headliners Dave Nystrom, Charlie Demers and Seattle comedian Kermet Apio), Leon's Cafe (which featured White Rock headliner Ryan Lachance) and the Galaxie Public House.
"Essentially we had seven shows out of 11 that sold out, and all the rest were very healthy houses," Lapointe said.
"Dave Nystrom really knocked it out of the park at the Playhouse, and Graham Clark and Charlie Demers, who are familiar to people from The Debaters, sold a lot of tickets from that alone," he added.
"It was great to have comedians of that calibre in the festival, and people got to see a lot of up-and-coming local talents as well.
"We had some smaller venues that fit only 80 people or so, but it was nice to see these places come to life for the community – it gives me a lot of ideas for next year."
Lapointe said he'd like to increase the tourism element for the festival as well.
"We had a handful of orders from places like Atlanta, Ga; and Washington State, and Lizzie told me she had one person come to her show from Portland, Ore. But if this is to grow, we have to lean into the tourism potential.
"But we sold tickets all over the Lower Mainland, including Delta, Langley, Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam. Most of our print marketing was local, but that tells me our digital and radio marketing was effective, too.
"Whatever we did, it was working for us."
