Red Carpet Comedy

Two More Shows This “Season”

Donovan Deschner — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:07:36 +0000

To wrap up the 2009/2010 Season of Red Carpet Comedy there will be two special theme shows taking place. These performances will allow you to see the Red Carpet Comedians challenged to write material on “over used” stand-up topics and to see the jokes that actually made it into their shows.

April 7 – The Hackety-Schmackety-Doo Edition

Each of the performers on the April 7 show will be encouraged to write new and fresh material on topics that he or she considers to be “over used”. Amongst comedians we call such topics or premises “hack”, so this evening of comedy will endeavour to prove that there is no such things as hack premises, only hack comedians (which none of our performers are). Every comedian has their own definition of hack, so you’ll still hear material on a wide variety of subjects.

Date: April 7, 2010
Doors Open: 7:00pm for drinks and dinner
Show: 8:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 (Click here to order.)

Click here for the Facebook event page.

May 5 – The Material That Made It Edition

The May 5 show will be the sixth Red Carpet Comedy performance. Within the five shows that preceded it, a LOT of great material has been written, rehearsed, and first performed on our stage. It’s about time that we all heard what material made it into the regular shows of the performers. During the final show of the 2009/2010 Season the comedians will suspend the “only new material” rule for up to three minutes to hear the jokes, stories, and material, that stuck around after the first attempt on the Red Carpet Comedy stage. You’ll get to hear how they changed (if at all), and see if it’s still funny the second time around.

Date: May 5, 2010
Doors Open: 7:00pm for drinks and dinner
Show: 8:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 (Click here to order.)

Click here for the Facebook event page.

Tickets for both shows are on sale now and comedians can RSVP for either or both shows online. After May 5 we’ll be breaking for the summer months (we don’t want to compete with “patio weather” and leave a lot of empty patios) so these two shows will be your last chance to see the highs and lows that come when Calgary’s comedy celebrities take some major risks for huge artistic gain.

Another Great Success

Donovan Deschner — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:33:55 +0000

Thanks to the comedians and audience members that made last night’s Red Carpet Comedy another successful show and great evening out. The continued courage with which Calgary’s comedians try new and experimental things is hard to believe sometimes. A special congratulations goes out to Cory Mack for having been awarded the “More Time In A Day Prize”. She’ll be enjoying 10-hours of a Virtual Assistant over the coming month to work on whichever projects need working on. Honourable mention goes to Don Wood whose set made all the comedians take notice. Well done both of you!

Photos from last night (as provided by Heather Schellenberg) are online now. You can click here to view the Facebook photo album.

The next Red Carpet Comedy show will be on April 7, 2010, and have a special “theme” for the evening which will be detailed more on this blog next week.

March Show Details Announced

Donovan Deschner — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:44:53 +0000

It’s time for the fourth instalment of Red Carpet Comedy! Last week we contacted all of our potential performers (local professional comedians) to let them know that they could reserve their spot and some of them have already signed up. So far we’ve received confirmation from: Tony Binns, Cory Harding, Brad Muise, Charles Payne, and Don Wood. Also, the spot for a local “up and coming” comedian has been given to Katryna Chan. (We still have openings for another four or five comics… so the line-up isn’t complete just yet.)

Here are the details of the show…

Date: March 3, 2010
Doors Open: 7:00pm for drinks and dinner
Show: 8:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 (Click here to order.)

Click here for the Facebook event page.

Comedians: Click here to sign up.

As always the show will feature the most recent work from all these comedians and will be a treat for the audience. We hope to see you there!

Incredible Generosity

Donovan Deschner — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:56:48 +0000

Last night’s Red Carpet Comedy gave me two reasons to be overwhelmed. The first was the incredible work of the performers. Not only are they all creating tons of new material but the “hit to miss ratio” is swinging toward the “hit” side. It is continued effort like that which will show the country why Calgary could VERY easily be the next great comedy destination.

Secondly, I was taken aback by the generosity of the audience. All revenue from last night’s show was donated to The Red Cross for Haiti Earthquake Relief. During the closing of last night’s show I announced that we had raised over $300 and to help add to that sum I put my “Two Card Montes” up for sale based on donation. Well… that pulled in over $100! The total donation made was $434.25. Thank you all (comics and audience members) for your generosity.

Photos from the show are already online through our Facebook Fan Page. We were fortunate enough to have two photographers capturing the event. We have images from Heather Schellenberg available here and still more shots from Steve Nagy available here.

The first recipient of The More Time In A Day Vitual Assistant Prize (10 hours of virtual assisting for a deserving comic) was Karen O’Keefe. Not only did she have a great set but went out of her way to attend by rushing between her competition spot in Yuk Yuk’s Great Canadian Laugh Off and our show. Congratulations, Karen!

The announcement was made last night… Wednesday, March 3, 2010, will be the next show. Comedy Fans: mark your calendars. Comedians: start writing.

“More Time in a Day” Appreciates RCC

Donovan Deschner — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:53:47 +0000

Today I am VERY excited to break the news that one of the fans of Red Carpet Comedy is donating a prize (the gift of time) to one lucky comedian after every show! In fact, the selected winner will receive 10 hours worth of a virtual assistant. Here’s the details from More Time in a Day…

—————————-

Red Carpet Comedy is already a prize for its audiences, so we have a prize for the comics: professional virtual assistant services, free. Curious? Check this out…

Virtual Assistants for Artists, Performers, Musicians, Businesses & Individuals
www.moretimeinaday.com

Do you have a dead blog, or a web site that still has frames? Don’t know a tweet from a blip? There’s help for that.

You’re Your promotional material should look it’s its best, but it won’t if its it’s full of errors. There’s help for that.

Researching new rooms to play, booking travel, finding production, brainstorming promo opportunities…

Organizing calendars so you don’t miss mom’s birthday, that agent meeting, or your car insurance renewal…

Sorting a shoe box of crumpled receipts before you go to the accountant…

… More Time in a Day can help with all of that, too.

For more information about what More Time in a Day is and does, visit www.moretimeinaday.com. You’ll find testimonials, sample scenarios to spark ideas, and a list of services they offer.

They’re looking forward to giving More Time in a Day to Red Carpet Comedy winners.

MTIAD owner Heather Uhl has been a VA (Virtual Assistant) since 1997, specializing in the arts and entertainment realms. She was the writer, for several years, at About.com for their TV Comedy site. A multi-platinum, multi-award winning rock band and the most accredited photographer in Canada are among her clients. A typical day sees her handling media, booking and licensing requests, tour planning, fan mail, web sites and online stores, public relations, and promotions.

Heather writes better than she speaks, with half as much time and effort. In person she might trip over words, and even her own feet, but it keeps life interesting and Heather humble. She’s been a blue collar worker, a white collar employer and a ring-around-the-collar stay at home mom. She’s young enough to know new fads and gadgets but old enough to remember Alligator Al and Pong. She thrives behind the scenes, and doesn’t do microphones, stages, or cameras. Human behaviour endlessly fascinates her. If pressured to write about herself, Heather squirms and resorts to doing so in the third person.

—————————-

We’ll be selecting the first winner of this amazing prize at the January 27, 2010, show. Now not only will the comedians be working hard to create new material, but working hard to be given the gift of time! You won’t want to miss the performance.

A New Year Means New Jokes

Donovan Deschner — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:26:27 +0000

While, yes, the last Red Carpet Comedy show will be tough to top – we’re still going to give it a try. Our next show date has been selected for January 27, 2010. That should be more than enough time for the comedians to write and create more exceptional material. Here are all the details:

Date: January 27, 2010
Doors Open: 7:00pm for drinks and dinner
Show: 8:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 (Click here to order.)

Comedians: Click here to confirm your spot.

Facebook Event: Click here.

As with both of our previous shows there will be some comics that you’ve seen before, and some new performers to our stage… but since they are only sharing what they have never shared before there will ALWAYS be something that you (in fact, everyone) has never heard before.

Last Night Will Be Tough To Top!

Donovan Deschner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:59:26 +0000

Any one of the audience members from last night’s performance of Red Carpet Comedy will easily attest that the next show has a LOT to live up to. The ten comics that appeared on the stage produced 110 minutes of new material – most of it is already club worthy (and that’s truly amazing). In fact, there were more laughs per minute than in some professional comedy shows.

A huge thanks goes out to each of our performers: Donovan Deschner, Daryl Makk, Jason Blanchard, Amanda Brooke Perrin, Garrett Clark, Lori Gibbs, Derek Sweet, Cory Mack, Casey Corbin, and Trent McClellan. You can see photos of everyone in action on the Red Carpet Comedy Facebook Page or by clicking here to go directly to the album.

The photographer for the evening, Steve Nagy, also deserves our accolades for giving us all something to remember the night by. You should check out his website for updates on all his travels and his pictures from around the world: www.WheresNagy.com.

The next show should be sometime in the New Year (as all the professional comics are just now heading into their busiest season) and it’s going to be tough to raise the bar even higher: but I think we are up to the challenge!

One Hour on CJSW’s “Am I Right??”

Donovan Deschner — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:25:31 +0000

Last Wednesday night the creator of Red Carpet Comedy, Donovan Deschner, made a one hour appearance as co-host for CJSW’s Am I Right?? with Evan Wilson. The two talked about the upcoming show, comedy in Canada and America, and – of course – played some comedy clips from some of Donovan’s favourite performers. If you would like to listen to the full interview you can check out the Am I Right?? website here. You can also simply download the full podcast version by clicking here.

If you like what you heard be sure to listen in to the show every Wednesday night on 90.9fm at 11:00pm. You can also subscribe to their podcast in iTunes if you like.

There were three comedy clips (other than Donovan’s) played during the show, and here is some more information about the performers that you heard:

Bengt Washburn – Check out www.getbengt.com to order his CD. He’ll also be making an appearance in Calgary in December at The Comedy Cave.
Dwight Slade – Check out www.dwightslade.com to order any of his items (his new DVDs are great). He’ll be appearing in Calgary from November 12 to 14 at The Laugh Shop.
Derick Lengwenus – You can download his full CD at www.cdbaby.com.

The next Red Carpet Comedy show is THIS Wednesday night and we hope to see you there! (Doors open at 7pm.)

We’re At It Again

Donovan Deschner — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:31:31 +0000

After the first night of Red Carpet Comedy was such a success, we’ve decided to do it all again with another evening filled with some great new jokes from Calgary’s best comics (and some awkward moments – also from Calgary’s best comics). Here are all the details for our second show…

Date: October 28
Doors: 7:00pm for drinks and dinner
Show: 8:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 (Click here to order.)

Comedians: Click here to confirm your spot.

Facebook Event: Click here.

Amongst the comics already confirmed to appear on the show we have a couple from the first night (but they’ll be talking about completely different things), some new faces, and some comics in from out-of-town and wanting to show comedy fans here in Calgary what they can do with their newest material.

Photos from Opening Night

Donovan Deschner — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:36:09 +0000

Well it didn’t take as long as I thought to get the photos from opening night online. They are in a Facebook album (which can be viewed by anyone – with or without a Facebook account). You can check them out here:

Opening Night Photo Album

Granted: it wasn’t the best camera for the photos… perhaps the next show will also require a photographer…