Posted December 29th, 2009
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…
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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.
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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.
Posted December 17th, 2009
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.
Posted October 29th, 2009
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!
Posted October 26th, 2009
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.)
Posted October 14th, 2009
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.
Posted September 19th, 2009
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…
Posted September 18th, 2009
Opening night of Red Carpet Comedy was a huge success! The audience was receptive and the comics each had both highs and lows in their sets. Here’s one review of the show from an audience member:
“We really enjoyed the non-traditional open mic concept, and it reinforced our respect and appreciation for the actual craft of comedy and performing.”
-Heather U.
An extra-big thank you goes out to our “gift bag” sponsors: Comedy Monday Night and Yuk Yuk’s Calgary. Both venues here in Calgary donated tickets to one of their upcoming shows. (In fact, THIS Monday night – September 21 – at Comedy Monday Night the regular show format will change to allow for a showcase of Alberta’s best comics vying for their chance to attend the Halifax Comedy Festival… it will be the best comics presenting their best material: don‘t miss it!)
We would also like to thank
Big Rock Brewery for buying the comics a round of drinks the evening of the show. The beers were certainly tasty.
If you missed the show you most certainly missed a unique evening of entertainment… but don’t worry, we already have a second show in the works and we’re shooting for some time in October. There will be some photos online in the next day or two… when they are available we’ll let you know!
Posted September 14th, 2009
The first major interview that we did to promote Red Carpet Comedy was with CKUA and the wonderful Kathleen Renne. Donovan joined Kathleen for an “Arts Alive” segment to explain what the show is all about.
You can listen to the whole interview by clicking the play button below:
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Thanks Kathleen! It sounded great.
Posted August 18th, 2009
The first evening of Red Carpet Comedy has been officially announced: September 16, 2009 will be the opening night of Calgary’s first and only professional open mic. Here are all the details…
Date: September 16
Doors: 6:00pm 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.
The current line-up performers will be growing as more RSVPs come in over the next couple of weeks. Closer to the show date there will be a full show list posted on this site.
Posted June 18th, 2009
Stand-up comedy is a great delusion. It’s the goal of the comic to trick the audience into thinking that what he or she is saying on stage is being said for the first time ever. This perceived spontaneity adds to the comedic value of the show and helps to convince the audience that it is just a conversation between a very funny person (the comic) and the listener (the audience). Therein lies the delusion: comedians work on, stress over, and refine their material for years (the good ones at least). That funny comment or punchline that you may think is being said for the first time could have easily been said thousands of times in front of audiences all over the world.
Where does this process begin? Comics start working on what is called their “material” in rooms just like Red Carpet Comedy. They appear on stages with audiences that are ready for anything. It’s new material – so it could be something that makes you cry with laughter or cringe. But that’s half the fun: not knowing what you’ll get.
Most open mics are the place where amateur comedians get on stage for the first time… and Calgary already has a great room for those first-timers. It’s called Comedy Monday Night and runs every Monday at Broken City. The main difference between that show and this show is that we only have spots for professional comedians. Those people that are working and getting paid for it on a regular basis. So the audience is at least guaranteed a minimum of stage experience from the performers and makes those new and hilarious moments all the funnier. (It also makes the “not so hilarious” moments all the more awkward.)
The opening night of Red Carpet Comedy will be happening in the Fall of 2009 at the beautiful Club Paradiso in Inglewood. More information will be posted both on this blog (subscribe by clicking here) and sent out to all the members of our email newsletter (which you can sign up for here).
Tickets will be around $10 and you’re guaranteed a night of highs, lows, and everything in between.
