Comedy Festival coming to Cochrane

Standup comedy fans won’t need to rely on Netflix or even drive to Calgary to enjoy some yuks in Cochrane for a week in October, as the 2024 Cochrane Comedy Festival comes to town.

Anyone who’s wondered what it might be like to go to a Newfoundland kitchen party, your wait it over – the festival is dedicating one night to that type of experience.

That’s just one example of the wide variety of offerings coming up during a laugh-packed week.

Organizer Jake Hirsch said he brought a festival to town a few years ago, and decided it was time to come back.

“Over the years, as the town has grown you, you just see this, this hunger for live events, for, you know, things to do in town that at a reasonable price,” he said.

Hirsch said a friend of his from town was gung ho on the idea, and was a big part of the reason he decided it was worth doing.

Another good friend of Hirsch’s, Ryan Belleville, will be a headliner. Fans of the CBC/Netflix comedy Working Moms might recognize Belleville from his role as Lionel, who actually moves from Toronto to Cochrane in the show.

His therapist wife Anne doesn’t adapt well, but Lionel actually likes Cochrane. That is, until he gets charged with assault for punching an obnoxious teenager who has designs on Lionel’s daughter.

The family ends up back in Toronto after a short stint in Cochrane, which looks suspiciously like Canmore in a couple of scenes.

“So we thought, you know what better person as a headliner to have than Ryan and poke some fun at the storyline because I think some people got a little upset about Cochrane kind of being this, kind of redneckish kind of town,” Hirsch said. “But, during that show (Lionel) was actually very complimentary of Cochrane.”

Hirsch said when planning the festival their goal was to cover all demographics and niches.

“We've got something for everybody. We've got a really great east coast kitchen show, which we're super excited about. Lisa Baker is one of the best headliners in the country and Pete Zedlacher is going to kick off the festival with the opening gala.

“And we have one show called ‘Not from around here’ where we've got some British comics coming in.”

From the Opening Gala Oct. 2 to the Closing Gala Oct.5, more than 20 comedians will perform at five different venues.

The Newfoundland Kitchen Party featuring Lisa Baker and friends is Oct. 3 at 7 pm.

The opening night gala Oct. 2 at Ducks on the Roof will be hosted by Donovan Deschner, with performances by Cory Mack, Charles Haycock, and headlined by Zedlacher.

Zedlacher hails from Wawa, Ontario but now makes Calgary his home.

He is a 20+ year veteran of the comedy scene and one of the premiere headliners in the country. Zedlacher draws heavily from his Canadian working-class roots. A graduate of the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, the intensive acting program helped him infuse a theatrical element into his stand-up. 

Zedlacher has a Canadian Comedy Award, four Canadian Comedy Award-nominations and two Gemini nominations to his credit. Most recently, Pete won the international comedy competition and was crowned Sirius XM’s Top Comic.

This spring Zedlacher made his 10th appearance at the Ha!ifax ComedyFest. He is probably best known for his appearances at Just for Laughs in Montreal performing galas alongside Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Sir Patrick Stewart and the legendary Muppets. He’s also appeared at The Winnipeg Comedy Festival, JFL42 and toured with the Just For Laughs National Tour.

Zedlacher is a familiar voice to Canadian radio listeners, as he’s a regular and has over 20 debates to his credit on CBC Radio’s The Debaters.

Tickets to festival events are $25 and will be available for $20 for early birds until Aug. 21.

For more festival information including the early bird ticket process go to etix.com.