An Evening of Comedy at the Regent Theatre

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

An Evening of Comedy is coming back this weekend, as the Regent Theatre prepares to host a handful of Canadian comedians.

Presented by John Leonard, an Evening of Comedy 2019 will feature performances by Joe Vu, Rebecca Reeds, George Burgess, Dave Martin and Simon B. Cotter.

According to Leonard, the show, to be held Saturday, May 11 at 8 p.m. at the Regent Theatre, 50 King Street East, is in its third consecutive year.

“It’s a clean show,” says Leonard. “And I have five comedians on the roster, but really I bring six. I always bring one sort of in my back pocket and I don’t tell anybody.”

He says each comedian is very talented, and he likes to bring in Canadian comedians in order to help the arts in Canada.

“I don’t have the Americans or the British comedians,” he says. “That’s what I like. I like promoting the arts here.”

Leonard says Vu’s comedy focuses on growing up in Canada as a young Asian boy.

With a laugh, Leonard says he talks about telling his father he wants to grow up to be a comedian, and his father responded by saying, “We don’t have dreams.”

Vu has participated in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, CBC Radio’s the Debaters, and Just for Laughs Montreal.

According to Leonard, Burgess is a very dry and hilarious comedian.

“He’s so disarming, and he comes out and he’s very dry. Last year I had him in one of my shows, and people were just pounding their legs and laughing their heads off,” says Leonard.

Burgess can currently be heard on Sirius XM, and has won contests, including the Los Angeles Laugh Factory Stand Up Shot contest in 2017 and the Brampton One-Liner Competition in 2017, and he also contributes to Funny or Die.

Rebecca Reeds from Lindsay is also participating, and Leonard says he just saw her host the Toronto Comedy Brawl, a tournament with 400 comedians.

“She talks about relationships and stuff, she’s hilarious,” says Leonard.

Reeds has also recorded for CBC and Sirius XM, while also participating in festivals such as JFL 42, the Ottawa Fringe Festival, Cottage Country Festival and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

Leonard notes Martin recently dropped another CD recently, noting he’s had four or five total.

Martin has toured all over Canada, and has performed at the Historic Massey Hall for the 2015 New Years Eve Comedy Extravaganza. He has also had his own hour long CTV “Comedy Now.”

Martin’s show on Sirius XM titled “Anything Goes” was nominated for best radio show at the Canadian Comedy Awards two years in a row.

Cotter rounds out the five performers, and Leonard says he has performed in dozens of countries around the world.

“He couldn’t make it last year because he had to work for one of his corporate clients in Dubai, but he’s coming this year,” says Leonard.

Cotter has been featured on the Comedy Network, the BBC, CBC, CTV and has performed at Just for Laughs in Montreal.

Leonard says each of the comedians participating are normally headlining their own shows.

According to Leonard, the show will last around two hours and 15 minutes, and will include a 15 minute break.

Tickets are $35 each and to purchase tickets visit regenttheatre.ca.