Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club Opens New Location at Biagio’s on Richmond Road

 Photo: jdrf_ottawa Yuk Yuk's, the renowned comedy club chain, has opened its second location at Biagio's Italian Kitchen, creating a buzz of excitement among comedy enthusiasts in the community. Situated in a vibrant part of town, this new venue promises to be a premier destination for stand-up comedy. Located on Richmond Road,

Jesse Reynolds is back on-air

 One of Ottawa’s favourite stand-up comedians, Jesse Reynolds, is back on-air and following his dreams to Kingston, where he will be Fresh 104.3’s new morning show co-host. The opportunity in Kingston came out of the blue for Reynolds. It was the end of summer 2021, and his life was shifting:

Jesse Reynolds making a splash on the Ottawa comedy scene

 Local personality Jesse Reynolds is making a name for himself as a stand-up comedian. Reynolds says he has wanted to be in entertainment for as long as he can remember. As a 17-year-old just out of high school he was determined to be an actor on Broadway, despite advice from

Capital Comedy Review —The drive-in experience and BCP is back

 The relativativity of the perception of time is interesting to me. Like how summers when you were a kid seemed to last a lifetime, but as an adult two months can just fly by. I’m feeling this phenomenon when I consider the last time we had Derek Seguin on the

Capital Comedy Review: The drive-in experience and BCP is back

 The relativativity of the perception of time is interesting to me. Like how summers when you were a kid seemed to last a lifetime, but as an adult two months can just fly by. I’m feeling this phenomenon when I consider the last time we had Derek Seguin on the

Ottawa’s Tom Green performs Isolation

 Ottawa comedian Tom Green isn’t letting COVID-19 slow him down. His latest endeavour, a song to fit the mood of the world at the moment, was released last night on his Instagram. Isolation is soothing and smooth and goes down like a late-night limoncello — sweet and calming. The song

Capital Comedy Review: Jon Dore, Bryan Hatt and more

 Generally speaking, for a comic to not show up for a booked spot is not good form. Sometimes this happens. Like last Tuesday for the Launching Pad show. I heard pretty close to showtime that the host couldn’t make it. I had just been speaking with local comic David Haddad

Capital Comedy Review: Ahmed Ahmed, Big Comedy Parade and more

 With the end of the Summer Comedy Competition, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa return to regularly scheduled programming. Tuesdays are generally reserved for the Launching Pad show which features some of the more experienced comics in the city, and Wednesdays return to New Talent Showcase - shows for

Capital Comedy Review: Summer Comedy Competition Finals

 Photo: Chris Borris and The Honourable Catherine McKenna present Michael Lifshitz with trophy The 2019 Yuk Yuk’s Mike MacDonald Summer Comedy Competition came to a close last week with a brilliant final on Wednesday the 28th. This year Yuk Yuk’s partnered with sponsors Ottawa Life Magazine and Crackup Comedy Festival and in

Capital Comedy Review: More semi-finals, Jeremy Hotz and a Cornwall show

 From left: Rynestone, Clint Gibbons, Mike Bombay, Kyle Mesdag and Jesse Reynolds Like most people, I used to rely on traditional methods to sense the close of summer and the corresponding approach of autumn. Things like leaves changing and days getting shorter. More recently my summer has become measured in

Capital Comedy Review: Competitions, Kyle Brownrigg and Big Comedy Parade

 Photo: 2016 Alterna Crackup Comedy Festival (from left: Gerry Dee, Jessica Holmes, Tazz Norris, Tim Steeves, Patrick McKenna, Chris Borris, Kyle Brownrigg and Harry Doupe) In case you haven’t heard, Ottawa is basically a world superpower city for the production of stand up comics. Many of the best in the business

Look out Château Laurier addition…here comes Tom Green

 We’re all ready to go at Yuk Yuk's this past Wednesday night, the third week of the Mike MacDonald Summer Comedy Competition. The mic has been checked and the room is set for a sold out show. The audience starts filing in at 7:30pm for the 8:30pm show. Tonight is

Tragedy plus time equals comedy

 I looked around at the roughly one hundred people gathered in the cool, dark basement, with excitement as my favourite show was about to begin. A Spotify playlist provides the background music until the sound channel switches to the intro CD starting with Gob’s Paint it Black. As the beat

Celebrate Canadian Comedians with Yuk Yuks’ Mike MacDonald Comedy Competition

 Yuk Yuk’s, a comedy club located in Ottawa, is hosting their annual Mike MacDonald Comedy Competition from July 2 - August 28 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The winner will be crowned as ‘Technically Funny’ and will win the grand prize of $1000 dollars! The competition is open to both professional and

Second Annual An Evening of Laughter Coming Soon

 The Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre will be hosting its second annual family-friendly comedy night and fundraiser, An Evening of Laughter. This all-ages comedy fundraiser will take place on July 13th at the Gladstone Theatre from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in partnership with Yuk Yuk's and the Gladstone. The Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre – or OILRC

Mike MacDonald: Canadian Comic Legend and a Damn Fine Fellow

 In 1986, I tried out new talent night at Ottawa’s Yuk Yuks. That first time on stage I cracked it so club owner Howard (Howie) Wagman asked me to come out again. A week later, I did and I bombed — like really bombed in front of over 230 people.

Dragon Tales with Ricky Steamboat

 Photos credit WWE.Com The wrestler pauses, thinks back and says: “You know, when we were both in our prime, I’d have liked to wrestle Shawn Michaels.” It’s a sentence like this, the creation of an unseen dream match, that makes wrestling fans salivate. The man who would have tore it

Coming Out with Scott Thompson

 “Now I may have been born yesterday, but I still went shopping.” -Buddy Cole From coming out of the closet and into The Hall, comedy to cancer, Buddy to bombings, Brampton to Baghdad and all stops in between, Ottawa Life Magazine presents a career spanning interview with Kids In The Hall's

Of Parrots and Men: Q&A with Comedian Gilbert Gottfried

 Who goes to a Gilbert Gottfried show in 2017? Well, according to the controversial comic himself, people who don’t know any better! Former SNL cast member, Microwave Hot Bites salesman, comedian, reality show star, actor, parrot, duck, husband, dad and podcaster, the quick-witted funnyman has been all of the above. Now,

DeAnne Smith to Headline ‘Laugh Out Proud XII’ at Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa

 None other than the hilariously talented DeAnne Smith will be headlining Yuk Yuk’s 12th annual Laugh Out Proud Show to celebrate Pride Week from August 17th to 19th. Audiences around the world have reveled in DeAnne’s fast-paced wit, at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the

Yuk Yuks Gets X-Rated for January Comedy Showcase

 Images supplied by YukYuks.com. The Pterodactyl laughs as the Drag Queen comic flashes the audience. Yup, it was going to be that kind of night at Yuk Yuks.   Okay, so it was a hairdresser – one of many populating a crowd that night with perfectly coifed manes – but

A Priceless Night at Yuk Yuks with The Million Dollar Man

 Listen to the full interview with Ted DiBiase above. I was 10-years-old when I first met Ted DiBiase before his big match in my hometown arena. When wrestling came to the Cornwall Civic Complex you could always count on my dad getting tickets for my brother and I. Outside of

Yuk It Up This Holiday Season

 Image courtesy of Howard Wagman If you like to laugh (and we know that you do), Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa is serving up a healthy dose of comedy this holiday season! Club-owners are excited to host comedy musical duo Bowser and Blue for two nights only this December. The legendary Montreal-based

Joking around for over 30 years

 As a mainstay in the Canadian comedy scene, Yuk Yuk’s entertains audiences with laughter across the country. This past year marked the franchise’s 30th anniversary. A lot has happened in the last three decades. Formed with the intention of providing an outlet to local comics in Toronto, Yuk Yuk’s performances

Mike MacDonald – Ailing Comedian Raises Awareness of Importance of Testing for Hep C

 For a 57-year-old Ottawa comic in need of a new liver, Mike MacDonald is in a good space these days. Comedians from coast-to-coast are holding fundraisers for Canada’s legendary King of Stand-up Comedy, raising money to help MacDonald pay his medical bills as he battles the Hepatitis C virus that he contracted