For Ottawans the Canadian Comedy Awards Festival (CCAF) at Centrepointe Theatre cracked them up with uncontrollable laughter from the “Best Comedians in the World” Oct. 4-6, according to host Nikki Payne.
The reason for the gathering of all these great comedians is simple—A Golden Globe-esque event to honour the funniest of men and women all over Canada with “The Beaver Award.” The Canadian Comedy Association encourages the public to participate in these awards, according to their website.
Nominees are also accepted for the Canadian Comedy Awards Festival from the public and throughout the industry. This year, nominees include Dead Before Dawn 3D as Best Feature Film, Sexy Nerd Girl as Best Web Series, The Debaters as Best Radio Program, and British Teeth as Best Sketch Troupe.
Historically, the CCAF has been modelled after the First Annual Canadian Comedy Awards in Toronto in 2000 who set the mandate “to recognize and celebrate Canadian achievements in comedy at home and abroad,” according to the CCAF website. It quickly became a wild success, and two years later it was transformed into a three-day festival which still exists today.
“Comedy in Vancouver is not the same as Ottawa, Edmonton or Toronto,” Simon Fraser, Chair of Nominees and Awards Council Simon Fraser, said via email.
Each city in Canada develops its own distinct humour, because “our populations are so far apart,” he said.
“There is an emphasis on comedians from Ottawa with performances from Tom Green, Jeremy Hotz, Mike Macdonald . . . to name a few,” he said.
Published alongside the Canadian Comedy Festival is a compact history guide for the non-comedians in the capital region, entitled ‘Ottawa: Gateway to Carp’ by John Mazerolle.
Written with input from lots of different comedians, the guide even hints at Ottawa’s infamous boringness, which allowed for the growth of the acts themselves.
For the first time in the festival’s history, there is also a francophone presence.
“This is the first year that we’ve included French talent in our festival and hopefully that will broaden in the future,” Fraser said. “The Francophone market is pretty huge in Canada so to expand our scope to include it will be quite an endeavour.”
The dimly lit stage, the classic stool and liberated artists who span from witty to silly to plain ridiculous paced the large stage at Centrepoint Theatre this weekend to an uproarious crowd. It’s hard to believe that there is a lack of interest in Canadian comedy overall due to its status as a ‘second-rate endeavour.’
The Canadian Comedy Festival further fills a vacuum of waning public interest in the industry. But the importance of a good laugh and a good time remains important, fresh in the minds of the Ottawans who attended this weekend’s events.
