Local Ottawa-based comedians come together to try out their latest material at No Forks Given
Ben Seabrook
No Forks Given, a student bar near uOttawa, is one of many destinations for local comedians. They hold a free show every Tuesday at 8 p.m., including one on Jan. 28.
The show is produced and hosted by Tavis Maplesden, who’s been doing so for over two years.
Black and Mi’kmaq comedian Janelle Niles was the first act. She began with a joke about someone she went to school with named Sarah Gay, who often got in trouble. Her principal would ask “Could Ms. Gay come down to the office” and everyone would laugh about the name.
No Forks Given serves as a smaller venue for comedy shows. The audience included a table of four uOttawa students, and another with the comedians and their friends.
The students were being roasted by Maplesden throughout the show, which he said is crowd work, used as a way of connecting with them.
A smaller venue with less people is where comedians are more comfortable practicing new material. They don’t have to worry about quality as much.
“In a place like this where it’s free, if a joke bombs, they don’t feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth, whereas if you go to a club on a Saturday night, you’re expecting jokes that have been done a few times if they know they are done well,” said stand-up comedian Lauren Lane.
“It’s a real test of your new material. If they laugh in a small room, you know they’re going to laugh in a big room,” said Wafik Nasralla, Egyptian comedian of over 30 years.
Many comedians come up with material from life stories. Some enjoy making light out of topics which usually wouldn’t be funny. For example, Lane made a joke about the paperwork which came from her dad passing away.
“I do get genuinely angry, but when I can make a joke about it on stage, then I can kind of defuse the tension, so I really love that about comedy,” Lane said.
Other comics who performed at the show include Jake Storm, Jake Daly and Scott Yrwood. South-African comedian Wardie Leppan did the closing act.
“On the 20th of January, all the clocks in the United States have been turned back 75 years,” Leppan said on stage. “All because of that orange blob racist Don the Con becoming president.”
The next show is set to happen on Feb. 4, which will feature some different people.
