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Brent Butt was born in Tisdale, Saskatchewan (pop. 3000) on August 3, 1966 - the very same day that legendary comedian Lenny Bruce died. The youngest of seven children, Brent discovered that making people laugh was the quickest way to get their attention. In an environment where sharp wits triumphed over pull-my-finger gags, Brent learned to 'work clean' at a very early age. However, you can only build a comedy career so far in Tisdale - so it wasn't long before Brent headed for the bright lights of Toronto. In a few years he went from doing five minutes on amateur nights in Saskatoon to performing professionally for huge crowds in Canada and the United States.
Brent's style, which he refers to as "coffee shop humour", is comfortable and relaxed. "My friends and I used to sit in the local coffee shop, literally for hours, just talking. We would discuss everything from world domination to the best kind of socks." Butt says, "That's what I try to recapture on stage, that easy style. The jokes naturally build and multiply in that situation. You don't have to force them".
Brent's career has continued to build momentum over the years. From doing television specials on every network in Canada (and a few cable channels) to sold-out concert shows in theatres across the country, Brent established himself as one of Canada's favourite funnymen. In 2003, he teamed up with CTV to create the hugely popular sitcom, Corner Gas. The ratings for the show went through the roof, averaging over a million viewers per episode - with reruns of the show drawing in a million plus viewers each week. The network signed up for a second season (18 episodes this time) and on Oct. 5, 2004, the second season opened with the largest viewing audience ever - 1.53 million viewers!!!
Brent continues to live in Vancouver, BC and tours extensively across the country between seasons of Corner Gas.
Fresh off his successful starring run on Broadway playing the role of Edna Turnblad in the hit musical Hairspray, John Pinette has returned to the stand-up stage. When asked to describe his stand-up, John states, "I talk about my life, it is the funniest thing I can think of. For some reason, people enjoy seeing me lose my cherub like demeanor."
John Pinette has been entertaining audiences around the world in a variety of ways for over fifteen years, but it is making people laugh that John enjoys most of all. He was named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year by the American Comedy Awards in 1999 and has received a Gemini Award nomination for his superb televised performance at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in 2000. His brand new Comedy Central Special and DVD entitled I'm Starvin' was released in January 2007 as a follow up to his enormously successful CD Show Me The Buffet.
Born just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, John has always had a gift for making people laugh. When he learned that he could actually make a living doing so, John left behind his life as an accountant and began his comedy career. It wasn't long before he was touring comedy clubs around the country. Shortly thereafter, John got his big break when he was asked to tour with Frank Sinatra. Since then he has become a regular guest on The Tonight Show and The View.
John has also enjoyed a long acting career in both television and film. Duets, starring Gwenyth Paltrow, Dear God, starring Greg Kinnear, and Junior, starring Arnold Schwarzeneger are just a few of John's film credits. He was a series regular on the hit series Parker Lewis Can't Lose, and starred as the car-jack victim in the final episode of Seinfeld. John can also be seen as the lovable Mr. Bumpo in The Punisher starring John Travolta and Thomas Jane.
Comedian Rodney Pentland was born in the wilds of New Brunswick before moving to Niagara Falls, Ontario as a young lad. He now calls Toronto's Bloor Street home...well, not the street itself, he actually lives in an apartment.
Touring the country, Rodney has headlined from Toronto to the Dominican Republic. He has appeared on many TV shows, including Kenny vs. Spenny, Brave New Waves, The Buzz, and CBC's The Show. He also had his own special on Comedy at Club 54, and made numerous comedic appearances for Beer.com.
Rodney has often said that he enjoys performing comedy more than sex, that's right, sex! And he's better at it too. When you see him perform, you'll understand the energy this man brings to the stage each and every night. He is a comedic crock-pot stirring up spicy pop culture gumbo. His Robert DeNiro and Bill Cosby impressions are world class. Both come a la carte and without apology. Ahhh, it's gravy!
He is most proud of the opportunity to return home as a featured performer for the inaugural Niagara Falls Comedy Fest.
Pentland has phenomenal charisma and a magnetic stage presence that makes audiences love him all over the map. His superbly perceptive observations of the world we live in are gifted in their conception and exquisitely funny in their execution.
A naturally gifted, masterful comedian and impressionist, his is a charisma you'll never forget.
"A most inspiring act..." Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun
"...World Class..." Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine
* Rodney will be performing different material on Friday and Saturday.
Winston Spear is a unique comedian with a deep deadpan delivery who has been called the King of the Obscure. Although his slightly disturbed sensibility makes him a sure-fire hit, there is a certain charisma that endears Winston to audiences when he performs. He is a regular cast member and staff writer on CTV and The Comedy Network's hit sketch show Comedy Inc., now in its fourth season, which also airs on Spike TV.
Winner of the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comic in 2003, Spear has been performing in comedy clubs and festivals throughout North America for more than a decade. In fact, comedy once took him to the United Arab Emirates to perform. He's appeared a number of times at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, the Vancouver International Comedy Festival, and was at this year's Halifax Comedy Festival. Winston refers to his ability to incorporate physical comedy into his act as "comedic modern dance." For the past six years, he has been the resident host of the ALT.COMedy Lounge, a hip alternative showcase for comedians in Toronto.
Winston's experience extends into a variety of television and film projects. He has been featured on Comedy Now!, Comics!, Open Mike with Mike Bullard and with his sketch troupe, Lame & Shooster, on SketchCom. He has also written and performed his own video shorts entitled Crack Doll House, and been featured on sketch series The Bobroom on The Comedy Network. Winston was a guest star on CBC's long running Air Farce, The Holmes Show, and as "Winston the Cellar Dweller" on the 6-part series The Sean Cullen Show and on Toronto 1's The Toronto Show.
* Winston will be performing different material on Friday and Saturday.
Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Terry began his comedy career with the sketch comedy troupe, The Komic-Kazes, ran a comedy club in Ottawa for three years, toured coast to coast, and made several television appearances.
Currently, Terry is a co-star and writer on the sketch comedy show Comedy Inc. (CTV/Spike TV-USA), which recently won the prestigious Gold Medal for "Best TV Variety Program" at the New York Festival. Terry performs stand-up comedy all over the world, from the deserts of the Middle East to the Alert Station at the North Pole, he has performed in every situation imaginable.
He has shared the stage with Stephen Wright at the Hummingbird Centre, played to a packed house at Massey Hall, and has performed for Canadian, German, Dutch, and American Forces in Military hangers at various "undisclosed" locations. Wherever he is and whomever he is standing in front of, he can make them laugh. It's no surprise Terry won the title of "Best Comic for Central Canada" at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.
Terry has been nominated for the Canadian Comedy Awards both as a writer and performer for his stand-up and as a television director. The Toronto Star recently marked Terry as "notably wittier than his contemporaries" and added, "McGurrin will be among the key players in Canadian show business well into the 2000's." The Ottawa Citizen said he possessed, "Enough talent and energy to fill a dozen comedy shows" and NOW Magazine said Terry's act has "the kind of jokes that stay with you for days and have you laughing at the bus stop."
On top of his varied television credits, both as a writer and a performer, Terry has a long list of voice credits in the world of animation including: Little Bear, Medabots, Atomic Betty, Pandalian, and Totally Spies. He is also the voice of Jonesy on Teletoon's hit animation series 6-Teen.
It all began 21 years ago in 1986 when Mark Matthews stepped on stage for his first ever, stand-up appearance at the Funniest Person in Hamilton Contest and out of 15 comics ...placed dead last. The next year he obviously figured something out as he returned to win the contest and then perform in New York City at Catch a Rising Star and The Comic Strip – two of Manhattan's premier comedy clubs.
Mark has performed in Canada and the United States. He's opened for Jerry Seinfeld, Gilbert Gottfried, and Jimmy "JJ" Walker to name just a few. In Niagara Falls, Mark was the guest Emcee at the opening of Planet Hollywood appearing with Bruce Willis.
T.V. appearances include: Crystal Comedy Quest, The Fruitopia Comedy Fest, and Comedy at Club 54. Mark has also appeared in the CBC show Comics playing the simple-minded brother of comedian Jeremy Hotz.
At home in "The Honeymoon Capital", Mark spent three years as the co-host of a local talk show Daytime. He was also the guest co-host on the morning show with Jack Peetes on 97.7 HTZ-FM and has voiced numerous commercials. Twice the producer of Niagara Falls' Misty Awards, Mark works with Tangerine Music writing and voicing commercials and shares executive producer credits with Rick Rose on their independent music CD series Spirit of the Falls I & II. Rick and Mark also acted as promoters for Pink Floyd Niagara, North America's largest touring Pink Floyd tribute band.
Mark is the founder of Mark Matthews and Friends a fund established to help kidney patients in financial difficulty; he is also a spokesperson for the Jim Hughes Charity, a local organization that has raised almost $100,000 to help people living with ALS.
* Mark will be performing different material on Friday and Saturday.
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