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“Comedy is tragedy plus time.” |
Finally, for those out there that don’t like to laugh, they might be best served by a quote from another lady of show business, Julia Roberts:
“Show me a person who doesn't like to laugh and I'll show you a person with a toe tag.”
7 years is a long time. Apparently, it's the number of years at which you’re supposed to get that famed itch in any relationship.
I can only wonder if Will Davis is having that itch now that he is in his 7th year acting as Artistic Director for the Vancouver ComedyFest.
Getting into the position of being the headman of a comedy festival is a bold move given Will’s background as a stand up comic. I only say it’s bold because stand up comics are most at home taking swipes at those in charge. Rare is the occasion where a comic moves into that very position. I’ve decided to call this phenomenon the “Al Franken maneuver”.
Perhaps it is more sensible to know the inevitable jokes that will be made about you in your new position, allowing you to build the requisite armor. After all, aren’t we always warmer to leaders who can take a joke?
When Will (with no small help from his wife, Managing Director Heather Davis) took over the festival, he took it into waters Vancouver had never seen before. Big names came to town. People had a chance to see legends like Martin Short, Steve Martin and Carol Burnett. More than that, Vancouverites had a chance to see great up and coming comics before they became too famous to do so. Some of the people who have graced the festival under Will’s watch are Louis CK, Zach Galifianakis, Flight Of the Concords, Reggie Watts, Jon Dore, Charlene Yi and Paul Rust. Every year Vancouver is given a chance to say “I saw them before they got really big”.
Davis is open. He’s open to weird, different and funny in all shapes and genres.
He travels all over to find what’s going on in the world of comedy. If you think you’ve got something that might work, his ears are open.
For Will, I imagine an itch probably doesn’t occur every 7 years, but yearly until he finds the unique combination of acts and audience that create the right festival to scratch it.
Will took a moment or two out of his festival prep to answer some question for Vancouver Is Awesome.
If you want to learn more you can go to http://www.comedyfest.com/
When was the last time you laughed until you cried?
With my brothers Jack and Paul, I have yet to have a visceral laugh response to anything that compares to them. In the world of comedy the last time I laughed ‘til I cried was the first time I saw Eddie Pepitone.
If you could bring any act in the world to your festival, who/what would it be?
In this moment – Zach Galifianakis.
When you are looking to book acts, what are you looking for?
2 answers for that – one is business and two is original voice. Sometimes (the best times) those two are the same. We have build this festival with an artistic mandate anchored in presenting original voices. We try to create a following based on growing a market for original voice that is a sound business model – it is not simple…
What is one myth about stand up comedy you’d like to dispel?
Canadians are the funniest people on the planet. Per capita we can fill our quota of funny people, but for some reason, maybe like the Irish seem to have a claim to being the biggest drinkers, there is a national believe that we are the funniest people (or produce the funniest people). And that is just not true.
Why is Vancouver a good place for comedy?
For comics; A Vancouver crowd will push a comedian to earn a laugh every joke (that is a bit of a generalization). That raises the magic of the moment of every performance and helps filter out weak jokes.
Who is one performer/group of performers you think everyone should see at least once?
This is impossible to answer – but in this moment Zach
Every article about comedy has to have a pun in the title. What would you like yours to be?
There’s nothing funny about funny business – is that a pun? “There’s nothing funny about comedy”
Every year of the festival brings with it new lessons. What is one lesson about running a festival that you had to learn the hard way?
You can’t please everyone all the time.
What do you miss about performing stand up comedy?
The joy/ fear of a live audience and doing hacky impersonations.
What has been your proudest festival moment to date?
Besides doing this article? Selfishly having dinner with Carole Burnett and her telling me I was funny – but that was more awesome than pride. I am genuinely proud when I get to match a Vancouver comic with a great comedian on a show – that just doesn’t get old.
