You dont spend three-and-a-half decades building Yuk Yuks into the worlds largest chain of comedy clubs without enduring a few disastrous openings along the way. Just one of the war stories in founder Mark Breslins arsenal of anecdotes concerns a last-minute paint job of a new clubs furniture. When the opening night audience found themselves wearing the finishing coat home, he was forced to buy everyone new clothes.
However, with only hours to go before Vancouvers fourth incarnation of Yuk Yuks opens its doors, Breslin couldnt be calmer. As liquor bottles are shelved, tables wiped clean, and sound levels tweaked, the transformation of the rustic Jolly Alderman Pub (at 2837 Cambie) into a modern comedy club is all but complete. Theres a palpable sense of relief that the end of a protracted metamorphosis is in sight.
It was rubble when we took it over. I mean, real rubble, recalls Breslin of his first visit to the venue a year earlier. Add some convoluted negotiations with the Hotel Indigo that houses the club (and whose signage still tellingly promises Opening in Spring 2011) and you can understand why Breslin suggests, Its quite amazing, actually, that this has happened.
During Yuk Yuks two-year absence, Vancouvers alt-comedy scene has flourished in non-traditional venues such as restaurants and art spaces. However, Breslin argues that Yuk Yuks where the alternative meets the mainstream offers a unique opportunity for stand-ups. We have the infrastructure to be able to take people all across the country, he explains. What comics in Vancouver need is, maybe to some degree, a new comedy club like ours. But what they really need is a comedy club in Calgary and Edmonton and Halifax and Toronto where they can play. Otherwise, the scene becomes ghettoized.
Having already taken locals such as storyteller Damonde Tschritter and satirist Brett Martin under Yuk Yuks management wing, Breslin is now seeking out new voices through Wednesday open mic nights.
Thats part of the mandate. You want to find people who are going to become real stars, he explains. The fact I can brag about Howie Mandel, Jim Carrey, Russell Peters, Harland Williams, Norm MacDonald and a lot of other people who started at Yuk Yuks and really cut their teeth here, it gives credence to the idea that we may know how to spot some talent.
One night later, the 200-seat clubs packed opening night saw former Vancouverite Jay Brown and current resident Sam Easton share the stage with Torontonian Bryan OGorman and venerable American eccentric Emo Philips. And while a smattering of dick jokes and Browns unfortunate jabs at Asian drivers back Breslins contention that comedy hasnt changed dramatically in the past three decades, the laughter from a notably diverse crowd (some in attendance werent legal age when the last Yuk Yuks shut its doors) suggest that the grand opening has fulfilled another of Breslins mandates: We want to take as broad an audience as possible and expose them to our cult. The cult of stand-up comedy.
