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Fraser Valley comedy fest makes its debut next week

Comedy festival during election season is just what the doctor ordered
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Brittany Lyseng is one of the headliners at the Oct. 19 comedy show at the Silver Chalice Pub, part of the first-ever 10-day Fraser Valley Comedy Festival. Submitted photo

With local stages taken up by political candidates talking crumbling buildings and tightening belts, a ten-day long comedy festival with a stop in Hope is just what the doctor ordered.

The first ever Fraser Valley Comedy Festival, a series of ten shows taking place in communities from Langley to Hope, gets underway Wednesday, Oct. 17 and continues until Oct. 27. Some of the country’s top stand-ups, the cream of the Vancouver scene and the Valley’s best join together for shows taking place both in local bars and the largest theatres in the region.

An Oct. 19 show at Hope’s Silver Chalice Pub will feature two national headliners: Vancouver’s James Kennedy and Brittany Lyseng of Calgary.

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Kennedy has been a winner of both the Vancouver Yuk Off and People’s Champ of Comedy, with appearances at Just For Laughs Northwest, Montreal’s Zoofest, and the Pemberton Music Festival.

Lyseng has performed at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival, been seen on Kevin Hart’s LOL network, and this past month was a finalist in the SiriusXM Canada’s Top comic which was contested at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre as part of JFL 42.

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For those willing to hop in their car there will be a number of shows in Chilliwack. The biggest event of the festival is the closing night gala Oct. 27 at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre’s HUB International Theatre. Featuring an all-star cast including Debra DiGiovanni (3-time winner as Best Female Stand-Up at the Canadian Comedy Awards, Last Comic Standing), Pete Zedlacher (Best Male Stand-Up, winner SiriusXM Canada’s Top Comic), Ivan Decker (Conan, 2018 Juno Award winner Best Comedy Album, upcoming Netflix special), Kristeen Von Hagen (2-time Best Female Stand-Up, Match Game), and local Cliff Prang (CBC, Global TV, NBC).

A joint venture between the founder of Fraser Valley Comedy and producer Harry Doupe, this comedy festival is the second largest stand-up fest in B.C. after only Just For Laughs Northwest.


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James Kennedy is one of the headliners at the Oct. 19 comedy show at the Silver Chalice Pub, part of the first-ever 10-day Fraser Valley Comedy Festival. Submitted photo