Press Room

More room for comedy

September 7, 2006
Guy Macpherson
Canadian News Wire

VANCOUVER - This city’s newest comedy venue, Vancouver’s Funny Bone, will be at the Edgewater Casino in the Plaza of Nations. Mike Breslin, the former manager at Yuk Yuk’s, gave the Straight a first look at his new club, which is located in the old IMAX Theatre there. After viewing it, we’re not so sure the room shouldn’t be called the Comedy Cavern. The 425-seat theatre-style club will open September 20 and run Wednesdays through Saturdays until the new year, when it will shut down for renovations before a grand opening in February. In the meantime, expect established names to make their way here. Jeremy Hotz, for one, is booked for the opening week, September 21 to 23, in conjunction with the CanWest ComedyFest, which runs from September 18 to 24. “The extra seats allow us to bring in bigger acts,” Breslin says. “Nobody is out of reach.” He hopes to book name comics at least once a month.

Although the club is an independently run business that’s leasing property from Edgewater, the main players hope the two companies will benefit from each other’s presence.

“We’ve entered into a partnership in developing the room,” Breslin says. The Edgewater Casino, which has been in bankruptcy protection since May, was recently sold to Paragon Gaming of Las Vegas.