A new small, unusual comedy festival is starting in Vancouver.
The Little Weird Weekend is a three-night festival featuring 10 shows by local comedians hosted by the Little Mountain Gallery (LMG) running from Friday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 24.
The festival's goal is to support local comedy while pushing the boundaries of normal formats.
Shows include a local take on the popular Taskmaster comedy game show, a show inspired by the Am I the Asshole subreddit on Reddit, and an interactive stand-up comedy show that allows the crowd to comment on the show while it's happening.
"We really like alternative formats that are outside traditional stand-up or improv. Our hope is that this encourages people to put on different kinds of shows, and also that some of these first-time shows will be successful and run regularly," Brent Constantine, LMG executive director, tells V.I.A.
To that end the LMG team put out the call for new comedy show concepts earlier this year; they received more than 40 pitches and green-lit 10 of them based on metrics like originality and diversity.
"We think audiences are going to see some really unique stuff that hasn’t been seen before (and may never be seen again!)," Constantine tells V.I.A.
That means the festival will feature things like a show featuring real-life couples talking about their relationships, a show based on QVC with comedians pitching products, and a murder mystery stand-up show.
To help make it feasible for the show creators, LMG helped fund the shows.
"We’re giving producers the space for free, helping them run their shows, giving them a few hundred dollars to stage the shows, and they’re also taking ticket sales," Constantine explains.
Little Weird Weekend will have 10 different shows, with four on Friday night and three each Saturday and Sunday night. LMG is hosting all the shows on their Slazar Stage and in their Raccoon Room; each show is ticketed separately.
Tickets for shows range from $15 to $25; tickets bought at the door are a couple of dollars more than those bought in advance.
Little Mountain Gallery is located at 110 Water St in Gastown.
