| BY GUY MACPHERSON
Give the Vancouver International Comedy Festival credit: it may
not have any big-name comedians, but for the second year in a row,
the little festival is making more of a commitment to standup comedy.
Sure, there will he the usual assortment of streetniks and impromaniacs,
but there will be no shortage of the good old-fashioned standup
variety.
One of the best bets in this "international" festival
is the Local Legends show, featuring the best comics the city has
to offer. Peter Kelamis will share the stage with Irwin Barker,
Brent Butt, Barry Kennedy, and J. P. Mass not technically legends,
but certainly among the top standups in the country.
Kelamis is everywhere. Besides his polished character-based standup,
the 32-year-old is also an accomplished actor who can be seen and
heard all over the TV, from series to commercials to animation.
He's filming a new MTV show called 2Gether, a takeoff on all-boy
bands; has a recurring role on These Arms of Mine, which will air
on CBC; and is doing voices for four animation series.
"I've been pretty lucky," he says on the phone from his
home during some brief downtime. "I'm a fairly busy standup
comic. And to have four animation series going is quite a lot. Everything's
kind of firing on all cylinders now. I can't complain much."
Kelamis, who has played the world's biggest comedy festival, Just
For Laughs in Montreal, wasn't originally a fan of Vancouver's festival
because of its earlier reliance on buskers. But he's come around
and now thinks the Vancouver festival is great.
"I totally give [artistic director] Wayne Specht and his wife
credit for introducing |
Peter Kelamis got his comedy legs facing tough
Vancouver crowds, but he doesn't rule out going south to try his
luck in Hollywood sometime soon.
standup on a regular basis for the second year in a row,"
he says.
"Before that, I kind of had a thing against this festival
for not having that around. You had your Hungarian jugglers, and
I guess there's a certain degree of people who like to watch that.
But I'm not one of them."
One thing this year's festival lacks is a big draw to attract those
who wouldn't ordinarily attend a comedy show. The festival is international
in the same way the Victoria International Airport is: it gets the
odd flight from Bellingham and Seattle but no 747s from New York
or L.A. Elvira Kurt and Derek Edwards, the festival's main draws,
are very good but hardly names that will create a buzz. It's a far
cry from the days when the likes of Penn and Teller and Kevin Nealon
were festival attractions.
"I think you do need a big name to get people who may not
have gone to standup before or don't go that often," Kelamis
says. "It's important to attract big-name acts, but also to
use as much of the local talent as you can in and around that big
name so the next time around they themselves will be the big names."
Kelamis himself might be that big name one day. He's got a couple
of audition tapes that have been sent down to L.A., one for Mad
TV, the other for a new Jamie Foxx sketchcomedy show. It's only
a matter of time before he makes the move south. For one thing,
Canadian comics certainly have a good track record. For another,
it's the place to be.
"It definitely is the epicentre of the entertainment
world," he says. "To think that I wouldn't like the opportunity
to be down there and try it wouldn't make any sense. You eventually
have to go down at some point in your career."
It's the twisted state of Canadian entertainment that
practically dictates it. |
"Typically, the press in Canada
is not very supportive at all as far as new entertainers or new
comedians," he says. "You hear time and time again, 'Oh,
if you're that good a comedian, why aren't you in the States?' And
it's almost as if we've created an aura and a way of thinking in
Canada that if you're that good, you shouldn't be here. People actually
think that way."
It's a good place to be from, though, that's for sure. Especially
Vancouver, if you're a comedian. Visiting comics from back east
hate coming here, saying Vancouver has the toughest crowds. But
that can be a blessing in disguise for the locals. If you can make
it here, you can make it anywhere. Or something like that.
"I earned my comedy legs in this city," Kelamis says.
"You'd rather start in a city that's more difficult than less
difficult. I guess technically you'd be a more skilled performer.
But I find the Vancouver crowds great. I don't notice a real toughness
or anything like that."
For a performer who oozes confidence on-stage, Kelamis still claims
to get nervous before every show. Whether he's opening for Dennis
Miller or following Neil Diamond to warm up 4,000 movie extras while
they eat lunch, he gets the jitters. "Oh, every time,"
he admits. "I don't think you ever become fearless; you just
kind of team how to hide it better. Up until the first joke, I'm
always paring, regardless of what the event is."
At the Local Legends show, he'll get by with a little help from
his friends. "It was a blast last year," he says. "The
people on the show are all good friends of mine. And we can walk
around calling ourselves legends for a day, so it's not so bad."
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