An all-star lineup of comics will be stepping onto the stage at the Newmarket Comedy Festival Nov. 1.
Tickets, $35, are now available for the comedy festival featuring Drew Behm, Zabrina Douglas, Lianne Mauladin, Greg Enwright, and Newmarket’s own Jesse Ralph at Old Town Hall.
The festival follows up on an inaugural show in April. Ralph said the first show had a great reception from residents in Newmarket and area. Tickets sold out a month in advance.
“The inaugural Newmarket Comedy Festival sold out a month in advance,” said Ralph. “I was relieved, then worried that my mom bought all 170 tickets,” jokes Ralph. "Luckily, we had the support of Newmarket and I guess it went well enough to do it all over again. It's amazing to bring world-class comedy to Newmarket.”
Doors will open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 8 p.m.
Behm is a comedian who grew up in Edmonton, Alta. and now lives in Toronto. He appeared at the Halifax Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs in Toronto, the Hubcap Comedy Festival and was a semifinalist in the Seattle International Comedy Competition.
“He is a very high-energy comedian and trained in theatre,” said Ralph. “He is one of my favourite comics to work with because he is always on his game. I have done some weird shows with him where there have been eight people and he has made every single one of them crack up. He has a lot of energy.”
Behm makes a lot of jokes about life in Alberta and as a married man recently tying the knot.
“Before I was married, I was a single free guy and now that I’m married, I spend most of my Sundays at Costco and in line at superstores, so I have a lot of jokes about that,” said Behm.
Douglas is a comedian who draws from her experience as a nurse, a mother of five children, and the daughter of Jamaican parents. She released a comedy album, Things Black Girls Say, that received a Juno Award nomination for comedy album of the year in 2023.
Mauladin is known for her comfortable, straight-shooting, style of comedy and unique perspective on life. She performed live on ABC's The View and her comedy has been recorded and or televised on ABC, Bite TV, iChannel, Sirius XM, CBC, and Rogers TV.
Enwright is a comedian, accountant, father, and a hater of pants. He made his Just for Laughs debut in 2023. He is an assistant coach for the Bradford West Gwillimbury Minor Hockey Association and co-producer of Sin Bin Comedy.
Behm released his debut comedy album, Gnarly, in September 2018 on streaming platforms. He said he produced it entirely from plugging in microphones, connecting recording equipment, writing, editing, mixing it, and creating the artwork. He planned for a second release in 2020 but the pandemic occurred. He has been working on new material that is different from the style of jokes he had before.
“An album is more of a snapshot of where that comedian is at that point in their life,” said Behm. “When I recorded Gnarly, I was 27 years old, a big drinker, partier, and heavy metal rock 'n' roller guy. Since 2018, a lot of time has gone by. I got married, I have a wife and we’re settled down now. It’s kind of cool because as long as a comedian remains true and honest to themselves, it doesn’t matter what is going on in their life because the album will always be a representation of that.”
For more information or to purchase tickets visit: https://secure1.tixhub.com/newmarket/online/index.asp
