This local comedy club is all about local Canadian talent and making people laugh
Located in downtown Hamilton on King St. W, the Levity Comedy Club & Lounge features live standup shows from around the globe, with a special emphasis on Canadian comedians.
Beyond the standup shows, the club also offers a lounge area with a bar and kitchen, open for food and drink service before, throughout and after shows.
The Levity Comedy Club is dedicated to creating a fun and engaging environment. They offer Amateur Nights on Wednesdays for those who are trying to break into the standup scene. Friday and Saturday nights are booked for seasoned comedians who are sure to deliver exciting shows. The club even hosts workshops on Tuesdays for people to step into the world of standup by trying some writing or getting on stage for the first time.
The club opened in 2019 by Patrick Coppolino, a born and raised Hamiltonian who has been doing standup since 2009. Coppolino started by producing multiple shows around the city in bars and other venues. There, he gathered experience running venues and regularly putting on shows. Coppolino, who was familiar with the owners of the Anchor Bar, then started Levity Comedy Club above the bar.
Coppolino works as the manager, booker and promoter of the club. As a comedian himself, he also occasionally performs and hosts Amateur Nights.
As Hamilton's only comedy club, the Levity Comedy Club has a unique role in the city. It is the only place in Hamilton to see professional standup shows or to try it out yourself.
Now open for five years, the club continues to attract audiences and to create a welcoming and encouraging atmosphere for performers and attendees alike.
"A lot of people end up hanging out afterwards. We have a lot of regulars now that became friends from being there together. They showed up separately, [then] met each other at the bar after. Now they just regularly come to the show, which is really cool," said Coppolino.
A lot of people end up hanging out afterwards. We have a lot of regulars now that became friends from being there together. They showed up separately, [then] met each other at the bar after. Now they just regularly come to the show, which is really cool.
Patrick Coppolino, Manger/Booker/Promoter, Levity Comedy Club and Lounge
Students can come for free on Wednesdays, as long as they show their student ID. Coppolino explained that it's a small incentive to get more youth exposed to standup. With the rise of standup on the internet, including on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube, the club is a great chance to experience comedy in-person.
The Levity Comedy Club is a great way to spend a fun night with friends. Additionally, students who want to work on their standup skills––or even their public speaking skills––can look forward to Amateur Nights and workshops. No matter what day of the week it is, The Levity Comedy Club promises to have you laughing and feeling lighter!
Check out these events to take explore Hamilton before midterm season hits
Before the semester starts getting busy, take a break and stop by these events to explore and learn more about Hamilton!
The Mini Zine Making Workshop is a free event that will be taking place on Jan. 23, 2024 from 12-1 p.m. at the McMaster Museum of Art. The event is part of Thrive Week, a week when the McMaster community comes together as a community to talk about mental health. Mini zines are self-published mini magazines that tend to display images and/or texts that are collectible. The workshop will cover how to make these zines and have participants make it unique to their own art style and practices. The event will also include a tour of the exhibit Chasm at the museum. There is limited space and registration is required.
The Hamilton Winterfest will be held from Feb. 2-19 at the rooftop plaza of Jackson Square. It will host a variety of events such as concerts, crafts, drag, dancing, theatre, fashion and art installations. Performers such as Aoife-Louise Doyle, Wax Mannequin and LT the Monk will hold a live concert there. They will also be hosting their annual Winterfest POP in the heart of downtown, featuring interactive exhibitions that relive the nostalgia of our youth, scratch n’ sniff stickers and video games.
The Hamilton Fashion Week, one of the biggest fashion parties in Canada, will be holding its 10th anniversary at the Music Hall on Feb. 17, 2024. This year, it will present its first Hamilton Runway project: Ethos of Summer, a representation of what summer means to each competitor. It will feature 10 designers, each presenting 10 looks. Some of the local designers that will be featured include Aimee Woods, Kaylee Shallows, Leslie Smith and more. Tickets will need to be purchased in advance.
Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Festival
The Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Festival will be held from Feb. 21-24 at the FirstOntario Centre. It will be hosted by Patrick McKenna and Graham Greene and feature local Hamilton comedy talent. One of the special guests is Hamilton punk rock group Teenage Head, who will be performing their 50th anniversary show. Tickets will need to be purchased in advance.
Have fun checking these out!
The Staircase Theatre’s improvisation community provides a perfect place for creative people to connect during the pandemic
By: Kate Whitesell-O'Melia, Contributor
Photo C/O Kakerr from TripAdvisor
The Staircase theatre has been an incubator for the Hamilton arts scene since it was founded in 1998. The theatre was originally a hydro building but was converted into a 67-seat theatre where Hamilton’s improvisation community has gathered for over 20 years.
Along with housing performances of improv groups such as The Understudies, Staircase theatre has fostered the Improv Staircase community, a group of individuals that are brought together by their passion for improv.
Kristi Boulton is a voice actor, podcaster and comedian who joined the Staircase Improv community in 2013 when she graduated from McMaster University. Boulton recounted her time at the Staircase theatre and her first time performing with her group The Understudies.
“There’s just nothing like it. The laugh that you get it’s so genuine and in the moment and real that it just lights your soul on fire . . . [the Staircase] is such a safe space to play and be a total goofball. It’s scary for sure, but it’s also magical,” said Boulton.
“There’s just nothing like it. The laugh that you get it’s so genuine and in the moment and real that it just lights your soul on fire . . . [the Staircase] is such a safe space to play and be a total goofball. It’s scary for sure, but it’s also magical.”
Kristi Boulton
Boulton went on to become a voice actor and podcaster with the show Civilized. Boulton said that if it wasn’t for the Staircase, she would not have had the courage to connect with other comedians.
Last year, performances and gatherings at the Staircase theatre were put on pause due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Since Staircase Improv has been teaching online improv bubbles on Monday and Wednesday nights.
Staircase Improv teacher, Bill Dunphy, joined the community in 2011 and has been teaching Zoom improv bubbles during the pandemic.
“It is very much the difference between having your seven-year-olds being able to spend two hours in the playground doing whatever they wanted to, whether it's ball or running or talking or whatever, and then having a Zoom chat. Okay yeah, they're still together, they still see each other, interact, but it's a very different thing and that's resulted in a real impact on our community members,” said Dunphy.
“Okay yeah, they're still together, they still see each other, interact, but it's a very different thing and that's resulted in a real impact on our community members.”
Bill Dunphy, Staircase Improv Teacher
Many university students can relate — classes aren’t the same online as they were in person because it lacks the component of being with your peers while learning and growing together. Dunphy hopes to see a fair number of members returning once it is possible to do safely.
During the pandemic, the Staircase theatre almost closed permanently. In August 2020, the former owners announced that there were selling the venue.
“It was such a blow to the community when we realized that the theatre space was potentially going to close because it is that home for so many people,” said Boulton.
Luckily, the theatre was bought by new owners who are continuing the Staircase’s former message. Performances will continue once it is safe to do so and in the meantime, the theatre is open virtually for anyone to try improv.
“I recommend it to everyone, anyone who wants to get creative . . . The simplest thing is just come out to one of the Monday or Wednesday drop-ins. No experience is needed. We welcome everyone,” said Dunphy.
On a personal note, I had the pleasure of attending a Wednesday night improv class myself. I had no previous experience and was nervous to put myself in a situation where others could see me react with no time to stop and think.
I felt that fear melt away as the night went on solely because the group was so welcoming and accepting of my lack of improv skills. Dunphy and Boulton recommend anyone interested in expressing creativity try improv and, after participating in Staircase Improv, I wholeheartedly agree.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Salma Hindy likes to think that she was at her peak creativity and performance level while making her childhood friends laugh. Lunch times at the Islamic elementary and secondary schools she attended turned into a comedy sketch hour filled with extravagant storytelling and ridiculous imitations of her teachers and friends.
The up-and-coming comedian recently returned from the 12 city Super Muslim Comedy Tour in the United Kingdom, and finished in second place in the Toronto Comedy Brawl competition against over 400 comedians. Hindy also spent her autumn performing at comedy festivals in Boston, Dallas, Chicago and New York.
As Hindy prepares to open for American comedian and actor Ken Jeong on Jan. 11 for the Life After Mac performance on campus, it’s fair to say storytelling and making people laugh have followed her into adulthood.
Growing up in a conservative Muslim household meant that her parents have a rigid understanding of what comedy and performance is, which made it difficult for them to understand what their daughter wanted to pursue.
While their ideas of comedy were often tainted with negative connotations and misconceptions, Hindy wanted to show her family and Muslim community that clean comedy can be approached in a way that is mindful of the values and boundaries she has set for herself. Her career, identity and spirituality are part of her own personal journey and comedy just so happens to play an important part as well.
Despite her parents’ reluctance to attend her shows, Hindy’s mother found herself attending an event her daughter just so happened to be performing at for International Women’s Day this past March. It may have been seeing her daughter perform stand-up for the first time, the fact that Hindy removed all her parent jokes from her set, or the constant boasting on part of her mother’s friends, but the laughter seemed to ease her concerns.
The comedy industry was in for a shock too. Most audiences aren’t used to seeing a visibly Muslim woman take center stage at a comedy bar. Hindy will skip out on free drink tickets and get ecstatic at the availability of halal food at her events, but the industry is ready to embrace her and the diversity she brings.
“I fit in pretty well as someone who doesn't fit in, if that makes any sense. They want to see people with different identities… different stories and different perspectives. Somebody who can teach them something that they didn't know before while obviously still being entertaining and funny,” explained Hindy.
While Hindy’s faith and stereotypes around her identity do seep into her act, she isn’t explicitly written for a Muslim audience. Her witty remarks and hilarious stories about her life, which are all based on true events, humanize her as a Muslim Canadian; an identity that is often informed by the media rather than real life interactions.
Comedy became a breakthrough for fostering understanding. From jokes about struggling to have a crush reciprocate feelings to witnessing anti-Muslim protestors outside of a mosque and thinking ‘wow, these people go to the mosque more than me, like damn I wish I had your consistency’, Hindy utilizes storytelling to reach out to her audience and build a relationship.
“[I]t doesn't even necessarily have to be specifically or explicitly about Muslim issues or Muslim struggles, obviously those are really enlightening and they're great informational pieces for the audience, but even just you ranting about the same thing that somebody else would rant about which is just very mundane, just shows how relatable you are and how much of a connection that we all have,” explained Hindy.
Hindy completed her bachelor of engineering at McMaster and a masters in clinical engineering at the University of Toronto. She recently started her first full time job as a biomedical research engineer at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health so it’s only a matter of time before this milestone in her life inspires the newest additions to her comedy set.
In conversation, Hindy can’t help crack a joke or two — or every five minutes— often followed by a ‘you know what I’m saying?’ and her contagious laughter. Comedy is her superpower, she uses it to spread awareness, break down stereotypes and share herself unapologetically with the world.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
On a cold and miserable date late last fall, the McMaster Students Union’s Campus Events announced that Hasan Minhaj would be signing off Life After Mac week. With exams around the corner, I, along with hundreds of other students, rejoiced at finally having something to look forward to.
The comedian, actor, host and writer has been a Senior Correspondent on The Daily Show since 2014, but most people recognize him from his viral keynote performance at the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner and his stand-up comedy film, Homecoming King.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or had never heard of the comedian before, Hasan Minhaj’s life is an inspirational tale of where passion and hard work can take you after university.
You may not share the same school with Minhaj, but you can definitely draw parallels between university experiences. Minhaj also dealt with never-ending midterms and the impending fear of missing them, but his roommate, Dusty the brick-breaking champion, had his back.
“My alarm didn’t go off and [Dusty] was on the bottom bunk. He was like ‘Hasan get up!’ and he karate kicked the top bunk and it snapped in half… I went crashing head-first into tile, which was super painful,” explained Minhaj.
Although Dusty was harsh, Minhaj was grateful.
“But I do owe him, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it to the midterm.” he said.
Minhaj also had the same fears and doubts as many McMaster students. After graduating with a major in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, Minhaj wasn’t sure if he had an employable skill set.
“I think there are always two commodities that you are playing with in life. It’s either time or money.”
Hasan Minhaj, Comedian
He moved back home and found himself working for a tech start-up as his first job out of university. However, Minhaj decided that this job was a way to bankroll his comedy dream, which his heart was set on pursuing full-time.
“I think there is always two commodities that you are playing with in life, it’s either time or money… I would say because you have the commodity of time [in your twenties], don’t worry about the money. Quadruple down on what your passions are, do that internship that pays nothing, go move to that city that’s giving you that phenomenal opportunity,” explained Minhaj.
For Minhaj, this means never giving up on your dreams, even if it means closing doors on certain opportunities that would’ve taken time away from the experiences that encouraged his passion.
In many ways, Minhaj has made it. His critically acclaimed solo show, Homecoming King, is streaming as a comedy special on Netflix and is currently touring nationally in the United States, not to mention he’s been having an incredible experience with The Daily Show.
As I sat across Minhaj in a DBAC locker room, he told me how his favourite thing about Canada is Tim Hortons while a cup of non-Tim Hortons coffee turned cold on the table between us. I wondered why he was about to do a show in our very own Sport Hall as gym-enthusiasts used the elliptical upstairs.
“I’m working on my next show and what’s really exciting for me is that colleges and universities are the perfect intersection of what I think is both culture and education,” explained Minhaj.
“[Not everybody at comedy clubs or gigs] are thinking about some of the subject matter that I’m talking about, [such as] politics, statistics and topical news. Universities are the rare sort of place where both of those worlds meet.”
Minhaj uses comedy as a way to raise awareness about the issues he cares deeply about, as well as investigate and answer the questions that he has been thinking about. He is currently working on his own show, which allows him to explore issues he wasn’t able to dig as deeply into on The Daily Show.
McMaster students got a sneak peak of this new concept as Minhaj intertwined stand-up comedy, statistics, news clips and memes to address political and societal issues such as racism, Islamophobia, immigration reform and the refugee crisis.
Minhaj hopes that his audience are not only entertained, but can also take away important messages and educate one another on the issues that impact our national and international communities.
In humour, the want to stay fresh and unique should always be present. If you steal jokes or concepts, you are deemed a plagiarist. If your topics lack originality, you are uninspired.
What separates a good comedian from a great comedian is how well they can make relatable events extraordinary and how they communicate its amusement and uniqueness without losing what the audience identifies with. Peter Unwin’s newest novel, Searching for Petronius Totem, finds this balance with Hamilton flair.
The basic premise is grounded and simple. The main character, Jack, retreats to a rooming house in Hamilton, then sets off across the country find his life-long colleague who has disappeared after his memoir was revealed to be filled with lies. There is also some understandable tension between Jack and his wife, who will likely shoot him on sight should he ever return home. Nothing is too out of the ordinary when it comes to a premise, and would make a decent novel with that base to work with.
However, the more substantial situation at hand is what will likely catch your attention. The world is being taken over by a multi-national Fibre-Optic Catering business that creates chicken-like food matter that flies. It is absurd.
“There’s a certain sort of repetitive quality to novel writing now. It tends to tell the same story with the same degree of earnestness, and I definitely did not want that. I wanted something that broke the mold,” said Unwin.
It works because of the attention to detail given to the basic premise. Even aspects as seemingly minor as the main characters being from Hamilton and a decent portion of the book taking place in the city have consistent influences throughout the novel. The dialect, how each character is perceived and the mannerisms of those characters are all affected.
“There’s a hierarchy of hipness or something about where we stand. Hamilton’s sort of gloriously outside of that hierarchy. Middle finger, we don’t care where we stand, we’re the Hammer, and this is us.”
As Jack travels across the country, this manages to come up time and time again. The reputation that Toronto and Ontario has plays into the book’s humour on top of these mannerisms.
Even though Hamilton is portrayed as being outside of that hierarchy, there remains resentment when people misinterpret where the characters are from or stereotype them as a result. It becomes a clever and realistic gag that comes up consistently in the middle of preposterous situations.
“People are proud of where they’re from regardless of how small the town is or how ugly. And that sort of pride in place, like when Jack goes to Vancouver, he just thinks Vancouver is a backwater. He’s from Hamilton. It could never be as good as Hamilton.”
This attention to detail remains present in its absurdity. This Hamilton influence continues to be a key factor in larger-than-life situations. It becomes a way of interpreting edible flying mechanical chickens as a metaphor, and most of the humour can hit home even when it does not initially feel like you can identify with it.
“To a large extent, the book is about things coming to an end, like a dystopia, end of the world type of book, getting there. And also, in a sense, the end of the novel or the death of the novel. You set this within Hamilton, it’s fair to say it has this reputation that’s passed now, is a city that’s suffered from this breakdown in industrialized industry.”
Honestly, it is unknown if someone outside of southern Ontario or Canada would find the novel funny. While you could relate through other points, this is a home-grown and tailor-made novel for its audience, and it is unapologetic about being locally focused.
It is not for everyone. However, considering you are reading an Arts & Culture article in a student newspaper that attempts to cater all of its content for the students of McMaster and the Hamilton community, it is likely that you will like it.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
In an interview with Vulture, comedian Chris Rock articulated a sentiment that has since been echoed by a number of comedians.
Rock noted that he no longer performs at colleges because the student population is “too conservative.” He went on to clarify that it’s our “willingness to not offend anyone” that takes the fun out of comedy.
In short, his point is that comedy is being stifled by political correctness.
There’s some merit to this. Comedy thrives in the moral grey area between what’s considered “okay” and “not okay.” Like all artists, comedians need artistic licence. They talk about this all the time -- it’s the need to be edgy.
But artistic licence isn’t a free pass to discriminate. Moreover, comedy doesn’t need to hinge on discrimination.
Being politically correct might kill a joke here or there, but what good is a joke when it comes unfairly at one party’s expense? Comedians complain about people being too sensitive, but sometimes, comedians are just being assholes, and they get called out on it.
Take John Cleese, best known for his role in the British comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In an interview with Bill Maher, Cleese griped about not being able to make jokes about Muslims. His reasoning: “they’ll kill you.”
To be fair, Cleese made the comment facetiously -- as a joke. But what’s the humour in that? What’s funny about propagating horribly untrue Islamophobic sentiments? What’s the humour in generalizing Muslims as radical fundamentalists? Is that worth a cheap laugh?
The problem for comedians isn’t political correctness. The problem is that comedy is really hard and being an asshole simply doesn’t cut it.
Instead of griping about the need to tiptoe around sensitive topics, comedians should look to the clever and hilarious ones among them -- like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert -- who are able to play within the boundaries of political correctness, while providing poignant and insightful commentary on politically sensitive topics.
Ultimately, if a joke flops, it’s a failure on the part of comedian. If people are taking offence to a joke instead of laughing along, then the joke isn’t funny. And if the only way you can deliver is by discriminating, or being divisive, that’s on the comedians themselves, not political correctness.
By: Mike Nisiak
Megan Amram is a writer on Parks and Recreation who got started in comedy through Twitter, with gems such as “Dolls teach girls very unrealistic body standards. A Russian doesn’t have to have many tiny Russians inside her to be beautiful” and “our scariest president was probably Rushmore, because he has four heads.”
Now, she has released her first book, Science... for HER!
Science... for HER! is a satirical science textbook in the style of Cosmopolitan that helps women learn many (not many) scientific facts. Amram marketed the book to women with the selling points that women’s brains aren’t biologically constructed to understand scientific concepts, and women’s tiny hands aren’t biologically constructed to turn the large heavy covers of most science textbooks.
Just for full disclosure: I am not a “HER!” Fortunately, my lack of X chromosomes didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book. I thought it was incredibly funny. The jokes are very absurd, but always carry with them a strand of intelligence. It quickly becomes apparent that Amram crafted the book with extreme precision.
Beyond being funny, Science... for HER! acts as a clever social commentary. In the same vein as Stephen Colbert’s conservative character, Amram taking on the perspective of a Cosmopolitan writer emphasizes the absurdity of how our society views women. Reading this book has shown me more ways that sexism is present in our society than any feminist literature ever has.
These feminist ideas come in articles such as “Women with Jobs?!” in which she ponders whether women should work or not, pointing out that this question remains one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Her opinion is that women should not work outside the home, stating “it’s Steve Jobs, not Eve Jobs.”
At one point, Amram shows what women scientists like Marie Curie and Elizabeth Blackwell look like without makeup. It feels so demeaning of these women and begs the question of why I didn’t get this feeling when I’ve seen comparisons like this about celebrities?
Overall, this book is very entertaining. But more importantly, it made me question my innermost assumptions about gender. I feel like this book has made me a better person.
I would’ve given this book an even higher rating, but I felt uncomfortable purchasing this book at the bookstore because of its “girly” cover. Perhaps Amram should consider releasing a version with a black sleeve over the cover, maybe with some flames or skulls or something.
A few months ago I weighed in on John Oliver’s latest comedic effort Last Week Tonight, praising it for its thoughtful commentary and hilarious writing. At the time, the show had just come out, and many were questioning the need for another “fake news show” to compete with the many already on air. So now, as the first season came to a close on Nov. 9, I find myself smiling at all that Oliver has accomplished in a short while.
What makes Last Week Tonight so great is that it doesn’t just spout its biases for comedic effect; instead it works to explain real issues, and analyze them from a journalistic perspective. It does what The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have been doing for ages: provide intelligent discussion on real issues. However, unlike these shows, Last Week Tonight isn’t limited by formatting or content restraints thanks to the lack of restrictions from HBO.
While I hate to compare Last Week Tonight to shows that I like and enjoy, when you watch The Daily Show it is a fairly predictable experience. Viewers know that Stewart will break down political issues, incorporating various jokes in a series of formulaic segments. In comparison, Last Week Tonight can be unpredictable in a good way. Whether it’s explaining the prison system with the Muppets, or launching salmon through a cannon at various newscasters, Oliver breaks up the monotony of late-night television beautifully.
Above all, what makes Last Week Tonight an important contribution to late-night television is its ability to blur the line of when “fake news” ends and real investigative journalism starts. While Oliver assures his audience that the show is much more of a comedic effort than a journalistic one, this claim becomes hard to swallow when one considers some of the stories they have covered, and the way they have covered them. Whether it is investigating the public tax records surrounding the scholarship claims of the Miss America pageant, or explaining the complexity of net neutrality, John Oliver is making a real journalistic effort with Last Week Tonight.
In particular, Last Week Tonight reflects a shift towards kind of “explanatory journalism” in which a reporter attempts to present a complex, nuanced story in a more accessible manner. This practice is nothing new, but it’s the methods Oliver uses that make his work so effective. Put simply, most people don’t want to take the time to follow a complex story spanning several months or even years, so the journalist needs to make their best effort in keeping it concise and entertaining at the same time. While many people in the media are aware of this, few are able to find the balance between informative and entertaining like Oliver.
Whether Oliver admits it or not, Last Week Tonight does real journalism, and it does it brilliantly. His YouTube channel numbers have proved that not only do millions of people enjoy his work, but they simultaneously disprove the idea that long content cannot succeed in an age of increasingly short attention spans. People engage with Oliver’s segments regardless of whether they are five minutes or 15, and leave every segment more informed, even if they don’t agree with Oliver’s position. If you’re looking for a program with as much style as it has substance, Last Week Tonight is the perfect fit.
