Local comedians Reese Turner and Walter J. Lyng (aka the Rad Dads) have once again teamed up to offer Montreal comedy fans a series of regularly-scheduled shows with line-ups that are filled with top notch Montreal and Canadian comics.
Through their newly-established Perfect Bite Productions, the duo have created three new series of comedy shows. First there’s the biweekly Piranhaha series, which was launched on February 26 at the Piranha Bar (located at 680 St. Catherine Street West) and will feature David Pryde, Mike Paterson and Derek Seguin as headliners for the next three shows; then there’s A Night of Stars, a monthly comedy showcase that was launched on March 8 at Cafe Cleopatra; and finally there’s Studio Sesh, an underground cannabis-friendly comedy series that happens at a number of secret locations across the city (with the next sesh scheduled for March 23).
And of course, Turner and Lyng will return with their Rad Dads show. After their enormous success at last year’s Just For Laughs festival (in particular, the OFF-JFL series), they took the Rad Dads show on tour to Toronto, Ottawa and St. John, New Brunswick – not to mention releasing a Rad Dads Christmas album — and plan to bring that show to the Ottawa Yuk Yuks club for a special Father’s Day edition.
Our goal with these new series of shows is to offer a premium comedy experience during the week just like a show that you would see in a major comedy club during the weekend, said Lyng during a recent interview. Montreal is full of great comedy talent that is not always apparent to the casual comedy fan, so we decided to stage these live comedy shows with a recognizable headliner, a line-up with some of the best comedians Montreal has to offer who all have festival and/or TV credentials. And best of all, we make it quite affordable with an admission price of $10 per person, or $5 for students.
These shows are not a slapdash money grab. Walter and me spend a lot of time curating the line-ups for these shows to see what we think are the best performers to grace the stage, so that we can put on a great show that would further carry Montreal’s strong reputation for live comedy, said Turner. We have a lot of incredible comedy talent here, but we lose a lot of them to Toronto, because there is a lack of stages and performance opportunities in Montreal. That is why we put together these quality live comedy shows, because it satisfies a need for comics and casual comedy fans, and gets them gung ho for Just For Laughs in July.
Turner added that when he and Walter don’t perform onstage, they spend their offstage time during the day booking the acts, as well as developing and creating the professional-looking flyers and promotional material for their series of shows. The support we get from the bars and venues is great, but we have to be constantly promoting these shows, because promoting and creating awareness is half the battle, he said. They also book comedians to perform at numerous fundraisers for community organizations and school boards.
We love working with such a great group of people. It not only keeps us busy performing, but we give other local comics the opportunity to perform on a regular basis. This is the closest version for ourselves to work with our friends and have fun doing it, said Walter. As well, we can grow the local comedy scene to prove that comedy is alive and well in Montreal, and you don’t have to wait until July to buy your tickets to see a premium live comedy show.
For more information about Perfect Bite Productions and their numerous series of upcoming live comedy shows, check out their Facebook page.
Feature image: Montreal comedians promoters Reese Turner and Walter J. Lyng
