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SUMMARY:Liars of Orpheus: Comedians and Clowns
DESCRIPTION:Liars of Orpheus: Comedians and Clowns \nLiars of Orpheus is a kids show for adults where writers produce small faux lectures on strange topics. This month\, writers will be creating fun fictitious work on their favorite comedians. \nFeaturing at Liars of Orpheus: Comedians and Clowns will be Katie Ellen Humpries\, Mike McGee\,Simon King and Yumi Nagashima. \nKatie-Ellen Humphries is a standup comedian\, writer and sketch performer currently based in Vancouver\, B.C. \nWhether sharing comedic confessions or disappearing into uproarious and dramatic characters\, Katie-Ellen’s remarkable point-of-view resonates on the stage\, page and screen. Her sensibility (that falls somewhere between the library and the locker-room) and sharp wit make her a favourite of audiences of all kinds. \nA founding member of The Lady Show and veteran of award-winning comedy cabaret Atomic Vaudeville\, Katie-Ellen is a regular on CBC Radio’s The Debaters where she has worked as a writer and Associate Producer. Katie-Ellen is also a 3-time Canadian National Champion for the 5 Kilometer Open Water Swim. That’s unrelated to comedy\, but it explains the shoulders. \nMighty Mike McGee is a funny stand-up poet from San José\, California. He’s performed his comedic storytelling and poetry in thousands of cities and towns for millions of ears throughout the U.S.\, Canada and Europe. McGee won all of the most coveted U.S. poetry slam titles and is one of the best known and liked people in the world of chatty writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) for 2018 & 2019. He’s been featured on CBC\, NPR and HBO multiple times and takes pride in making people laugh and cry from the stage. \nAn absolute force of nature on stage\, Simon King is the kind of dynamic\, energetic and intelligent comedian that comes along perhaps once in a generation. \nWith credits including: HBO\, Just For Laughs\, The Winnipeg Comedy Festival CBC\, CTV\, TBS\, The Comedy Network and numerous television and radio appearances\, Simon is a veteran comedian with experience performing around the world. \nA relentless energy\, whip smart material and lightning quick wit that moves him seamlessly from written material to improvisation will win you over but his intelligent humour and incredible performance will show you why Robin Williams has called him a “Truly gifted comedian”. \nYumi Nagashima is a Tokyo-born actress\, writer\, and international stand-up comedian known for her magnetic stage presence and sharp\, globally informed perspective. Blending cultural insight with playful elegance and bold timing\, she captivates audiences worldwide. Her work has been featured at Just For Laughs Montreal\, Winnipeg Comedy Festival\, Halifax Comedy Festival\, CBC Gem’s New Wave of Stand-Up\, and Comedy Central Asia. Her viral comedy clips across social media and YouTube continue to reach a rapidly growing global audience.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/liars-of-orpheus-comedians-and-clowns/
LOCATION:2434 Main St\, Vancouver\, BC V5T 3E2\, 2434 Main Street\, Vancouver\, BC\, V5T 3E2\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Show
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ORGANIZER;CN="Death Rides a Unicorn":MAILTO:sean@deathridesaunicorn.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20261030T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20261030T210000
DTSTAMP:20261006T221920Z
CREATED:20261005T170937Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T221920Z
UID:63570-1793386800-1793394000@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Famous Last Words Heart of the City
DESCRIPTION:Famous Last Words is a spoken word poetry comedy show where poets participate in six rounds of a faux competition. They ‘compete’ in a series of poetry-related events that are in turn\, ‘judged’ by our host (with input from Uni the Unicorn and our audience). There will be free chocolate\, unicorn bubble guns and lots of silly poems. This episode will be hosted by Sean McGarragle and feature Mike McGee\, Nisha Patel\, Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal\, RC Weslowski and Uni the Unicorn. \nMighty Mike McGee stands as a distinctive voice in the world of spoken word poetry\, weaving together humor\, storytelling\, and education with the threads of his rich life experiences. Born in the vibrant city of San José\, California\, Mike entered the world facing the challenges of Spina bifida\, a neural tube defect that has undeniably shaped his life’s trajectory. This condition\, far from slowing him down\, has propelled him into becoming an ardent advocate for pursuing passions fervently and without delay. \nMcGee’s journey through the realms of poetry and performance began to gather significant momentum in the early 2000s\, marked by his groundbreaking victories in the competitive poetry slam scene. In 2003\, he clinched the National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Championship\, a feat he complemented with the Individual World Poetry Slam Grand Championship in 2006\, making him the first ever to hold both titles. These victories were not just personal triumphs but milestones that placed him firmly on the global poetry map. \nBeyond the competitive stage\, McGee has been a relentless traveler\, sharing his unique blend of poetry and humor across the United States\, Canada\, and Europe. His performances\, characterized by their heartfelt sincerity and infectious laughter\, have spanned several hundred thousand miles since 2002. McGee’s talents have been showcased on prestigious platforms such as HBO’s Def Poetry Jam\, CBC Radio and Television\, and NPR’s Snap Judgment\, underlining his appeal to a broad audience. His historical performance at the University of Paris\, la Sorbonne\, in 2005 marked him as one of the first Americans to bring spoken word to the iconic institution\, further cementing his role as a pioneer in the field. \nMcGee’s literary contributions are encapsulated in his first collection of humor and poetry\, “In Search of Midnight\,” published by Write Bloody Publishing. His involvement with Poetry Center San José since 2016\, including a stint on its board of directors\, showcases his commitment to nurturing the poetic community in his hometown. \nNisha Patel is a former Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton and a Canadian Poetry Slam Champion. She is a disabled culture worker with a passion for local arts and disability advocacy. Nisha holds an MA from Queen’s University and an MFA from UBC. Her works (Coconut\, A Fate Worse Than Death) are available where books are sold. She is a recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal and the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund. Her third collection\, For the Record\, will be out in the fall of 2026 with Arsenal Pulp Press. \nNisha was a finalist for the Vallum Chapbook Award and has been published across Canada. She has works with Gap Riot\, GUTS\, filling Station\, and This Magazine\, among others\, and in the anthologies The City Series\, COVID Collections\, and Hush No More: Poetry and Art to End Rape Culture. She was a semifinalist of the World Poetry Slam Championship and a finalist of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. She is also a seasoned host\, curator\, and organizer. \nNisha has performed and taught workshops\, with over three hundred and fifty performances and to date. She lives and writes with her partner\, fellow author Matthew James Weigel (Whitemud Walking). \nHer website is nishapatel.ca\, and you can find her online @anothernisha. \nPreeti Kaur Dhaliwal\, BA\, BCL\, LLB\, LLM\, MFA (she/her) is a writer\, facilitator\, former lawyer and critical race feminist who grew up in an immigrant household on the traditional\, present\, and future territories of the Semiahmoo\, Katzie\, Kwikwetlem\, Kwantlen\, Qayqayt\, Tsawwassen and Musqueam First Nations (Surrey and North Delta\, BC). She has spent over two decades using arts-based methodologies to explore justice\, healing\, community-building and transformation\, offering creative workshops across communities and institutions on Turtle Island. \nPreeti firmly believes stories change the world by altering our ways of seeing\, feeling and being with one another and the planet. Her work asks how language so often used to colonize\, flatten and desensitize might instead bring us back to ourselves\, oneness and each other. \nRC Weslowski is an award-winning spoken word poet and radio broadcaster. He has featured at such distinguished events as the Nuyorican Café Poetry Slam\, The Bowery Poetry Club\, The Toronto Poetry Slam\, The Art Bar Reading Series\, Planet Poetry\, The Poets Corner\, The Otoba Poetry Slam\, Song and Bird Reading Series\, the Verses Festival of Words and now the Edmonton Poetry Festival. RC has led poetry “wordshops” with Word Travels Australia\, The Banff Centre for the Arts\, The Tuscon Poetry Festival\, The Victoria Spoken Word Festival and many more. RC’s first book of poetry\, “My Soft Response to the Wars” is out on Write Bloody North Publishing. www.writebloodynorth.ca \nSean McGarragle is a poet\, storyteller\, teacher\, performer and event producer from the republic of East Vancouver. He is the founder of Death Rides a Unicorn\, The Vancouver Story Slam\, The Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and the Vancouver International Poetry Festival (now entitled Verses). He has performed and read his work from Dublin to Denver\, from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to Madison Wisconsin. He is super excited to host this show and to showcase these great talents. \nUni the Unicorn is the antithesis of Death. Uni is joy and love\, buoyant and distracting. Most of the time\, Uni has chocolate and bubbles to share. \nFamous Last Words: Heart of the City gathers writers\, performers\, and mischief‑makers for an evening of poetry that refuses to behave. Expect sharp twists\, tender moments\, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. \nDeath Rides a Unicorn is all about unicorns\, chocolate\, bubbles\, rainbows\, humour\, and joy 🦄🍫. By signing up here\, you save your spot\, help us plan the mayhem\, and keep local\, delightfully odd storytelling thriving. \nThis event would not be possible without the support of the League of Canadian Poets\, The Writers Union of Canada\, Event Magazine and of course\, The DTES Heart of the City Festival.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/famous-last-words-heart-of-the-city/
LOCATION:SFU Woodwards – Goldcorp Centre for the Arts\, 149 W Hastings St.\, Vancouver\, BC\,  V6B 1H4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Show
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ORGANIZER;CN="Death Rides a Unicorn":MAILTO:sean@deathridesaunicorn.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20261106T190000
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SUMMARY:Famous Last Words Victoria
DESCRIPTION:Famous Last Words Victoria is a spoken word poetry comedy show that involves poets participating in six rounds of a faux competition where they ‘compete’ in a series of poetry related events that are in turn\, ‘judged’ by our host (with input from Uni the Unicorn and our audience). \nThis episode entitled Avalanche will be snow themed and will be hosted by our resident paler than thou poet\, Sean McGarragle and feature Dex Neily\, Jeremy Loveday\, Lorelei Fowler\, Neko Smart\, RC Weslowski and Uni the Unicorn. \nDex Neily (they/them) is a poet and performer from Lekwungen territories whose work centres around disability and queer identity. They have represented Victoria nationally and internationally at seven spoken word festivals\, and was a finalist at both the 2021 and 2022 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. They are currently seeking new ways to combine their loves and their pains into art that restores those who experience it. You can find their work on YouTube or hear them perform at the Tongues of Fire open mics run by the Victoria Poetry Project. Their list of superpowers include compassion and former-theatre-kid energy levels. \nJeremy Loveday is a poet\, arts educator\, and community builder from Victoria\, BC\, on the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People. He founded and served as the longtime artistic director of the Victorious Voices youth poetry festival. Jeremy’s dynamic performances earned him the title of Victoria Poetry Slam Grand Champion three times. In 2020\, he was honoured with the Zaccheus Jackson Nyce Memorial Award. His work has been published in reputable platforms such as Huffington Post\, CV2\, Funicular Magazine\, National Observer\, CBC\, Claudia\, and Best Canadian Poetry 2023. Jeremy’s first full-length book \, Maybe the Starling\, is now available through Write Bloody North. \nLorelei (she/her) performs surrealist spoken word\, mostly at Tongues of Fire in Victoria. She aspires to perform more places after a chronic illness-related absence. She read at the queer open stage at the trans farmers market and has some clown & burlesque experience. She loves learning new art forms & performance styles and she’s very happy to be here & connect with fellow poets. When she needs an extra confidence boost she calls herself Lara Omen\, vampire princess. \nNeko Smart is a recent graduate of UBC’s BFA Creative Writing program. As 2020 Victoria City Youth Poet Laureate\, they emphasized the importance of cultivating open dialogue about mental health in order to reduce stigma and increase safety\, particularly for youth. They carry this value with them in all their artistic and leadership endeavours: as a member of the organizing committee for the 2020/2021 Victorious Voices youth arts festival\, as a member of the Wordplay poetry workshop facilitation roster\, and as former slam coordinator for the UBC Slam Poetry Club. They were a finalist in the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Individual Poetry Slams. \nRC Weslowski is a multi talented performer who loves to walk between worlds to see what the ghost dragged in. RC wears many masks including poet\, clown\, storyteller\, playwright\, broadcaster\, voice actor\, coach and educator. Over the past 15 years he has toured North America\, The United Kingdom and other parts of Europe including many spoken word\, poetry and music festivals. RC wants to give you your emotional damage deposit back. \nSean McGarragle is a poet\, storyteller\, teacher\, performer and event producer from the republic of East Vancouver. He is the founder of Death Rides a Unicorn\, The Vancouver Story Slam\, The Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and the Vancouver International Poetry Festival (now entitled Verses). He has performed and read his work from Dublin to Denver\, from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to Madison Wisconsin. He is super excited to host this show and to showcase these great talents. \nUni the Unicorn is the antithesis of Death. Uni is joy and love\, buoyant and distracting. Most of the time\, Uni has chocolate and bubbles to share.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/famous-last-words-victoria/
LOCATION:The Other Guise Theatre\, 716 Johnston Street\, Victoria\, BC\, V8W 1N1\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Show
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ORGANIZER;CN="Death Rides a Unicorn":MAILTO:sean@deathridesaunicorn.com
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