Four great shows planned for Icebreakers Festival

Now in its ninth year, the Icebreakers Comedy Festival promises a weekend of great comedy, with the opening night sold out and tickets for the other shows, still almost two months off, at about 50 per cent sold.

The annual event, held in January during the Icewine Festival, was started by Jeff Paul, a Saint Michael and Niagara District Secondary School graduate who is executive producer and organizer of the three-day, four-show event, booking the performers and taking to the stage himself for one of the shows.

This February marks the 10-year anniversary of his first show at Corks Winebar & Eatery, the success of which was the launching point for the festival in 2014. That 2013 show was called Corks Comedy Hour, which is the name of the early Friday night show for this year’s festival.Paul is already planning a two-weekend Icebreakers for 2024 to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary, saying he will “take it to the next level.”

The popular event has grown significantly over the years, becoming a multi-venue production which this year includes Oast House Brewers Jan. 26, with Joe Pillitteri hosting; Corks Comedy Hour Friday night, Jan. 27 and a second show, The Meltdown, with Paul “pushing the boundaries” of good taste with a later crowd that is given advance warning of what he calls “the more vulgar, dirty jokes,” with nothing off-limit.

Paul, by-day a TV program coordinator with CTV, says the later show at Corks is adult-themed, uncensored and always a little more vulgar, going a step further than earlier shows, for an audience that knows what to expect.

“Most comedy is uncensored. You never know what you’re going to get — it could cross those lines and it could be vulgar,” he says.

“At The Meltdown, we purposely cross those lines and it will get vulgar. It’s just a couple of weird people saying some weird things.”

The festival wraps up Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery with CBC’s Laugh Out Loud Gala and a great lineup of comics, hand-picked by Paul, who will be performing for live recordings for CBC Radio in the winery’s beautiful event space. Rob Pue hosts a lineup of some of Canada’s top comedians, including NOTL’s own Joe Pillitteri.

Tickets for the Oast show sold out in six days, says Paul, which even surprised him. “It was the quickest sellout ever,” for a show with tickets that are always snapped up quickly.

With tickets for shows across the board are more than 50 per cent sold almost two months before the festival begins, “they’re all selling well,” including the gala.

Paul says Pillitteri is a big draw, and Rob Pue, MC for the gala, “is one of the best comedians in Canada,” and is hosting an amazing lineup of top comedians.

As executive producer, Paul’s job each year is to book the performers, and he says he never has a hard time convincing them to come to NOTL. “I always get teased by my comedy friends that I get to do it every year. I tell them it’s my festival and my home town.”

They know they’ll be treated well, and they’ll have a good time while they’re here, which means a lot to them, he adds. As well, comedians who are enjoying themselves tend to put on a better, more energetic, enthusiastic show. “They bring their A game,” says Paul.

He credits his longtime friends from high school, Tim Balasiuk — Paul refers to him as Big Tim — and Maria Mavridis with helping organize the festivals from the beginning, and his good friend Paul Harber who has offered the conference centre at Ravine Vineyard. He jokes about them and Nick Ruller, also a high school friend, of having grown up, three of them now town councillors and Harber owner of a beautiful winery, while Paul’s goal is to never grow up.

“It’s weird now to see these people I grew up with,” he says.

“I question when I will grow up, but I really hope I won’t. I get to travel and meet strange, interesting people with strange, interesting lifestyles, and it’s a fun life.”

Paul also has a day job, but it’s one that he is comfortable with, that has become easy, and that allows him to forget about it at 5 p.m.

“It’s nice and easy. I’ve been 18 years in an entry level position, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a job, not a career, and it’s not something I have to think about after 5 p.m. There’s nothing to stress me out. It’s a very good job for someone like me with a focus elsewhere.”

The worst part of it was a long commute through Toronto traffic to the Scarborough studio, but during the pandemic, it became a job he could do from home, and continues to be so.

“I found a new appreciation for the job during COVID — and I’ll try to hold on to it for as long as I can.”

He keeps waiting for it to come to an end, hoping it doesn’t.

He works programming TV commercials, and many people are moving away from cable to streaming, he says.

“I make a good living doing comedy, but it’s nice to have this other job, and I’ll keep it as long as I can.”

He recently performed in his first TV commercial, “pushing a Ryobi cordless snowblower around.” It was mostly shown on CTV during the 11 p.m. news, he says, but also on a lot of sporting events — his father was excited to tell him it made the World Series.

“I hope to do a few more commercials,” he says. “Shooting them is great. It’s very easy work, they treat you well, with a crew of people making sure you’re okay and having a good time. And they feed you.”

But at the moment his focus is on NOTL, and making sure everyone, performers and audience, has a great time during the three-day Icebreakers Festival.

Show lineup:

Thursday Jan. 26, opening night at Oast House Brewers: MC Joe Pillitteri with Laura Leibow and Montreal- based national headliner Derek Seguin.

Friday, Jan. 27 at Corks Winebar & Eatery: MC Jackie Pirico with Tom Henry, Brandon Ash-Mohammed and Nigel Grinstead.

Friday, Jan. 27 at Corks Winebar & Eatery at 10 p.m.: festival founder and MC Jeff Paul with Allie Pearse, Bobby Knauff and Chris Robinson. This show comes with the warning of mature content.

Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery: CBC’s Laugh Out Loud Gala, including MC Rob Pue with Dylan Gott, Crystal Ferrier, Joe Pillitteri, Fiona O’Brien, Nitish Sakhuja and Jarrett Campbell.