Latest news with #GreatOutdoorComedyFestival
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Free Press Head Start for July 22, 2025
Cloudy, with showers or thunderstorms beginning early this morning and ending this afternoon. Amount 10 to 15 mm. Widespread smoke late this afternoon. Wind becoming north at 30 km/h late this afternoon. High 21 C. Humidex 27. UV index 5 or moderate. What's happening today The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival continues in the Exchange District and at various locations throughout Winnipeg. For show reviews, click here. (Winnipeg Free Press files) Today's must-read A coalition is urging the Manitoba government to use some of its Big Tobacco settlement to set up a research and education foundation to prevent the next generation from being addicted to nicotine. 'We need to empower our kids and help them understand how dangerous nicotine is,' said epidemiologist Cynthia Carr, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance. Ahead of the start of the claims process, Manitoba should prepare to invest some of its estimated $1.1-billion settlement toward prevention efforts targeting youth, she said. 'Punitive approaches don't work,' said Carr, who's with the non-profit whose members include the Canadian Cancer Society, Manitoba Lung Association, University of Manitoba, Pharmacists Manitoba. Carol Sanders has the story. (Jenny Kane / The Assciated Press files) On the bright side The questions were absurd, random and insulting. But that's how clueless, comically corpulent and cringe-inducing television celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick rolls. And for Winnipeg's mayor, who bore the unrelenting brunt of the bloated, fictitious character's improvised comedy chaos at Assiniboine Park Saturday evening, it was an over-too-soon dream come true. 'I've never been a part of anything like what I experienced Saturday night,' Scott Gillingham said Monday, still basking in the glow of the exquisite pain he endured sitting on stage opposite one of Canadian comic actor Martin Short's beloved over-the-top characters. Joyanne Pursaga has more here. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham is interviewed by Martin Short character Jiminy Glick at the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival at Assiniboine Park Saturday. (Mike Peters photo) On this date On July 22, 1933: The Winnipeg Free Press reported Oklahoma pilot Wiley Post departed from Fairbanks, Alaska, flying to Edmonton, in continuation of his solo flight around the world; he had until the evening the following day to reach New York in time to beat the record of 172 hours and 31 minutes he and navigator Harold Gatty had set in 1931. The crash of prices in all stock and commodity markets continued as the most frenzied selling in four years hit Wall Street. Read the rest of this day's paper here. Search our archives for more here. Today's front page Get the full story: Read today's e-edition of the Free Press .
Global News
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Global News
Residential parking problems arise during Edmonton summer events
Some central Edmonton residents say major events in the city are causing major problems for residential parking. People living close to festival venues in and around the city's core say they're having trouble navigating their own neighbourhoods, especially this past weekend with several events taking place. There was the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival in Kinsmen Park and nightly Riverhawks baseball games at the nearby Re/Max Field, and The Weeknd held a concert which drew nearly 55,000 people to Commonwealth Stadium northeast of downtown. That's all in addition to the annual K-Days at the Edmonton Expo Centre grounds, which leads to people parking in the surrounding Highlands, Virginia Park and Cromdale neighbourhoods. Virginia Park resident Lallie Loucks says each year, there is a growing number of vehicles parking on her street when events like K-Days get underway. Story continues below advertisement 'Did I say musical vehicles? I park my car and hold the spot. And then, when my daughter comes home, I move my car to the garage,' Loucks explained. Loucks said she sees empty parking lots near her, such as at Concordia University, so she questions whether it comes down to affordability. 'Maybe they need to offer more discounted parking for people, or a park and ride,' she suggested. 1:47 Edmonton city council mulling possible changes to parking enforcement While no Edmonton resident owns the street in front of their home and anyone can park there, outsiders parking in the area takes away from space residents or their own visitors might use. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Virginia Park isn't part of parking restrictions during major events like other central neighbourhoods such as ones near Commonwealth Stadium are. Loucks feel there is not enough parking enforcement by the city. Story continues below advertisement She's worried for what the neighbourhood could look like when the Edmonton Heritage Festival takes place in the nearby Borden Park next month. In the Rossdale neighbourhood, located between the downtown core and the North Saskatchewan River, Todd Paskall described his street as a zoo, as people parked there to attend either the Riverhawks game or the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival. 'We've had some cars going around, jamming both lanes. It could potentially be a problem for the firetruck at the end of the neighbourhood to get out,' he said, in reference to Edmonton Fire Station 21 at the end of 101 Street beside the river. 1:32 Great Outdoors Comedy Festival on this weekend at Kinsmen Park Paskall is a fan of the Riverhawks, and loves to see the popularity of the team grow. However, he'd like to see more communication with its patrons about respecting the surrounding neighbourhoods. Story continues below advertisement 'We're fully supportive of it. Just manage the parking a bit better. Give patrons another option. Give them more information,' Paskall said. 'On the website and on their ticket, it tells you where to park. It doesn't tell you where you can't park.' Residents living in the MacCauley neighbourhood also told Global News their roads were packed with parked vehicles on the night of The Weeknd concert at Commonwealth Stadium, making it challenging to get around. Packed roads around 90 street and 112 avenue during The Weeknd Concert at Commonwealth Stadium. The city said enforcement officers were dispatched to Rossdale andthe neighbourhoods surrounding Commonwealth over the weekend. 'While there was no parking at Commonwealth Stadium and parking restrictions in neighbourhoods around the stadium, seven dedicated parking enforcement officers issued 167 tickets and towed 30 vehicles,' a City of Edmonton spokesperson said in a statement. Story continues below advertisement Near the baseball stadium, 43 parking tickets were issued on Saturday and Sunday for the Riverhawks games. 5:18 Lots of fun at the ballpark this weekend As for K-Days, the city said it received three parking complaints from the Viriginia Park neighbourhood. 'An officer has been assigned to patrol this area for the remainder of K-Days. We ask residents or visitors in Virginia Park and other surrounding areas to continue contacting 311 using the app if there are any parking or traffic safety issues during the event,' the spokersperson said. Staff at K-Days are also reminding people that there are options to park, including paid parking lots at the EXPO Centre's East Parking Lot, Bellevue Community Centre, Concordia University, and the shuttered Coliseum arena. 'Additionally, we encourage folks to make use of the public transit options, including park & rides at the Belvedere, Clairview, Davis, Eaux Claires, Stadium and Lewis Farms Transit Centres; as well as the Coliseum LRT and bus stations,' a spokesperson for K-Days told Global News in a statement.
Winnipeg Free Press
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mayor thrilled to be publicly and hilariously mocked by comedy royalty
The questions were absurd, random and insulting. But that's how clueless, comically corpulent and cringe-inducing television celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick rolls. And for Winnipeg's mayor, who bore the unrelenting brunt of the bloated, fictitious character's improvised comedy chaos at Assiniboine Park Saturday evening, it was an over-too-soon dream come true. 'I've never been a part of anything like what I experienced Saturday night,' Scott Gillingham said Monday, still basking in the glow of the exquisite pain he endured sitting on stage opposite one of Canadian comic actor Martin Short's beloved over-the-top characters. '(It was) really a cool thing for a Canadian who's been a fan of Martin Short's for decades.' MIKE PETERS PHOTO Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham is interviewed by Martin Short character Jiminy Glick at the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival at Assiniboine Park Saturday. MIKE PETERS PHOTO Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham is interviewed by Martin Short character Jiminy Glick at the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival at Assiniboine Park Saturday. The 75-year-old Short was one of the headliners at the weekend's Great Outdoors Comedy Festival. Gillingham's appearance as Glick's victim came as a surprise for the audience, as did former mayor Brian Bowman's star turn during Short's 2015 performance at the Club Regent Event Centre. 'You were adopted,' Glick asked/told Gillingham in his obnoxious, declarative and high-pitched voice. The mayor responded that he, in fact, had not been adopted. 'Oh, sorry, I hate for you to find out this way,' came the reply. MIKE PETERS PHOTO Gillingham (left) said of his interview by Martin Short: '(It was) really a cool thing for a Canadian who's been a fan of Martin Short's for decades.' MIKE PETERS PHOTO Gillingham (left) said of his interview by Martin Short: '(It was) really a cool thing for a Canadian who's been a fan of Martin Short's for decades.' The conversation also at one point entered a 'lightning round.' The questions included, 'If you grew another nipple anywhere in your body, where would you put it?' and 'Are we putting breath mints in the wrong end?' The mayor answered with 'in the middle' and 'next question,' respectively. 'As the one being interviewed by Jiminy Glick, you don't really say a lot. It just kind of comes at you like a firehose. You laugh and you cringe and you try to have some sort of witty response, but it's over in a heartbeat. But it's a lot of fun,' said Gillingham, adding he was laughing too hard to answer some of the questions. It was a nice change from his day job, he said. 'What I like about, obviously, about that experience, but the comedy festival as well, is that there's so much that is heavy and serious in our lives and in our community, in our world right now. Being able to come together as a community and laugh is kind of refreshing,' he said. The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival, which also features John Mulaney, Whitney Cummings, Jeremy Piven and the Trailer Park Boys, among others, is visiting multiple Canadian cities (along with Spokane, Wash.). Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'To see Winnipeg as being central to the vision of the nationwide festival brings a spotlight to Winnipeg. That's really good,' Gillingham said. 'Obviously, it brings economic spinoffs to the community, as well. Whether it's people coming in from out of town to watch the shows and hotel nights, restaurants. It just brings a buzz to the city.' Gillingham said he's hopeful organizers will expand the local portion of the event in the future. 'They absolutely see a future here in Winnipeg and (a) goal to continue to grow the comedy festival here in our city,' he said. X: @joyanne_pursaga Joyanne PursagaReporter Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne. Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Friends with the benedicts
Visitors to the Great Outdoor Comedy Festival can expect to have a good ol' time and a few drinky-poos with some well-known East Coast personalities this weekend. Randy (a.k.a Patrick Roach) and his antagonistic neighbours — Ricky (Robb Wells), Bubbles (Mike Smith) and Julian (John Paul Tremblay) — will bring a taste of Sunnyvale Trailer Park to Assiniboine Park for a live Trailer Park Boys performance on Sunday afternoon. Speaking in character over the phone from Halifax, Randy was looking forward to a trip out west. The last time he was in Winnipeg it was winter. SUPPLIED The Trailer Park Boys were a staple of Canadian television for 12 seasons. 'I almost got frostbite on my nipples, so I'm very glad that I'm coming there in the summer,' says the perpetually topless assistant trailer-park supervisor. 'And I also want to try some good cheeseburgers.' The Great Outdoors appearance comes in the midst of filming for a rumoured 13th season of The Trailer Park Boys, a Canadian mockumentary franchise that over the last 25 years has spawned a television show, several movies, animated spinoffs and an internet streaming service called Swearnet. 'Those camera guys never seem to stop following us around; they're always trying to catch us doing something,' Randy says. While the drunken, stoned get-rich-quick schemes of Ricky, Bubbles and Julian haven't changed much over the last two decades, Sunnyvale has continued to shift with the times. 'The lot fees have gone up, it seems like it costs more for cheeseburgers,' says Randy, who previously patrolled the park with Jim Lahey (the late John Dunsworth). 'One thing Mr. Lahey, who I miss, always tried to do was make Sunnyvale a nice place to live. And sometimes there's shenanigans that go on, but we always tried to solve it as a community, not by always calling the boys in blue.' The legalization of cannabis in Canada has also made its way into the narrative. 'There was a time when most of the marijuana (in the park) was from Ricky… now they sell it right there at our liquor stores,' adds Randy. 'But I've noticed people are keeping their lawns a lot better because they partake and then they mow the grass and wash their cars or even spray down their siding.' Sunday's matinee show will feature a musical performance by Bubbles and the Shitrockers — the title band from the 2024 movie Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and the Shitrockers Story, in which Randy learned to be a roadie. 'I've learned a little bit about all the guitars and the basses and the cords and the amps, so I'm going to be running sound and I'm pretty good at it,' he says. There's likely to be an onstage spat between Randy and Ricky — who, 'if he gets on too much liquor and dope, he turns into an arsehole' — along with some on-brand hijinx. Riley Smith / The Canadian Press files Trailer Park Boys Bubbles (Mike Smith, left) and Ricky (Robb Wells) will be joined Sunday by Julien (John Paul Tremblay) and Randy (Patrick Roach). It's unlikely Smokey, Randy's male prostitute persona, will be in attendance, although, he's packing his cowboy hat just in case. 'I made a lot of money as Smokey in Winnipeg; people are frisky there for sure,' he says. The Trailer Park Boys share the Sunday afternoon bill with Entourage actor Jeremy Piven. The show runs from noon to 4:15 p.m., followed by an evening show headlined by comedian and podcaster Theo Von, supported by Dusty Slay and Laura Peek. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. The festival also features headlining acts Bert Kreischer and Whitney Cummings (Friday) and John Mulaney and Martin Short (Saturday). Winnipeg performers Jordan Welwood, Reverend Rambler and DJ Mama Cutsworth are providing pre-show entertainment for the three-day comedy festival, which held its first local show at Assiniboine Park in 2024. The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival launched in Edmonton in 2021 and has since expanded across North America. Visit for tickets and more information. If you value coverage of Manitoba's arts scene, help us do more. Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project. Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
