# Winnipeg Comedy Festival

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival (WCF) is an annual national comedy festival, held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The week-long festival takes place at several venues throughout the city, featuring stand-up, sketch, and improvisational comedy.
Performances from the festival are broadcast as a radio series on CBC Radio One and as a television series on The Comedy Network and CBC Television. It is the highest rated comedy festival series on CBC Television.

## History

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival was created in 2002 by comedian Lara Rae and CBC Radio producer Tom Anniko, who pitched the idea of a weekend-long comedy festival that could be recorded and aired on CBC Radio. Partnering with the Gas Station Arts Centre in Winnipeg's Osborne Village, the WCF was established soon after.
Anniko—who at the time was working as executive producer for radio comedy and drama for CBC—saw the festival as an opportunity to "try out new shows" that could be developed for radio. As such, he claims, CBC's The Debaters is one such show that came out of the festival, along with various other pilots and specials.
Comic headliners of the inaugural year were Dave Broadfoot, Cathy Jones, and David Steinberg. Comedian Brian Hartt's performance that year won the Gemini Award for Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series during the 18th Gemini Awards in 2023.

## Programs

| Year | Headliners | Highlights |
| 2002 | Dave Broadfoot Cathy Jones David Steinberg | Brian Hartt's performance that year won the Gemini Award for Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series during the 18th Gemini Awards in 2003. |
| 2003 | A. Whitney Brown Brent Butt Dean Jenkinson Gavin Crawford George Westerholm Irwin Barker Jessica Holmes John Wing Jr. Mark McKinney Ron James | The festival expands to include two rural tours, visiting 4 English and 4 French communities. |
| 2004 | Bill Richardson Mark Critch Colin Mochrie Dave Broadfoot Derek Edwards Glen Foster Graham Greene Lorne Elliott Patrick McKenna Ralph Benmergui Russell Peters Shaun Majumder | |
| 2005 | A. Whitney Brown Cathy Jones Glen Foster Irwin Barker Jeremy Hotz Jessica Holmes Joey Elias John Wing Mark McKinney Roger Abbott Russell Peters Sean Cullen | |
| 2006 | Bubbles (Mike Smith) Derek Edwards George Stroumboulopoulos Glen Foster Irwin Baker John Wing Roddy Piper Shaun Majumder Sugar Sammy | CBC Radio comedy series The Debaters premiered with host Shaun Majumder. Mike Smith's performance as Bubbles was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category of Best Host of a Comedy or Variety Show. Some of the year's galas debuted on the Comedy Network. |
| 2007 | Andrea Martin Joe Flaherty Sean Cullen Patrick McKenna Elvira Kurt Lorne Cardinal Sugar Sammy Joey Elias Shaun Majumder | |
| 2008 | Colin Mochrie Debra McGrath Gerry Dee Mike Wilmot Dennis Hull Mrs. Hughes Roman Danylo Teresa Pavlinek Jimmy Tingle John Wing Big Daddy Tazz | To promote the festival, Big Daddy Tazz held a stand-up marathon on April Fools' Day, performing 8.5 hours of uninterrupted, original material. |
| 2009 | Elvira Kurt Irwin Barker Deb McGrath Debra DiGiovanni Trevor Boris Kevin O'Leary Don Ferguson Sean Cullen Teresa Pavlinek Ed Sahely Jonathan Wilson Andy Jones John Wing Big Daddy Tazz | |
| 2010 | Elvira Kurt Irwin Barker Cathy Jones Nikki Payne Trevor Boris Steve Patterson Scott Thompson Jon Dore Peter Keleghan Barry Kennedy Gordon Pinsent Patrick McKenna John Wing Mike MacDonald Gerry Dee | |
| 2011 | Andrea Martin Howie Mandel Nikki Payne Jason Priestley Jon Dore | |
| 2012 | Alan Thicke Shannon Tweed Caroline Rhea Harland Williams David Steinberg Michael Winslow | |
| 2013 | Steve Patterson Sean Cullen Jonathan Torrens Debra DiGiovanni | |
| 2014 | Sandra Shamas Daryn Jones Tom Cavanagh Darrin Rose Tom Green | |
| 2015 | Ryan Belleville Jonny Harris Jeremy Hotz Jessica Holmes Shaun Majumder | |
| 2016 | Brent Butt Craig Lauzon Mary Walsh Sean Cullen Naomi Snieckus | |
| 2017 | Nikki Payne Gavin Crawford Tommy Chong Will Sasso Howie Miller | |
| 2018 | Chris Jericho Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Emma Hunter Dave Foley Jonathan Torrens | |