BC Business
John Dore Vancouver Comedy Fest | BCBusinessCanadian funnyman Jon Dore is this year's headliner for the Vancouver Comedy Fest.
A taste of Victoria, Vancouver's annual Comedy Fest and provocative art – by Art.
John Dore Vancouver Comedy Fest | BCBusinessCanadian funnyman Jon Dore is this year’s headliner for the Vancouver Comedy Fest.
Valentine’s Day may be no joke to florists and chocolatiers, but it’s sure to be complete buffoonery at Vancouver’s annual Comedy Fest. During the 10-day festival jokers from Vancouver and further afield will take the stage at such traditional comedy venues as Yuk Yuk’s and classic theatres such as The Orpheum. Back for the third year running, Canadian funnyman Jon Dore is this year’s headliner. Best known for his mockumentary series The Jon Dore Television Show, the Ottawa-born comedian is bringing his offbeat and sometimes off-colour antics to the stage for five shows. If your date night gets thrown off course because you laugh too hard at an inappropriate joke, blame the beer (Vancouver, various venues, February 7-17. comedyfest.com).
Further cementing its reputation as a culinary destination, Victoria serves up Dine Around & Stay in Town in February and March, with various restaurants offering three-course menus for $20, $30 and $40. To experience Vancouver Island’s renowned cuisine in all its glory, head to Aura Waterfront Restaurant & Patio for fresh, locally sourced food paired with great harbour views. So you don’t have to worry about driving home (or racing for a ferry), check into a hotel offering a special Stay In Town rate of $69 to $129 a night (Victoria, various locations, February 21 to March 10. tourismvictoria.com).
Starting this month, the Vancouver Art Gallery plays host to the work of American illustrator Art Spiegelman. Best known for his groundbreaking work Maus, which focuses on the Holocaust through the eyes of a concentration camp survivor’s adult son (right), Spiegelman is lauded for creating provocative and unsettling material such as a sombre and powerful New Yorker cover of black-on-black images of the Twin Towers. The VAG exhibit will feature some of the illustrator’s best-known works, early drawings and sketches and pieces completed during his involvement with the underground comix movement that redefined the comic industry in the late 1960s and early ’70s (Vancouver Art Gallery, February 16 to June 9. vanartgallery.bc.caresort.com).