He’s big, he’s brazen and he’s Kevin Banner. Banner, the funny guy, the comedian who was born and raised in Sooke.
Those who know him, know he did stand-up comedy at Mulligans, at Hecklers in Victoria and went on to win a $5,000 prize at Stand Up & Bite Me, hosted by Colin Mochrie of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame.
Those events got the creative juices running and Banner hasn’t been able to settle into anything mundane since.
On July 14, he is bringing some of his comedic buddies to Sooke for Sooke & Destroy, a night of stand-up in the Edward Milne community theatre.
“This is my final show in Sooke for awhile,” he said. “I’m bringing in three of the funniest guys in Canada; John Beuhler, Sean Proudlove and Kyle Bottom.”
Banner said all of them have had comedy specials on the Comedy Network.
“Kyle is making his Just for Laughs debut the week after,” said Banner.
Banner had a shot of fame in Toronto when he won the competition to find Canada’s funniest stand up comedian. That was all good but what Banner enjoyed the most was being able to perform in the Second City theatre.
“That was pretty cool,” he said. “It was great to see names of the greats from the John Candy days and SCTV.
For the past few years, Banner has been bringing his own brand of comedy to Hecklers on Friday and Saturday nights. Hecklers is the only comedy venue in Victoria and Banner will be there until the end of August, then he moves to Vancouver.
In mid-August there will be a comedy festival happening in Victoria and comedians from all over the world will be descending on the city for this premiere event — the Blue Bridge Comedy Festival.
Back to Banner and the boys.
Banner said the comedy show is geared for adults.
“It’s definitely adult content. It’s not shocking for the sake of shocking. The language and themes are not what everyone wants to hear about. It’s not improv, it’s stand-up.”
So what is Banner’s comedy schtick? He said his sense of humour is self-deprecating, a little raunchy at times, a little silly and a whole lot funny.
Banner was the funny guy at school. He acted in plays but comedy allowed him creative control and that’s what appealed to him.
“It’s more than learning lines and dancing.”
Dancing? Yes, Banner said he has “remarkable grace for a man my size.”
Don’t expect a little soft shoe shuffle or big guys dancing, expect a lot of laughs and something a little different for Sooke.
“I’m really excited to bring these three guys to Sooke. They’re really funny and it’s going to be a great show,” Banner said.
Tickets are $10 and are available at Shoppers Drug Mart.