Laughter echoed through the Pontiac High School auditorium Thursday night as comedians from Absolute Comedy in Ottawa took the stage for a sold-out performance in support of the Shawville Rotary Club.
The evening began with a few words from Rotary member Lindsay Woodman, who said she came up with the idea of bringing the show to Shawville after attending shows at the comedy club for 18 years.
Woodman welcomed everyone, saying the audience was in for a real treat. She then introduced the emcee of the night, Aaron Power, who got the audience fired up before bringing out the first act, Geoff MacKay, who has appeared on CBC as well as been an in-house announcer for the Ottawa Redblacks.
MacKay had the audience in stitches for a half hour before turning the stage over to the final comedian of the night, Rick Currie. There were audible gasps as the audience learned that Currie not only performed on CBC’s Laugh out Loud and appeared at Just for Laughs but was also a head writer for the Rick Mercer Report.
The night included jokes from everything from the stoplight situation in Shawville, to hair loss, to comparing the wording in, “I had to put my dog down” versus new parents saying they “have to put the baby down”.
During his set, Currie joked that at some of his shows “half the audience leaves with wet pants.” Based on the steady laughter throughout the auditorium, that claim didn’t seem that far off.
Speaking with Woodman and Rotary treasurer Marc Latreille after the show, both said they were happy with how the night went. Latreille credited Woodman as the vision behind bringing the show to Shawville, and said that while the Rotary doesn’t have any other events planned, based on how well ticket sales went for this show and how well it was received, more events aren’t out of the question.
“It’s nice to have a different outing. January is a downer month so February you get a little more fun,” Woodman said.
