If your funny bone is feeling neglected, mark Aug. 24 on the calender and make plans to see Leland Klassen live in Sicamous.
Recognized as Canada’s funniest “clean comedian,” Klassen’s comedic repertoire includes quirky, clever observations about life and family, combined with unabashed moments of absurd self-deprecation. The end-result is a show that will have kids and adults on the edge of their seats with laughter.
“I don’t think people realize how different live comedy is from just watching it on TV,” Klassen told the Eagle Valley News. “You can’t get that experience from just watching it on TV. Every show is always unique and always different. My motto is just about having fun, as much fun as we can have.”
Klassen grew up on a farm in the “heart of Canada,” where he learned that “shovelling manure and weeding potatoes, although lucrative, wasn’t his passion in life.” He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in anthropology and, after finding himself dissatisfied working as a night-shift stock boy, and with a wife, and first child on the way, he found the “most responsible and obvious choice was, of course, to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.”
Fifteen years later, Klassen has appeared three times at Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival, and has made frequent television appearances on Canada and U.S. television. Currently residing in the Lower Mainland, Klassen is performing a few, select shows in preparation for The Arizona Tour, part of his platinum selling DVD project entitled, Thou Shalt Laugh. Klassen is also currently the host of Laughopolis Presents on the Laughopolis Comedy Channel.
The show is being put on by the Shuswap Community Church. Pastor, Bob Evans, said he wanted to provide some good, fun, affordable family entertainment for the community.
“He’s a very funny comedian and he’s clean,” says Evans. “I saw him at a youth weekend. He came up last November for a fundraiser for Haiti, and I saw him both times and he called me and said he was coming through and asked if I wanted him do a show, and I said, ‘definitely.’ So I thought we’d do a comedy café, put a bunch of round tables up, make some good dessert, have coffee and stuff for the families and have a good time.”
The show is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m. at Parkview Elementary. Tickets at $5 each or $15 for a family. Treats and refreshments will be available.