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Travelling clean comedy show to benefit Kara Wagner

A travelling trio of comedians want to raise spirits in Sicamous while raising funds for Kara Wagner.
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For kicks: Andrew Bright will be performing in Sicamous with fellow clean comedians Leland Klassen and Elijah Tadema.

A travelling trio of comedians want to raise spirits in Sicamous while raising funds for Kara Wagner.

Andrew Bright and Elijah Tadema of The Panic Squad have teamed up with award-winning stand-up comedian Leland Klassen to bring Canada’s largest clean comedy tour to Sicamous.

The three have extensive professional experience bringing clean (i.e. no sex, drugs, or swearing) comedy to a wide range of diverse audiences across the continent.

Calling their act, the  Comedy Combo Tour, Klassen and The Panic Squad are in Sicamous on Friday, Jan. 13, to give a performance at Parkview Elementary School. All proceeds will go to support Kara Wagner.

Bob Evans of the Sicamous branch of the Shuswap Community Church organized the event back in November. With the tragic fire that took the lives of Wagner’s spouse and two children, and the subsequent community fundraisers, Evans wasn’t sure the show would pan out.

“Most people will want to give to Kara and they won’t be able to do both,” said Evans. “So they said why don’t you lower the price to whatever you think people can come for and we’ll give all of the proceeds from the door to Kara… which is really big of them because this is their bread and butter, this is how these guys live, provide for their families, is these shows.”

Admission is by a minimum $5 donation for individuals and $15 for families.

The tour will feature comedy from three different genres: improv, sketch and stand up.

“All of the comedians involved pride ourselves in performing excellent comedy in our genre,” said Klassen. “Only with this group of comedians and actors can we bring a show that performs such a high-level of comedy in a variety of styles. Canada hasn’t seen anything like it.”

Klassen’s stand-up comedy shows have always had those same characteristics as that of the Squad, so the decision to work together with a common goal to bring laughter to the whole family was a “no brainer” for both.

“Our shows bring a level of comedy that has brought both of us national recognition, yet it’s clean enough that we often perform in churches,” said Bright. “Truly funny comedy that is completely clean is rare these days.”

The comedians tested the idea of a comedy combo tour last year with some events in central B.C. The show received such an enthusiastic response, they are repeating the tour this month, and have expanded their dates to reach more cities.

“Every venue we contacted from last year’s tour signed on again, and we added dates to accommodate others who wanted a stop in their community,” said Bright.

The show is sponsored in part by Laughopolis Video On Demand, a clean comedy channel newly available to audiences in Canada.