A Calgary comedian’s freak flag will fly high in Okotoks as he delves into the irony of getting shoved into lockers for his nerdy interests 30 years ago, interests which are now part of popular culture.
Dungeon and Dragons, superhero movies and The Big Bang Theory have become the perfect material for comedian Tony Binns.
Binns is a self-proclaimed nerd who said he’s had his share of wedgies due to his interests, and now finally the rest of society has caught on.
“It’s become so weirdly mainstream,” he said. “Look at shows like The Goldbergs and all the super hero culture references, The Big Bang Theory, the Calgary (Comic & Entertainment) Expo. It’s not an underground thing anymore.”
Binns is the headliner for the Yuk Yuks on Tour show in Okotoks March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre.
His mixture of voices, impersonations, witty pokes at pop culture and pop culture icons, and observations of middle age and parenthood is given from a nerds-eye point of view.
“People relate to the nerd stuff,” he said. “It’s more out the closet than it used to be. The biggest movies are all super hero movies. This is all stuff I’ve been into since I was 14 so it feels very vindicated.”
Nearing 50 with a child, Binns can also relate to a wider audience and has plenty to share with fellow parents.
“Certainly with the experience of parenthood there are touchstones for everybody and I have a kid who has ADHD so I get everything, plus,” he said.
Binns got into comedy almost 20 years ago, starting with impressions and one-liners.
It was while attending a workshop that he embraced his nerdy side.
“The headliner said, ‘You look like you played Dungeons and Dragons, you should talk about that,’” he recalls. “I found that when I started doing that it cemented the stage persona.”
Binns quickly learned that stand-up comedy is not just about telling jokes.
“People don’t buy into the jokes, they have to buy into you,” he said. “If they buy into you as a persona they buy into what you’re saying. That’s when it really started to pick up for me. It’s almost like you’re telling a story of who you are and your point of view.”
While comedy defined Binns in his early years, it’s now something he does on the side.
He now spends more time acting and screenwriting. The movie #Roxy that he wrote was released last fall.
“It’s bizarre to think someone made a million for something I wrote in my underwear,” he said. “I don’t identify as a comedian anymore now I identify as a writer who does comedy to make extra money.”
This weekend’s show opener, He Fangzhou, was born and raised in China.
Fangzhou is known for his unique culture comparison jokes and putting the kybosh on common Asian stereotypes.
“They say that the Chinese people are not good drivers, which to me is really interesting,” said Fangzhou, who now calls Ontario home. “We have 100 times more cars (in China) than here and the roads are way narrower than here. If we are bad drivers how can we survive in that environment?”
Fangzhou also delves into North American culture, touching on the fact that many parents kick their youths out at age 18 whereas Asian culture has multi generations living in one household.
Comedy entered his life while living in China, and although he moved to Canada 10 years ago to study mathematics at the University of Waterloo, he remained drawn to comedy.
“I knew that at the end of the day I wouldn’t enjoy it or anything related to that,” he said of mathematics. “It wasn’t because I couldn’t do it, it wasn’t me.”
Fangzhou’s been on Canadian stages for just over a year, traveling non-stop, all the while idolizing Gemini Award-winning Canadian stand-up comedian and actor Russell Peters.
“He’s proved to the Western world that a Asian comedian can also make people laugh,” he said. “Twenty years ago that wasn’t a thing. My goal ultimately is to become someone like him.”
Tickets to see Yuk Yuks on Tour cost $20 in advance or $25 at the door and can be purchased at okotoks.ca or at the Okotoks Art Gallery.
