A Calgary comic is coming to Okotoks to unpack some pandemic pressure through laughter.
Matt Foster will be headlining the Yuk Yuk’s on Tour show at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre on April 29, with Tommy Mellor headlining.
“Me and a lot of the comics, we came back and all the jokes, everything before the pandemic just feels so weird to talk about,” Foster said.
“I try to look for something that’s personal and unique.
“I think everyone’s heard all the mask jokes they could hear or want to hear, so I’m definitely not making those jokes.”
With that, the comic aims to try to unpack and make light of some of the deeper sentiments of the past two years.
“But I think it's sort of a debriefing like, 'What just happened?’ Emotionally, personally and those challenges,” Foster said. “And now just trying to make sense of us moving forward now as if that didn’t just happen.”
Based in Calgary, his comedy won’t be tied to location, but draw on his experiences there.
“It’s going to come through that lens because this is home for me,” Foster said, adding he drags his personal life into the mix.
“I got married right before the pandemic, so you know, all that pressure cooking experience of being locked in a house with somebody for that time.
“It’s mining a deep personal experience, but I think everyone relates just because of how extreme this whole thing was. I’ve been finding that lots of people had been connecting.”
Getting in front of full audiences again is refreshing for Foster, a practising comedian of seven years.
“It feels good. To play full rooms again is just so nice, because we’ve been playing to quarter-capacity rooms,” sais Foster, who credited showrunners such as Calgary's James Moore and Yuk Yuks Calgary for their care and effort throughout the past two years.
Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
For tickets and information visit showpass.com/yuk-yuks-on-tour-7
