Yuk Yuk's Amateur Night

With another school year in full swing, Humber College is ready to send in the clowns.

Yuk Yuk’s is the home of Amateur Night, a two-hour spot on Tuesday nights where students from the comedy writing and performance program get to strut their stuff in front of peers and strangers alike. It’s an opportunity that is great not only for the comics, but for students interested in checking out amateur comedy.

“This place is the best open mic for people in my opinion. It’s always full in here, and the more people you have, the more you can gauge your response,” said second-year comedy student Richard Steudle, 23.

Despite rainy weather in downtown Toronto, Yuk Yuk’s was full when Steudle performed on the second Tuesday of the school year. Playing to the primarily young adult audience, the Timmins, Ont. native ripped through his set, which included observations about residence food containing too many olives and his roommate drinking excessive amounts of Creatine.

Although Steudle’s set was well-received, his work ethic won’t allow him to sit on any positive reaction for too long.

“In this program, as much as you want to put into it is what you’re going to get out of it. If you put a lot into it, you’re going to be the funniest guy out there. But if you want to just go to class every day, hand in your homework and do the bare minimum, you’re not going to do anything,” he said.

Earlier in the night, second-year comedy student Bobby Knauff from Thunder Bay, Ont. warmed up the crowd for the later acts.

Dressed in plaid pants and a full red beard, Knauff, 19, used the microphone as a prop in order to tell the audience about his long-distance relationship with his girlfriend. Conscious of the importance of leaving the crowd wanting more, Knauff ended his set abruptly by declaring “Yes! I ended with a laugh!” right after the crowd erupted at one of his punch lines.

As the drinks flowed and the peer support was evident, the Humber comedians took to the stage one after another, with short sets and even shorter breaks.

All the comedians performed original material, with the first female performer of the evening cracking jokes about men rejecting women based on ridiculous criteria. The flow to the night took a complete twist when second-year student Alan Mason performed his satirical tune “I Watched You Sleep Last Night”. The acoustic country song about sneaking into a girl’s bedroom to watch her sleep got the entire crowd clapping along.

Success at one of these amateur nights is great, but as Knauff explains, a comedian needs a lot of dedication to pursue a career in comedy.

“If you think that just by going to the Humber Comedy program, you’re ‘in’, you’re sadly, sadly mistaken,” he says. “If you’re pro, but never work on it and you’re like, ‘I’m awesome’, there’s so many people that want your spot. But if you’re professional about it, you’ll get it eventually.”

Although a portion of the crowd was students from the comedy program, many were not. As the night went on, it became clear that the students were performing for more than just their friends.

“Being a fan of comedy, I definitely found it interesting. I’d definitely go back and check it out again,” says Michael Vlasveld, first-year radio broadcasting student at Humber.

Vlasveld, 20, is a huge fan of comedy and found the experience to be interesting, as well as entertaining.

“At first, I thought it would be just comedy students sitting there watching each other. I thought, ‘oh great’,” says Vlasveld.

“It really filled up by the end. It was a way better atmosphere than at the start. It didn’t feel like it was amateur, it was like you were at an actual comedy show. I’ve never gone to see stand-up comedy, and even though it was amateur, it was good. You get to watch decent stand up. I’m really passionate about comedy, and it’s cheap, so that’s sweet.”

Yuk Yuk’s is located at 224 Richmond St. W. and amateur night begins every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (except for Dec. 26 and Jan. 2). Admission is $3. For more information, call 416-967-6425.