Mr. Winkie creates stiff competition

>> But does this town need more comedy?

by AMY BARRATT

This story isn't about Just For Laughs, but about English-language comedy in Montreal the rest of the time. It's a scene dominated by two permanent comedy clubs, Comedyworks and the Comedy Nest. And it's about Mr. Winkie, who you might've been hearing about lately

Mr. Winkie Productions is Andy Pellatt and Mitch Michaels, two guys who can also be heard--along with Janis Kirshner--on AM 600 doing the Friday Nite Entertainment Roundup. To hear Michaels tell it, they got into live comedy by accident.

"Eight months ago," explains the former computer consultant, "one of our radio sponsors said, 'How would we go about putting on a comedy show?' Andy and I, for lack of knowing any better, said, 'We can do it for you...' We flipped a coin to see who would host it, and I lost. So I had to do it."

As for the name, Michaels blames it on Pellatt's mother. At a family gathering last year, the pair were trying to come up with a name for their new venture. "For some reason," Michaels says, "the word penis came up." Andy's mother admonished them not to use that kind of language in front of minors. The offending party substituted "Mr. Winkie" and a production company, er, sprang up.

"By the time we realized what a stupid name it was," Michaels says, "it was a little too late to change it."

The company first began presenting live shows last April with Mr. Winkie's Comedy Now! at the Wax Lounge on St-Laurent. Their agreement with that venue ended recently, but they quickly worked out a deal with Stogies Cigar Bar on Crescent. They are also behind the Thursday open-mic nights at Le Bar in NDG.

So, do young upstarts like Mr. Winkie pose a threat to the established clubs? Ernie Butler of the Comedy Nest claims to have nothing against Mr. Winkie, but he makes it clear that he doesn't think much of their product. "It's a good thing that there's comedy going on," Butler says. "It all depends on how it's presented. If you're doing amateur comedy and charging people for it, and the people think that that's what the norm is in professional comedy, that's a different story altogether. So the more comedy the better, just as long as people understand that there are different levels of performance."

Michaels freely admits that the shows at Le Bar aren't of professional calibre. The nature of an open-mic night is that anybody can have stage time, even someone who has never performed in public before. The whole point is to give live experience to comedians who are just starting out. Michaels insists, however, that the shows at Wax Lounge and now at Stogies are of professional quality.

"These guys are calling themselves headliners, and they're not," Butler argues. "The way that comedy is evolving, if you don't get a response for 10-15 seconds off a joke or a punchline, (you're not a comic) you're a performance artist."

If it sounds like Butler has been sneaking into Mr. Winkie shows and clocking the laughs, he hasn't. He says he doesn't have time to go to other venues and check out acts. He prefers holding open auditions two or three times a year. And the fact that Mr. Winkie has featured Marta Chavez and others who are "Comedy Nest comedians" suggests that at least portions of their shows are on a par with the established clubs.

Butler agrees with Michaels that young comics need places to perform in order to improve. "It's the way we find our new comics. I don't have that type of stage time to give, so I'm pleased that people have this type of stage time."

This weekend, Butler is co-featuring two young comics at the Comedy Nest, Matthew Boylan and James Merovic, who have worked for Mr. Winkie. Next Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Mr. Winkie line-up at Stogies is led by Mike Matthews and Matt Wells. For information/ reservations: Mr. Winkie Productions 282-0919, The Comedy Nest 932-6378