After a successful soft opening last weekend, Halifax’s newest comedy club plans to take it up a notch.
Halifax Live, located at 1737 Grafton Street, seeks to be the city’s premiere comedy club, promising to bring in up-and-coming acts from the city as well as favourites from across the country. Their first night saw Kyle Hickey, fresh off his new comedy album Blowing Fire, take the stage in front of an electric crowd.
“[He] is one of my personal favourites to watch, and he did great,” says club operations manager and fellow comic Josh Poulain. “We had about 50 people out, which is great for a first show, and we’re just kind of going to keep building it from here.”
While they’re still in the soft launch phase with a grand opening expected next month, Halifax Live plans to keep the momentum going with hopes of being another destination for laughs, exclusively. No music, no theatre, all comedy.
September will feature local headliners Dan Hendricken (Sep. 7) and Clare Belford (Sep. 14). While the act for the grand opening show is still under wraps for now, Poulain mentions that American comedian Jared Nathan, known for being a regular on the Kill Tony comedy podcast, will be headlining on Oct. 26. They also have plans to bring in JUNO-award winning comic Kyle Brownrigg in December.
“We’re really trying to use these soft launch shows to kind of get our feet under us and hit the ground running come October,” says Poulain.
Comedy is growing
Between the Halifax Comedy Festival and the longtime presence of Yuk Yuk’s Halifax, the comedy scene in the city has been able to grow, giving homegrown talents a chance to shine.
“Halifax is a city that definitely punches above its weight class in terms of comedy with some real phenomenal talent here,” says Poulain. “We have shows almost every night of the week, and for a city this size, we really have a burgeoning comedy scene that is really supportive and really helps comics grow faster and foster their material.”
Part of the reason for starting up Halifax Live was to provide yet another avenue for comedy to continue growing. Aside from managing this new club, Poulain also produced events with his own company, The Comedy Stand, doing shows all over the province. Last year, he connected with Jake Hirsch, a talent manager in Alberta, who was looking to get a club going in Halifax.
“We were chatting off and on for a better part of a year, and when he finally walked in on the space, he chose. We were kind of the natural people to take point on that,” says Pourlain.
The space itself is fully accessible, and in line with the upscale atmosphere they’re trying to aim for, Pourlain said they’ve announced that they will have ASL interpreters available on request for the hard-of-hearing community.
“We’re really trying to embrace the full potential of every aspect of the community, making a real community space for the general public to be able to go take in some great, high-quality comedy in an atmosphere that they feel comfortable in,” says Poulain, “as well as a spot for comedians to grow and foster their own careers, as well.”
Tickets to the next Halifax Live show on Saturday, Sep. 7 with headliner Dan Hendricken can be purchased here. To keep up to date with Halifax Live, check out their Instagram page.
