Q&A: Vancouver comedian Graham Clark prepares for 24-hour stand-up set
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 23:26:10 +0000
Vancouver comedian Graham Clark will be taking stand-up to the extreme next weekend when he attempts a marathon, 24-hour set for charity.
Clark, a three-time Canadian Comedy Award winner and the co-host of the popular and long-running Stop Podcasting Yourself, will take the stage at East Vancouver’s Havana Theatre on Friday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. He intends to leave the stage at 9 p.m — on Saturday.
Inspired by fellow comedian Pat Thornton of Toronto, who has completed five such marathon shows to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Graham will soon become the first Vancouver comic to attempt the same.
We caught up with Clark to find out what possesses someone to do something like this, how he plans to pull it off, and if he’s allowed bathroom breaks.
Q. What possesses a man to do 24 hours of stand-up?
A. The Stephen Lewis foundation encourages people to do dares to raise money for their charity. Pat Thornton has been doing this for years in Toronto, and Alistair Cook, the wonderful human who runs the Havana Theatre, dared me to do the same.
Your marathon is to raise funds for The Stephen Lewis Foundation, to fights HIV and AIDS in Africa. Why did you choose this charity?
It’s a wonderful charity, and it’s their dare campaign that lead to this, so it only makes sense that they should benefit from it.
Do you actually plan to stay standing, or is this more likely to be 24 hours of sit-down comedy?
I’m going to stand as much as possible. I may lean some, and sure, if the occasion arises, I may sit. But I will be wearing my most comfortable shoes. I should get Dr. Scholl’s on board next time.
Do you even have that much material?
Not even close. Luckily, I have some of Vancouver’s best and brightest comedians coming down to write material for me as it goes on. Hopefully people online will join in as well.
The Havana is a pretty dimly-lit venue. Are you concerned at all about your audience, or your yourself, falling asleep, since that’s what normal people do when it gets late?
I am always concerned about this, not just at this show!
Forget holding people’s attention. Let’s talk about holding your bladder. What’s the plan for bathroom breaks?
I’m going to take the occasional bathroom break, but will be running an hour longer to compensate for those. As far as the plan for those bathroom breaks, that is privileged information.
This has never been attempted in Vancouver. What makes you think you can pull of something no Vancouverite has ever done? Do you think you’re special, Graham?
If you ask my mother, yes, I’m special.
You recently served as the west coast correspondent for This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Doesn’t that seem like a more reasonable amount of time to be consistently funny?
Ha! Actually that would be a great name for this event: This Hour Has 24 Hours.
Did you ever consider just running an actual marathon instead? It would only take you, like, four or five hours. You’d be home for dinner.
It might only take you five hours. I think this will be a much shorter time span than it would take me to finish an actual marathon.
Finally, are there any other local comics you’d like to see attempt a full day of stand-up? Name names. Call them out. Throw down the gauntlet.
There’s so many talented comedians in this city, I’m sure we could take on a whole month!
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Graham Clark’s 24 Hours of Standup For Charity begins Friday, Nov. 29 in Vancouver’s tiny Havana Theatre at 1212 Commercial Drive. Tickets are available at the door and online here.
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