It was a little less than a year ago when Winnipeg comic Tim Gray and his wife, fellow comic Dana Smith, packed up their little blue Honda Fit and moved to Toronto.
“I guess (it’s been) nine months,” says Gray, 36. “The average gestation period for a new Torontonian.”
It was no small deal. After all, in the realm of comedy, Gray was a big fish in the comparatively tiny Winnipeg pond, first as a member of the crackerjack comedy troupe HUNKS, and also as the producer of the comedy program at Wee Johnny’s Irish Pub, the intimate McDermot Avenue watering hole that became a downtown comedy mecca largely under Gray’s stewardship.
Tim Gray used to be part of the Winnipeg comedy troupe HUNKS.
Then, of course, there was the time in 2018 when Gray and Smith appeared on the CBC’s The Debaters to tussle over the question of whether they should get married, an argument Gray won — the couple ended up getting hitched onstage directly afterward.
Gray returns to Winnipeg as the nucleus of three different comedy shows at Venue 27, the Exchange Event Centre, a licensed venue at 111 Princess Ave. The first show at 7 p.m., 1 Stand-up Comedy Show Please, is a 45-minute set by Gray himself. At 8:30 p.m. comes A Wpg Stand-Up Show, an hour with four different local comics. Finally at 10 p.m. is Open Mic Night, which, as it sounds, is a comedy free-for-all with different performers every night.
“It’s actually a co-production with the Winnipeg fringe,” Gray says of the open mic. “One of my favourite parts about the Winnipeg fringe is the preview shows that happen leading up to the festival, where you will see snippets from numerous fringe shows. You can really get a sense of the talent coming through the city.
“I thought a nightly open mic would be a great way to showcase the visiting and local talent. It’s a PWYC (pay what you can) event, which is a first of its kind for the Winnipeg fringe,” he adds of the initiative instituted by the festival this year.
Gray has been plowing through his share of open mics in the Big Smoke, he acknowledges.
“The comedy career has had some peaks and valleys since moving to Toronto. It’s incredibly hard to get stage time… and the open mics aren’t the same. The open mic hosts in Winnipeg generally curate the lineup a bit. If someone shows up a couple times and isn’t trying to be funny and is wasting everyone’s time, they won’t be given stage time.
“In Toronto, nobody would dare do such a thing,” he says. “Open mics can last four to five hours and you’ll only get three minutes of stage time.”
But it’s not the dog-eat-dog environment one might expect from a big city, either.
“I found that, in general, the Toronto comedy community has been incredibly supportive and kind and welcoming,” Gray says. “I had a birthday party shortly after moving here and invited some new friends. I was sure only a small few would make it by, but everyone that I invited came!”
Gray is also producing a monthly show at Comedy Bar, a popular venue near Bloor and Ossington, which is something he’s dreamed about since hearing about the club opening in 2008.
“And I’m just a five-minute walk from there— a stone’s throw if you were really good at throwing stones.”
Gray moved to Toronto last year but is
producing three shows at this year’s fringe.
Gray is not returning to his old stomping ground on McDermot this time. He knew that if he was going to return for a final kick at the fringe comedy can, he wanted to aim for a larger venue. Having seen a touring show at the EEC, he knew it could work well for a comedy performance.
“Wee Johnny’s will always have a special place in my heart,” he says, “but I’m very optimistic that 111 Princess St. will be a great, central new venue for comedy at the fringe.
“The staff is so friendly, the sound is great. And all the comedians have been amazing. Saturday night, we sold out and my friend Jon Dore dropped in for a guest spot.”
Don’t expect to see a HUNKS show there anytime soon, however. Gray confirms the troupe, once a reliable fringe standby, has disbanded.
“I’m incredibly sad about it. We all are,” he says. “We still love each other and maybe we’ll do something dumb together in the future.
“But for now, HUNKS is done. We have agreed to shared custody of our headphones.”
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