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Matt Duboff photo<\/p>\n
The Debaters, with host Steve Patterson, is returning to its birthplace: the Winnipeg Comedy Festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prefer when it\u2019s got a little bit of meat to it,\u201d says Steve Patterson, the Ontario comedian who has hosted the show since 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the ones with the most staying power, and I think, get the most visceral audio reactions from the crowd, are the ones that don\u2019t really matter \u2014 apples versus oranges, pie versus cake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years since it was born at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Debaters is back at the city\u2019s flagship Canadian-centric comedy event this year with three separate sold-out presentations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Debaters is kind of like a festival unto itself, and we have a lot of our favourite debaters from over the years,\u201d Patterson says.<\/p>\n
This year that includes 10 comedians \u2014 including Toronto\u2019s Se\u00e1n Cullen and Winnipegger Lara Rae, among others \u2014 who, following the show\u2019s format, will debate two topics over 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
The show recalls BBC programs such as Have I Got News for You, The News Quiz and QI, with their panellists of comedians riffing on current affairs and entertaining trivia.<\/p>\n
But where those shows\u2019 wit feels civil in a British key, The Debaters pushes things in a more adversarial direction, a little closer to a roast.<\/p>\n
And things sometimes get slightly less family-friendly in the live presentation, with a cleaner, abridged version appearing on radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way to know where the line is in comedy is to go past it at one point. And that happens, I would say, at least three times per taping,\u201d Patterson says.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Matt Duboff photo<\/p>\n Lara Rae is a founder of the comedy fest.<\/p>\n The live show is structured with that in mind, with about four additional minutes of material surfacing on the podcast, where the format is looser than live primetime radio.<\/p>\n Patterson is as delighted as anyone with the success of the show, but talk of podcasts versus radio gets him pensive about the state of comedy today. He suggests that, for all online platforms have done to expand comedians\u2019 reach, \u201cthe ease of putting yourself out there degrades the quality of standup.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI miss the art form of comedy. I\u2019m still trying to craft shows that are stories that have callbacks and things like that. People post 13-second clips of getting a beer can thrown at them, and that\u2019s how they book Jimmy Kimmel,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n So far, fans have embraced that art form at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, which runs to Sunday. Nine events have already sold out, with six others on low-ticket alert.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also opened up the balcony on three of the five mega shows as well, which we\u2019ve never done,\u201d Anne Dawson, the festival\u2019s director of communications, says of the gala productions at the Burton Cummings Theatre.<\/p>\n She picks a few other highlights from this year\u2019s festival, naming Laughing With the Stars (featuring Free Press reporter Mike McIntyre) on April 22, the all-Indigenous Bannock Bums on Friday, the locally focused Winnipeg Show on Saturday \u2014 featuring Spencer Adamus, Rajat Bhateja, Karlee Liljegren and Sarah Jane Martin, among others \u2014 and Best of Fest on Sunday, all of which happen at the Gas Station Arts Centre.<\/p>\n The comparative length of The Debaters not only allows comedians to properly develop bits, but to really dig into weightier topics when they arise.<\/p>\n Patterson seems to prefer when these topics are political, and clearly The Debaters isn\u2019t afraid to entertain bipartisan perspectives on big oil, annexation and other hot-button issues.<\/p>\n Though there\u2019s often a level of devil\u2019s advocacy at work here \u2014 with each side defending a pre-assigned position, however controversial, with tongue firmly in cheek.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Matt Duboff photo<\/p>\n Steve Patterson has been hosting The Debaters since 2007.<\/p>\n While others stress the role of comedy in building bridges across the political aisle, Patterson emphasizes comedy\u2019s sophistical side \u2014 as a tool of political rhetoric.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that just shows a stronger way of thinking: if you can make something funny in a somewhat intelligent way. I think it\u2019s nice that we have a prime minister who seems to have some semblance of a sense of humour. And again, (Manitoba) Premier (Wab) Kinew has it too,\u201d he says, before calling Ontario Premier Doug Ford an \u201cidiot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe CBC takes a hit for a left-leaning sort of thing, (but) for some reason, I don\u2019t know what it inherently is, just a general sense of humour seems to not translate to the right side,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n If Patterson suggests politicians are taking cues from comedians\u2019 style, he also cheekily implies it extends to substance as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always funny to me when the House of Commons is debating something that we debated, though I think ours was way funnier,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/conradsweatman<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Conrad Sweatman Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for\u00a0outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad.<\/a><\/p>\n
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