Twelve Years In, Jokes Please Is Still Bringing the Laughs

When Ross Dauk launched stand-up comedy showcase Jokes Please (stylized with an exclamation mark on the posters he plasters around town) a dozen years ago, it wasn’t about legacy. It was about getting some reps in. “When you’re starting off in stand-up comedy, the whole issue is you’re trying to get stage time so that you improve,” says Dauk. “I started my own show to try to get better.”

The early years at Little Mountain Gallery’s former Main Street location were scrappy, often co-hosted with friends like Ben McGinnis and Ivan Decker. But the consistent practice paid off (a show or more every week for 12 years will do that) and Dauk’s impish, mile-a-minute hosting style became a draw in itself—it was the glue that held each night’s lineup of all-stars and newbies together, and that cemented the show’s loyal audience happily in place.

“At every show, I sort of say: If you enjoy the show, please tell your friends. If you think that Vancouver needs an affordable place to go where it’s low-key, please tell your friends,” says Dauk. At the door, he often hears the same line: A friend told me I had to come.

Over the years, Jokes Please has hosted an impressive lineup of comics. Juno Award winners Jacob Samuel and Sophie Buddle sharpened their acts here; indie comedy darling Maddy Kelly added her sharp Gen-Z wit to the mix. Local veterans like Graham Clark and the late Kathleen McGee all have graced the stage. And on special nights, international headliners surprise the crowd—including Marc Maron, whose visit coincided with a period of grief in Dauk’s own life.

“He had been talking actively about grief because he had lost someone very important in his life. And I had lost a parent in a very surprise thing,” says Dauk. “At the time, comedy seemed less important to me, but the shows really lifted me up.”

It was proof that laughter can be cathartic even (or especially) when the world feels unbearable.

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Each week, at the always-packed Cambrian Hall (on Fridays) or the Russian Cultural Centre (on Saturdays), Dauk treats the host spot like a pace car.

“I do want people already to sort of have their money’s worth before I’m off the stage,” he says.

He books comics who “care about comedy, care about getting better at comedy, and sort of respect comedy.” And in addition to fostering community with the regulars who come out to laugh together, Jokes Please functions as a clubhouse for comics: “Almost all the jobs at Jokes Please are filled by stand-up comedians. The door person’s a comedian, the bartender’s a comedian… and then a second later [they’ll be] destroying on stage.”

The Deets

Every Friday in Mount Pleasant and Saturday in Kits.