2o12 FESTIVAL COMICS

 

 

Chris Gibbs - Gibberish

Chris Gibbs

British-born comedian Chris Gibbs began his performance career in 1991, working as an acrobat on the streets of London. He's toured extensively as a stand-up comedian and improviser, written and performed five hit, award-winning one-man shows, was a regular guest on NBC's comedy series 'Howie Do It', has played at the Just For Laughs and the Winnipeg Comedy Festivals, starred in the Canadian indie feature 'Run Robot Run,' and is even a published author. He performs every Wednesday with The National Theatre of the World in Canadian Comedy Award-winning The Carnegie Hall Show.

Gibberish

It could be an hilarious comedy show full of acrobatics, hilarious observational stand-up comedy and meta-theatrical antics presented by a gleeful figure of fun at the top of his game, or it might be a chilling and brilliantly acted play within a play about one tragic soul desperately trying to fill the void within himself by jumping like an emotional monkey to win the approval of a room full of strangers whose laughs and applause can never drown out the voice of self-loathing inside his head.
It works either way!

History

In 1999 I put together my best stand-up comedy routines as well as some more physical bits to make a show called 'Whatever It Takes' for New Zealand's Wellington Fringe. At that time I was working mainly in a double-act called Hoopal, who did physical comedy fringe shows, so even though I'd worked as a solo street-performer and stand-up, a whole hour on my own was something of an experiment. It went well, the only problem being that a lot of the material was about New Zealand and would probably not work anywhere else.

In 2002 I toured the show in Canada, having changed the name of the show to Gibberish. (Pronounced with a hard 'G' like my name, which has resulted in many Canadians believing this is how the word is pronounced in England).

The show began its Canadian tour in Toronto where one reviewer described it as 'a funny one-man show about someone doing a bad one-man show'. I decided this was a much better idea than what I had been doing, which basically had no through-line at all, and rewrote it.

Since then the show has absorbed many of my favourite stand-up routines, and become something of a 'best of' stand-up show for me.

Reviews

"Deliberately tentative and twitchy, and darkly gleeful at times, his hand-wringing style and sotto voce asides are comic stand-up gold."
Toronto Star

"Gibbs knows that audiences really enjoy a good hearty laugh, and from start to finish, he delivers. His punchlines are sharp and his timing is impeccable."
Eye Magazine, Toronto

"In my humble opinion, Chris Gibbs is quite simply the most solid bang for your comedy buck going. This Brit-turned-Canuck packs as many big laughs per minute into his hour-and-a-quarter standup show as anyone."
CBC

"Inevitably, just as you think you've figured out the rules of what works, someone like Chris Gibbs shows up and breaks them all... Gibbs has figured out what many shows could stand to learn: If you keep insisting you're funny, we wont want to laugh, but if you leave room for us to laugh, we wont want to stop.
The Hour, Montreal

"Gibberish is comic genius."
Edmonton Sun

Where's it been?

Gibberish played to sell-out houses in many Canadian fringes in 2002, winning 'Best of the Fest' in Winnipeg, and getting some jolly nice reviews. In 2004 the show was short-listed for the Best Comedy Award in the Montreal fringe and in 2006 it returned to New Zealand for the Christchurch buskers festival. In 2007 it was remounted at the Toronto Fringe in a sell-out run. 2010 saw the show's return to Winnipeg, and another sell-out run.

www.chrisgibbs.ca

 

 

Appearances


Thursday, March 8th

Opening Night Festival Gala

 First United Church Waterloo
16 William Street, West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 1J3
(directions)

Doors Open: 7:00 PM
Show Time: 7:30 PM

Comics

Opening Night Festival Gala Tickets

$95 VIP Festival Pass *
$45


Buy Tickets Online



Friday, March o9th & Saturday, March 1oth

Chris Gibbs - Gibberish

The Embassy
56 King Street North, Waterloo, Ontario
(directions)

Doors Open: 6:30PM
Show Time: 7:00PM

Comics

Tickets

$15 in advance, $20 at the door

Buy Tickets Online