Funny business Comedy club celebrates 40 years of laughs By: David Sanderson Posted: 4:24 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 26, 2024

“We’re number five! We’re number five!”

A Montreal-based entertainment company has released a list of the top 10 comedy clubs in North America. Placing fifth is Rumor’s Restaurant and Comedy Club, the subterranean locale that has been serving up laughs at 2025 Corydon Ave. for 40 years.

To be ranked alongside legendary venues such as the Comedy Store in Los Angeles and Chicago’s Second City is a sweet yet unexpected milestone-anniversary present, says Rumor’s general manager Tyler Schultz.

“That was really cool to see and what made it extra-special is that they have us No. 1 in Canada, two spots ahead of Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto,” Schultz says, seated at a table in the rear of the 250-seat room, which will serve as a host site for the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, running Tuesday to May 5.

“What’s also cool is how, 40 years in, we continue to grow. We launched a season-ticket package in December and it’s one of the best things we ever did. We’re busier than we’ve ever been.”

The way Rumor’s co-owner Sheldon Mindell understands the story, Gallagher’s Bar & Grill, the club’s direct predecessor, was faring poorly in 1984 when the powers that be decided a change was sorely needed.

To remedy the situation, Gallagher’s, which was situated roughly where Tuxedo Animal Hospital presently rests, began booking comedians for the lounge, redubbed Rumor’s, on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Attendance continued to be hit-and-miss, Mindell says, which was presumably why the premises, together with a spacious, downstairs banquet area, hit the market in 1986.

At the time, Mindell was in charge of Mr. Greenjeans, a casual-dining spot in downtown Winnipeg. Although he didn’t know a whit about managing a comedy club, he assembled a multi-person ownership group, which included the late Ross Rumberg and helped broker a deal to buy the business.

“We definitely had our share of challenges the first couple of years,” says Mindell, who tasked Rumberg with handling the day-to-day affairs and booking talent.

“We still had the upstairs, remember, and at a certain point, we had a decision to make: were we a restaurant or were we a comedy club?”

Around 1987, Mindell and his associates answered that query by dispensing with the upper level and moving the kitchen facilities downstairs. There they began to operate solely under the banner Rumor’s Restaurant and Comedy Club.

Almost from the get-go, Rumor’s has attracted top-flight talent, a who’s who of jokesters such as Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Harvey, Jon Stewart and Nate Bargatze, all of whom tickled local funny bones before moving on to bigger things.

Schultz, who started working at Rumor’s in 2008 and took over as general manager in 2010 following Rumberg’s death, says a big reason they continue to get big names is that headliners typically appear there Tuesday through Saturday, which is quite novel in a line of work where one-night stands are the norm.

Not only are comics able to unpack their suitcases for a week, they also get to learn about their surroundings and are thereby able to inject regional references in their shtick, which always goes over great, he says. (Who can forget a well-received bit by laugh riot Derek Edwards that poked tremendous fun at the giant rock situated on the lawn outside the University of Winnipeg, which seemingly puzzled the Ontarian to no end?)

Dean Jenkinson, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival’s artistic director, isn’t certain whether he would have become a full-time cut-up if it hadn’t been for Rumor’s.

The Canadian Comedy Award winner and regular contributor to This Hour Has 22 Minutes was 20 years old when he served as an MC there for the first time in the early 1990s. He was so green, he had nothing to compare the room to, he remembers.

“My thoughts were that this is a comedy club that every other city must have, these are packed audiences that every other city must have, and these are the headliners you work with, who must perform everywhere else, too,” Jenkinson says.

“It wasn’t until several years later when I started to tour that I began to realize how special Rumor’s is and how not every city has a professional comedy room that’s super well-run and gets full houses five nights a week.”

Jenkinson, who opened for the likes of Steve Harvey and Brent Butt back in the day, says he is looking forward to Rumor’s inclusion in this year’s festival, a set of circumstances that, owing largely to scheduling conflicts, wasn’t always the situation in the past. (As part of the fest’s Comedy Club Series, a different main act will take the stage at Rumor’s each night, Tuesday to Saturday.)

“For lots of Winnipeggers, Rumor’s is the go-to place for comedy, so any time we can raise our own profile by partnering with them is great,” he adds, mentioning he will serve as host for Red Carpet Comedy, featuring Spencer Adamus and Mike Delamont, at the Gas Station Arts Centre on Tuesday.

As for Rumor’s 40th anniversary, Schultz has a number of things in the works. While he won’t be rolling back the prices to 1984 levels — around $2.50 to get in the door, according to an old menu — he will bring back longtime fan favourites for a gala event this fall.

Already booked are Toronto’s Dave Hemstad, Prince Albert, Sask.’s Kelly Taylor, Canadian military brat Rob Pue and American Kevin Bozeman, Schultz says, noting they figure to have seven headline-calibre acts on the bill, all told.

“The planned dates are Oct. 4 and 5, and it will be comics who’ve been playing the room for the last 10 or 15 years, who all have a deep affection for the city and the crowds here,” he continues, noting customers should always keep an eye open for famous spectators; Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk and Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd both paid Rumor’s unannounced visits when they were filming in the city.

By the way, owing to Rumor’s longevity, Schultz has a piece of advice for the next generation of humourists: if you ever get the opportunity to take the stage there, you had best be on your game.

“Because this room has been around for 40 years, Winnipeggers are pretty comedy-savvy, and if we book someone who’s really hacky or unoriginal, half the crowd will tune out,” he says.

“On the other hand, if you’re on and are entertaining, they’ll happily support you forever.”

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca

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