The Snowed In Comedy Tour has been pulling up to Whistler for some time, but in case you haven't heard: it is Canada's biggest comedy act featuring Just For Laughs champ Dan Quinn, former Great Canadian Laugh Off winner Paul Myrehaug, six-time Canadian Comedian of the Year nominee Pete Zedlacher and Erica Sigurdson, a regular on CBC’s The Debaters.
Snowed In continues to maintain a relentless touring pace, visiting more than 70 locations from coast to coast in this, its 16th year. The group has also performed overseas in France, Australia, Switzerland and the United States, where they have been largely acclaimed.
If you saw Quinn and company light up the Maury Young Arts Centre last year, don't hesitate to drop by again this month—for no two seasons are ever identical. Rather, each individual brings his or her own unique flavour to the stage.
"My specialty is: I talk a lot about relationships in my own personal life, and Erica does that too but from a female perspective so it's very opposite to mine and creates a good balance on the show," elaborates Quinn. "Paul has a tendency to be much more silly, his jokes trend a little wackier, and Pete's an amazing impressionist. His stories have a lot of accents—they're very dramatic and theatrical.
"It's all storytelling, but in very different ways."
Also brand-new for 2025, the gang is filming a travel documentary to highlight five towns in British Columbia: Whistler, Revelstoke, Nelson, Smithers and Courtenay. In it they hope to show viewers (especially people from abroad) what each town has to offer, including but not limited to some exceptional skiing.
"We're going to hook up with some pro riders in Whistler, but we're going to do some other fun activities as well," Quinn says. "We can [hopefully] show off that being a crazy Canadian in winter is fun."
Chasing life
Quinn studied business at the University of Alberta earlier in life, but decided to switch gears and try his hand at live comedy. His talent and hard work brought him a number of small-time competition wins, then big-time exposure at Just For Laughs… and then disappointment as a potential deal with ABC and Disney failed to materialize.
Eventually the Camrose, Alta. native realized dream-chasing no longer made him feel fulfilled. That's why he elected instead to "chase his life and let the dream happen," which for him meant more snowboarding.
In its early days, Snowed In was a vehicle for Quinn and his pals to shred pristine powder across Canada while making enough money to support themselves. He wasn't fussed about fame or recognition. Nowadays, he still views the tour's longevity and growth as a bonus—not the key point.
"Whether we have 700 people, or 1,000 … or 75, I'm still having a blast and going snowboarding," Quinn says. "The whole point of having a successful career is to do those things that you want to do, so why not just do those things? Then you have a successful career.
"[Career achievements] are nice, but they don't mean a ton. I'm either funny on stage or I'm not. If I bomb, nobody's like: 'yes but he won at Just For Laughs.' It's in the moment, and it's about what you do and how you bring joy to people that are there."
'All we can do is go'
In a market saturated with prolific American comedy tours boasting gaudy TV credits, Snowed In keeps rolling along like the little engine that could.
Quinn and his crew have been steadily introducing themselves to new locales. Word of mouth plays to their advantage: for example, their Kamloops show managed back-to-back 700-guest sellouts after drawing less than 200 viewers in Year 1. Occasionally, folks end up appreciating their gig more than those of celebrities like Sarah Silverman.
"All we can do is go, and if people show up, make them laugh hard," comments Quinn. "Hopefully they become a fan and understand the tour after that, because we can't reach them by having an HBO special. It's not available to us. God bless all those guys who have done it the other way, and there's some fantastic acts but this is the way we have to do it."
And if he's being honest, Quinn wishes Whistler could return to the way things used to be. He laments that lift tickets now cost almost $330 each under Vail Resorts management, with Sea to Sky hotels even pricier than that per night. Alas, the days of Snowed In putting on four straight shows at the Garibaldi Lift Co. (GLC) are over.
"Whistler is an amazingly beautiful place, but it doesn't feel like it's for the regular person anymore," he says. "It's still one of the greatest mountains in the entire world, though."
The Maury Young Arts Centre will host the Snowed in Comedy Tour on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. Visit showpass.com/snowed-in-comedy for tickets.
