Saskatoon-born comedian Brendan Flaherty returns to ask, 'what'd I miss?'

As a Saskatoon-born comedian pursuing a career in the Six, Brendan Flaherty says he often hears the same question from friends back home.

“It's weird to leave Saskatoon and go to Toronto because people will always ask me when I’m moving back,” he said in a phone interview Monday morning as he prepared for an evening flight back for a Boxing Day showcase at Art Bar, Saskatoon’s new mainstay for standup comedy.

“Instead of moving back, I'm trying to do this holiday tradition where we hang out and catch up and I get to charge people money to see me.”

Flaherty spoke with CTV News about bringing his mix of storytelling, observational humour and satire to Saskatoon in his upcoming show, “What’d I Miss … This Time,” featuring local guests Anna Linassi and Shawn Cuthand of the Feather News fame, and hosted by improviser Luke Pennock.

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This may not be a long-term homecoming, but performing in a smaller market has its advantages, says Flaherty.

“It's a great opportunity for me to do a long set. One of the issues with a packed comedy scene like Toronto is that it can be hard to get stage time in increments longer than, like, eight to 10 minutes,” he said.

“So I am absolutely exploiting my hometown for the opportunity to showcase a bit more of a headline act. But it’s also a great opportunity for people who may have never seen me do stand up to see me kind of spread my wings.”

When it comes to performance, it’s not the prospect of bombing that makes Flaherty nervous — it’s the prospect of not getting stage time.

“If I can get in front of an audience, I’m grateful for whatever I get from them.”

The options for standup in Canada are limited, he says.

“Like, you could tour, but it’s incredibly difficult because the distances are so vast, and there’s a lot of gatekeepers,” he says.

“We’re in this really weird position now where Just for Laughs has gone bankrupt, and people are trying to figure out what’s next.”

Comedians are turning to platforms like TikTok to find their audience directly, and he says some are finding success with newsletters as the market for podcasts seems to have plateaued.

“The wave has crested on podcasts. So comedians are like, ‘what do we do now?’”

The market is fragmented, yet there seems to be more reverence for the art form than ever — something Flaherty finds a little dubious.

“People always do this weird thing with comedy where they’re like, ‘oh, it’s like the modern-day philosophers,’ and like, no, at this point, they’re just click bait.”

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Not that there isn’t something to learn from comedians, he says.

“I love all the points of view that you get in one evening.”

That’s why it’s good to see a standup venue like Art Bar open in Saskatoon, which Flaherty calls a “really important step towards a thriving comedy scene.”

The relatively new space is located in the former site of the 9 Mile Brewery and bar on 20th Street, run by up and coming comedians Dakota Ray Hebert — who co-stars in CTV’s Shelved, which is like the Office if it was set in a library — and her partner Dylan Jay Williamson.

Art Bar hosts open mics, touring and local standup comics, and features two venues under one roof — a small front-of-house space where the bar is located, and a 70-seat black-box theatre in the space that formerly housed the brewing equipment.

Flaherty’s “What’d I Miss” starts at 7 p.m. on Dec. 26, with comedy until 9 p.m., followed by karaoke. You can buy tickets online by clicking here.

You can find Flaherty on TikTok and Instagram as @value_dog.