Local comedian hopes documentary can showcase Windsor’s stand-up scene
Local comedian hopes documentary can showcase Windsor’s stand-up scene
A local stand-up comedian is planning to premier a documentary this year that will put Windsor’s comedy community centre stage.
CJ Bernauer says he was always into comedy growing up — watching Saturday Night Live and the Late Show with Conan O’Brien.
He says he couldn’t wait to try stand up for himself.
“They said you can’t go until you’re 19. So it was my birthday on October 14 and I went on the 19th to do my first show,” Bernauer says.
According to him, his first set, at the former Komedy Korner on Dougall Avenue, was not a hit.
“I thought it was good, that’s the worst part,” he explains.
“Then after I got off another comedian said, ‘I told you you were going to suck.’”
Bernauer says many people might not realize Windsor has a comedy scene.
He says people who find out he performs often ask if he crosses into Detroit or otherwise leave town.
The city, however, has had a rich history with the art. It was local comedian Leo Dufour, former owner of the Komedy Korner, who handed Bernauer the mic that first night.
The now-retired Dufour, heralded as a local legend, is one of seven comedians interviewed in Bernauer’s Rose City Comedy documentary. [LINK: https://www.rosecitycomedy.ca/ ]
“I figure I did about 6,000 shows,” Dufour says in the documentary, “and I’m still not famous.”
Bernauer has spearheaded the documentary project alone and is editing himself. He’s hired crews to do some of the filming but says he’s doing 99 per cent of the work.
He hopes for the film to debut at this year’s Windsor International Film Festival — and in the meantime is working on making it possible for interested individuals to provide funding.
His own personal story also serves as a narrative arc through the documentary.
In 2014, about four years after he started doing stand-up, Bernauer’s 18-year-old sister Emily was killed in a car accident.
He says he struggled to perform in the wake of his family’s tragedy, eventually opting to hang up the mic.
“I didn’t want to make people laugh,” he says.
“I was very cynical. I was very bitter. It was not funny. That’s not a funny vibe to have.”
He stopped performing for about seven years, finding humour once again while stuck at home with his kids during COVID-19 lockdowns.
He started performing again in April 2022, but found his old material no longer worked.
“In a way it was like riding a bike, but it’s like riding a bike in a brand new neighbourhood,” says Bernauer.
Aside from discovering the local comedy scene and maybe finding some local comics they want to check out, Bernauer says he hopes Rose City Comedy inspires people to pursue their passions — whether or not that’s stand-up comedy.
“Here’s a bunch of people who are pursuing something that they’re really passionate about,” he says of the subjects in the documentary.
“Some of them are business owners, some have full time jobs, but they still want to do this.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the vote later today on the Conservative motion calling for a new study into foreign interference will not be a confidence vote.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day and to mark the occasion a Canadian organization launched a campaign showcasing older people living with the condition.
A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by her 6-year-old student said it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day.
A new report that looks at the prevalence of marketing to children inside grocery stores and restaurants suggests regulation is needed to help reduce unhealthy food temptations.
While the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the issues surrounding Credit Suisse have shaken investor confidence, a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis appears to be unlikely, one analyst says.
Several parents are questioning the filtering process of eBooks available to students at the Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) after they say their children were able to access eBooks that are not age appropriate.
About 10 people have been displaced and damage is estimated at $1-million after a fire in Aylmer on Monday. John Street in Aylmer, Ont. has reopened in both directions following a fire on Monday night.
An 81-year old property owner tells CTV News he’ll do the work himself without machinery, if that’s the method directed by city council. Three years after John McLeod demolished the historic barn on Halls Mill Road without a permit, a plan to remove the pile of wooden debris is taking shape.
The Old South Community Organization (OSCO) is expressing concern about city staff’s failure to consult with stakeholders before recommending that Thames Pool be decommissioned.
Market trends in Simcoe County show an increase in viewings and buyers re-entering the market after key interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada warded off many last year.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
Three misdemeanour charges were filed Monday against the son of Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager Danny Briere after a video posted on social media showed him and another Mercyhurst University athlete pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a staircase.
A member of the city of Ottawa's board of health is speaking out about body shaming after receiving a letter that said she shouldn't serve on the board because of her weight.
A 31-year-old neuroscientist is believed to be among the six people missing after a massive fire in Old Montreal last week. An Wu was staying at the heritage building on Place d'Youville to attend a conference, according to friends and family.
Rescuers have yet to recover any additional bodies from the wreck of a fire in Old Montreal last week. As of Tuesday morning, there were still six people missing. The body of one victim, a woman, was extracted on Sunday.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard is scheduled to table the first budget of the Coalition Avenir Québec's second mandate this afternoon. Girard broke with tradition on Monday — instead of buying new shoes ahead of the budget, he announced a $5,000 donation to a Quebec City community centre.
New Brunswick's finance minister is scheduled to table a provincial budget Tuesday as the government grapples with problems in health care and housing and the effects of a population surge.
Two staff members and a student -- who is also the suspect -- have been injured in a stabbing at a high school in Bedford, N.S., according to the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE).
The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) is weighing in after two staff members and a student, who is also the suspect, were injured in a stabbing at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.
Students and community members will gather in protest outside the Calgary Board of Education Centre Tuesday morning, calling for the removal of the Sir John A. Macdonald name from a northwest junior high school.
A Wheatland County sanctuary that cares for abandoned and surrendered farm animals faces an uncertain future after having a permit application to keep operating denied.
A woman who lives across from the apartment where a 16-year-old shot and killed two Edmonton police constables has multiple bullet holes in her door, with a couple piercing her doorframe.
After a large fire spread from tents to a shuttered theatre on the city’s Downtown Eastside, Vancouver’s fire chief told reporters she was “incredibly frustrated” that more isn’t being done to prevent daily fires breaking out in the area.
Vancouver council will soon vote on a policy that could slow development in the Broadway Plan, one of the most significant long-term projects underway in the city.
