At last year’s Rifflandia Music Festival, one of the highlights for many attendees was the ‘Lafflandia’ comedy stage, and it is coming back better and bigger than ever.
Because the festival was spread out over two weekends and at two locations, the stage looked a bit different between the two, but either way, the venue was filled to capacity.
This year the festival will be solely held at the Matullia Lands in Rock Bay.
Because of this, Rifflandia will be able to spread out a bit more, which means the Lafflandia stage will be back and will be expanded to increase capacity due to last year’s high demand.
Local comedian Dan Duvall is aiding Rifflandia in producing the Lafflandia stage, and says he is excited to see the magic of last year return.
“Last year was crazy, we had lineups out the door for every single show,” Duvall told Victoria Buzz.
“The audience would go from dancing, partying, music, to walking into our comedy venue and were a flawless comedy audience for the entire festival. Not one person heckled, yelled out or talked during the show.”
Duvall added that the goal for this year’s Lafflandia stage is to retain the structure and the vibe of what was accomplished in 2023 and make it bigger.
This year’s lineup of comedians was announced last week and features incredibly talented comedians from across Canada, as well as some local legends.
Duvall says that everyone booked to perform at Lafflandia is accomplished, talented and hilarious, but highlighted a few standouts he is excited to have come to the festival.
Kyle Brownrigg is this year’s winner of the Juno Award for best comedy album. Duvall says he is a polished comedian and a great writer.
“Faris Hytiaa is in my opinion one of the best up and coming comics in the country. He is unreal, he is such a killer and he’s only been doing it for like, four or five years and is already headlining every club across Canada,” Duvall said.
Erica Sigurdson is another comedian Duvall mentioned. He says she is like “comedy royalty in Canada” and has been featured on CBC’s the Debaters over 50 times.
“Brittany Lyseng, I think is one of the best comics in the country, she’s absolutely unreal. She did [Lafflandia] a couple of years ago and is truly a heavy-hitter, flawless,” Duvall explained.
He also pointed out that two locals, Nash Park and Alex Forman of Ok Dope Productions, will be doing a completely improvised crowd work show as a headliner.
Duvall says the way the shows will be structured is between musical acts at one of the stages, there will be quick 20-minute comedy shows featuring a short five-minute set from one comedian, then a 15-minute set from a headliner.
He also said that attendees should expect the unexpected, as there are plenty of professional comedians in town and he welcomes drop-ins throughout the festival from local pros and headliners alike.
“The last thing I want to mention is that Canada is brimming with standup comedy talent,” Duvall told Victoria Buzz.
Despite this, he explained that comics have a really hard time with their work being recognized by the government as an art form.
“Rifflandia is one of the biggest supporters of Canadian comedy across the country. It’s usually an all-Canadian lineup, or close-to and I just love that we are showcasing what we have right here,” he continued.
All the comedians who are performing on the Lafflandia stage this year will be featured in the annual Rifflandia Magazine, which will be released soon.
Tickets for Rifflandia are still available, and you can grab yours online.
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Written by Curt Blandy from Victoria Buzz
