Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo is very much back and rockin’: Comedy returns this weekend Sept. 23-24
AWARD-WINNING COMEDIAN CARLA COLLINS BRINGS BACK THE LAUGHS WITH LIVE COMEDY SHOW ‘HER ROOTS ARE SHOWING’ ON SEPTEMBER 23 & 24
Toronto, ON., Sept. 21, 2020 — El Mocambo Productions along with Michael Wekerle, owner of the El Mocambo announced today that the legendary venue will welcome the return of live comedy shows kicking off this week with award-winning comedian Carla Collins, September 23 and 24.
Presenting ‘Her Roots Are Showing’ Collin’s special guests on night one (9/23) include; Canadian Comedy Award nominee Ted Morris (Just For Laughs, American’s Got Talent) and Patrick Haye, a favourite in the Canada comedy scene. On September 24, Collins will be joined by the ‘Godfather’ of Canadian Comedy, Kenny Robinson (host of Yuk Yuk’s Nubian Show since 1995), along with veteran Canadian stand-up comedian Andrew Johnston, whose credits include; two No. 1 comedy albums, an appearance at the Just For Laughs Festival and later this year can be seen on OutTV’s ‘Comedy Qweens’ special. Newcomer Beverly Ellis who in her first year of comedy has played the Comedy Store and Comedy Union in LA in addition to the Hollywood Improve will round out the show on September 24.
Collins who was named “Comedian of the Year” by the Southern California Motion Picture Council, has appeared in numerous movies and television shows in both the US and Canada. She performs comedy in clubs, theatres and festivals all over North America and is an iconic comedian, TV and radio host and actress. Her hilarious reality show Carlawood is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and she can be heard on SiriusXM. Thrilled to be home in Canada, Collins will film her first US comedy special produced by the legendary David Steinberg and Proven Entertainment once the industry opens back up post-pandemic. She currently produces Hump Day Howl, a livestream monthly comedy show at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles.
“I’m so excited to be the first comedian to headline at the newly reopened iconic El Mocambo,” shares Carla Collins. “It’s the perfect marriage because we were both big in Canada in the late 90s and early 2000s. And we’ve both been renovated.”
A limited number of live tickets can be purchased HERE. Tickets for the live stream on Nugs.net can be purchased at Nugs.TV.
In mid-March, the newly renovated El Mocambo, was forced to halt its plans for a grand re-opening, but since then has placed itself in a position to revolutionize the live music and entertainment business by blending cutting-edge technology with unparalleled access – offering audiences, fans and music/entertainment lovers the ultimate live experience across three separate venues all under the same roof in addition to delivering supreme virtual content straight to the comfort of their homes.
On July 1st, the El Mo made its highly acclaimed virtual debut, welcoming the City of Toronto’s Canada Day 2020 celebration featuring rock icon Kim Mitchell, alt-rock band July Talk, Next Generation Leahy, singer-songwriter, actor and speaker Jully Black, Hip Hop artist Haviah Mighty and the legendary Gordon Lightfoot. September 10th marked the official reopening of the world-famous venue with a live performance from multi-platinum selling rock band Big Wreck. Most recently Canadian alt-rock icons 54:40 graced the stage of the El Mo for an explosive virtual concert.
The El Mo first welcomed raunchy comedy in the 1970’s, from the obscenity-laced routines of MacLean and MacLean to a touring National Lampoon revue in 1974, featuring a young Bill Murray to Jim Carrey in 1993 and more.
“A lot of people are unfamiliar with the El Mocambo’s history with comedy,” said Julie Hoffman, Manager of Music Services. “Although music has been the backbone of what we do, the team had a very clear vision that the intimate setting of the venue would lend itself nicely to live comedy and comedy specials! We are so thrilled to have Carla Collins kicking off this series, helping to spread laughter and provide unique experiences, in this exceptional time.”
El Mocambo is rockin’ again witha new, innovative and engaging alternative for concert goers
As Ontario continues to adjust to the new reality of social distancing under the newly announced stage 3 regulations for live music venues, the El Mocambo is in an elite position to provide a new, innovative and engaging alternative for concert goers and entertainment audiences around the world. The iconic venue – wired to deliver music to fans and audiences globally, boasts three acoustically tuned performance areas (“The Starlight Room”, “Under The Neon Palms” and “VIP Balcony”) – each with their own entrance/exit and washroom facilities, state of the art video, audio, lighting and production capabilities in addition to the highest safety standards in terms of building construction and under the current public health and safety regulations.
New additions include a third storey soaring mezzanine, a retail space and mobility friendly access, along with the largest studio floor on the eastern seaboard. The revamped building has been designated as a content creation centre where performances on all three floors, as well as the backstage area can be sent through the SSL L550 simultaneously for recording and streaming.
“We are now a broadcast facility with three isolated performance areas, state of the art audio and video equipment and the ability to capture, record and stream high resolution content to a global audience,” shared Jamie Howieson, Production Manager & Executive Designer. “We have a central control room with a video control room, an audio control room and a vocal isolation booth, which allows us to pull audio and video from three separate performance spaces in the venue while simultaneously editing, mixing and delivering content via streaming platforms, or recording and capturing for future use.”
In addition to live music, curated small-scale social events including weddings, private parties and more can be hosted at The El Mocambo. Events can be recorded live from the floor via a state-of-the-art in-house control room and live streamed in 4k for audiences around the world – making it a one-of-a-kind vintage venue for the digital age with multi-function capabilities.
The closure of the historic Toronto entertainment venue was announced in October 2014 before Wekerle, Founder and Chairman of merchant bank Difference Capital Financial Inc., and former Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den stepped forward to purchase it. In 2015, the El Mocambo began extensive renovations to repair the aging building and create fully modernized performance and event spaces. The intimate ground-floor stage and the second-floor mainstage remain in the same locations, but both now offer improved sightlines and exceptional lighting, video and acoustics.
One of North America’s longest-running and most iconic music venues, the El Mocambo was founded as a fine dining and dancing establishment in 1948, but since then evolved into something of a rock ‘n’ roll mecca, hosting many of the biggest names in music including: The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Ramones, Meatloaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, U2 and many more.
Visit www.elmocambo.com for additional details and more information as it becomes available.
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