A contestant from Canada’s Got Talent will return to Fort St John for a performance at the Lido’s Peace Country Comedy Fest in September.
The lead-up and planning process for this year’s show at the Lido theatre downtown has become muscle memory for Brian Kirschner, the owner of the venue.
“The fact is that we have some really funny people coming to the Lido theatre again this year, we have three entertainers, and it’s going to be a whole lot of laughter,” he said. Kirschner and his wife, Cindy, have owned the theatre since 2007.
The city always shows up and both nights usually end up selling out. Tickets went on sale on August 21, and Kirschner said sales are “going well,” and selling at about the rate he expected them to.
“It does sell out every year, and we’re really grateful for that,” explained Kirschner.
He said people who choose to come to the show need not worry about the lack of snack options inside the theatre, as audience members are allowed to have food delivered to the venue and staff will deliver the food directly to their seat in the crowd.
This year will be the twelfth instalment of the annual event, and Sterling Scott’s fifth appearance at the theatre, but it will be his first since appearing on the 2024 season of Canada’s Got Talent and receiving the “golden buzzer.” When a judge hits the buzzer, the contestant bypasses the first round of eliminations and is guaranteed a $25,000 payout regardless of their rank at the end of the show.
“Every time I see (Sterling), he gets funnier and funnier,” said Kirschner.
“You look at the thousands of people that audition for (Canada’s Got Talent) and for him to be elevated to that stature in that type of event just speaks volumes – the guy is funny. He’s got a little twisted sense of reality, as do many other comedians.”
Inside the Lido, there are no seats facing a stage – instead there are booths and chairs centred around tables, fostering a sense of community Kirschner said has been essential to the business’s survival, especially during pandemic-related lockdowns.
“(They were) not happy years. It was very different,” he said, describing the tumultuous lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. “To be able to come out of the other end of that, it’s really good.”
Still, the community came through for the Lido and still do, he said. Kirschner described Fort St John’s live audience at shows as a favourite for performers.
“We’re really proud of the audience in Fort St John. Almost every time, they’re respectful, there’s lots of laughter, there’s a little bit of banter – but they’re engaged. They’re watching the show and they’re laughing,” he said.
Kirschner has lived in Fort St John since his family moved to the city in 1966 and said he has seen many of the city’s ups and downs, during the ups, he said the community supports each other, and during the worst, he said residents of the city can always laugh it off.
