New sitcom set on open-mic night

A new YouTube sitcom aims to expose the ‘desperation and vanity’ of would-be stand-ups on the lowest rung of the comedy ladder.

Amateur Night is a scripted satire produced by Canada's biggest comedy club chain, Yuk Yuk's, and based on its own cutthroat audition process.

A spokesman said: 'All of the characters are based almost entirely in reality and frequently played by the real people themselves.'

Among them is Mark Breslin, pictured the founder of the 15-venue chain, whose approval all the aspiring comics are seeking to win.

In the series, he is portrayed as an 'out of date and disconnected millionaire whose advice and wisdom often don’t make any sense to the young generation of comics he tries earnestly to counsel'.

On a trailer, he says the series will be ‘a celebration of showbusiness at its lowest... It couldn’t be worse than amateur night at Yuk Yuk’s on Tuesday. The desperation will be palpable.’

The series is set around the regular open-mic night at the Toronto venue; the only place a comic can gain entry into the lucrative Yuk Yuk's circuit that has previously helped make stars of the likes of Rick Moranis, Jim Carrey  and Russell Peters.

Amateur Night is set to start later this spring. Here is the trailer:

Published: 10 Mar 2013