He's cracked people up in Vancouver, Whistler and Courtenay. Now Kelly Dyer wants to bring the funny to his own backyard.
The Squamish resident is bringing a stacked night of comedy to The Living Room on Friday (March 15) and he said the potential for stand up in Squamish is untapped.
"I really do think there is room for comedy in Squamish," he said. "This town has a lot of people looking for stuff to do and you get a great bang for your buck. Given the demographics in town, it's the perfect thing for a couple to do on a Friday night."
Dyer is still a relative newcomer to the scene, having first faced the bright lights of the stage back in 2009. He said it was something he's always wanted to do.
"Basically it was just years and years of being told I was a funny guy and it felt like it was something I had to do," he said. "I had to see if I had a knack for it and I was definitely bitten by the bug right away."
He said his first experience was nerve wracking but by his second time on the stage, he fell in love with performing.
"I scraped together some jokes that I'd written over the years and hit up an open mic in Vancouver," he said. "It was at a place called the Press Box, or as comedians call it 'the Depressed Box,' and it was a little strange walking into a room with complete strangers."
He admitted that the first time on stage was a learning experience but on his second trip he received a bunch of laughs and it encouraged him to continue his journey into stand up.
Dyer now performs several times a week in Vancouver and has also rocked the mic at the Garibaldi Lift Company (GLC) in Whistler. He said one of the highlights of his career so far was headlining a New Year's Eve event in Courtenay a few months ago.
"It's like anything - the more time you spend at something, the better you get," he said. "You need to get your name out there and I've made comedy an integral part of my life now."
He works as a carpenter in West Vancouver during the day and has lived in Squamish since 2005. He said locals should be thrilled with Friday's lineup.
"Dino Archie from L.A. is headlining and we've also got Chris James and Steve Cosco from Vancouver," he said.
Dyer will serve as the MC for the event.
"Hopefully this is something that can happen every six weeks or couple of months," he said. "It should be a great night to go have dinner with your partner and laugh it up."
Dyer can be found on Twitter - @kdyercomic and he pointed out that he and Cosco have a web series called Covert Comics that can be found on YouTube.
The show kicks off at 9 p.m. with doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Living Room in advance or at the door.
