By Iris Winston
Photo Styling by Mel Felchman Photography
Images by Ten 3 Studios
Howard Wagman has been spreading laughter, universally acknowledged as the best medicine, in and around Canada’s capital for the last four decades. And the good news is that the long-time owner of Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa intends to continue giving audiences reasons to crack up for the foreseeable future. To underline the point, he has just added a new comedy venue in Orleans.
“I’ll never retire,” he says. “And live, stand-up comedy will never go away. People need to laugh. You can watch comedy on a screen, but it’s just not the same as the intimacy and connection of sitting in the audience for a live show.”
Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa’s permanent home since 2023 has been Biagio’s Kitchen + Catering at 1394 Richmond Road in the west end. “I’ve never been happier anywhere,” says Howard, noting that the space and location are perfect for stand-up. “I’ve got a great food and beverage partner in Mike Ziola, who owns Biagio’s, and the food is fantastic.”
He adds that the popular dinner and show packages, as well as such star performers as Martha Chaves or Tom Green, regularly result in packed houses. “You could say we feed off each other by bringing in both types of business. As far as I’m concerned, this partnership is a marriage made in heaven.”
A priority for Howard is giving new performers opportunities to hone their craft. “Our amateur nights and comedy competitions are extremely important,” he says. “They are the future, especially as any performers who turn pro tend to leave the Ottawa area and head for Toronto.”
“Outlying gigs are also very much part of the scene,” he adds, referring to Yuk Yuk’s On-Tour through which comedians from the Ottawa area appear on stages in such places as Belleville, Carleton Place, Montague or Smiths Falls. “When we tour, we’re developing audiences as well as developing talent with every show.”
Howard’s own entry into the comedy business began when he was in his teens. His uncle, Mark Breslin, just a few years older than Howard, asked him if he would like to get involved in what started as a family business. This was in 1976 when Mark opened his first comedy club one night a week in the basement of a community centre on Church Street in Toronto. Two years later, the fledgling Yuk Yuk’s had outgrown its space and moved to Bay Street.
“At the beginning, the entry fee was just a dollar,” recalls Howard. “When we moved, I worked in the box office. The whole thing was pretty exciting for me. Imagine how someone under 20 felt seeing people like Robin Williams, Howie Mandel and Jim Carrey performing less than five feet away. That club spawned so many stars. I have unbelievable memories of that time.”
Yuk Yuk’s became more and more popular over the years, at a time when comedy clubs and festivals were springing up across the country. When Mark decided to expand Yuk Yuk’s to Montreal, he asked Howard, in partnership with comedian Paul K. Willis, to head the venture.
“That was in 1980,” says Howard, pointing out this was the year of the first Quebec referendum on sovereignty. “It wasn’t the greatest time to open an Anglo business there, though we tried hard to make it work. We were packed on weekends but we had to pay rent all week and eventually had to close down. That was where I learned what not to do in business. You learn a lot the hard way.”
For a while, he returned to Toronto to work as the night manager of a hotel. “I didn’t like it at all, so when Mark asked if I’d like to try opening up a comedy club in Ottawa I jumped at it. We took off from day one and the rest is history, as they say. I’ve had some big stars, people like Norm MacDonald, come out of my club. And I think the success of the Ottawa club gave Mark the impetus to open up clubs from coast to coast.”
By the time the pandemic hit in March 2020, the Yuk Yuk’s empire had grown to become the largest chain of comedy clubs in North America with 17 clubs in various parts of Canada, as well as assorted Yuk Yuk’s nights in places where a permanent venue was unavailable. While some clubs were forced to close, at least temporarily, during COVID-19, many in the chain have survived and Yuk Yuk’s is now in growth mode again—hence Howard’s new comedy club in Orleans.
When he is not busy with the clubs—and he is on site for most of the shows at Biagio’s—he can be found at the family farm south of Ottawa where he lives with his wife and youngest son and the many animals and birds under their care. yukyuks.com
In the interests of full disclosure, Iris Winston’s daughter performs with Yuk Yuk’s.
