When Tyler Morrison comes to Newmarket, he’s hoping to get the community gasping, but more importantly, laughing with his unfiltered style of comedy.
Morrison, who lived in Nobleton and went to high school in King City, sees his comedy show in Newmarket on July 29 at Dawat Restaurant (17380 Yonge St.) as somewhat of a homecoming. He even joked that he used to get in fights in Newmarket as a teen.
“I’d always show up and cause trouble at the mall,” he said.
Deeming his set as “something you can’t see on TV,” Morrison said pushing the boundaries of comedy is what he does best.
“If people like dark, dirty, and uncensored comedy, that’s what I provide,” he said. “It’s something that’s also really fun, I want everyone to have a wicked time. I just try to be an amplification of myself up there. I’ve always been true to who I am and I feel that it’s connected with people.”
To make it as a comedian in Canada, Morrison said it’s not easy because you have to navigate a system that suppresses edgy comedians like himself.
“You have to understand how to work clean and exist within their system and once you’re good enough you can focus on what you do best,” he said. “At one point, I just said I’m not dancing for these people anymore. I’m not interested in working clean for them. Once I stopped caring about that, that’s when people started coming to me with opportunities because they saw me succeeding on my own.”
In Morrison’s opinion, comedy shouldn’t hold back or be censored, it should be an art form that allows the performer to give the crowd what they really want.
“I’m going to say what I want to say, because that’s what the audience wants,” he said. “Everything they’re being fed now is filtered and it’s not how comedy should be. Softer and safer comedy being polished for TV doesn’t kill with the real public. We see what the public really wants in clubs. If you tell them how it really is, they’ll respond in a much more powerful way.”
When building his set, Morrison likes to look at what’s happening in the world and what’s happening in his everyday life and connect it all to make it relatable to the audience.
“I also want to take them into areas where they’re not expecting to find a laugh,” he said. “That’s the best.”
Getting up on stage and getting a room to laugh is what Morrison feeds off of, and he describes it as being like a rock star.
“You just surf the wave, it’s the best outlet for me when you get on stage and feel that adrenal,” he said. “To know the stuff you’ve been working on and putting together is connecting with the crowd and making them feel good is always a huge bonus.”
Morrison started in comedy when he was 18 and went to the Humber College comedy program. Since then, he’s become known as one of Canada’s top roast comedians and headlined comedy clubs across Canada.
“I was hooked after my first set,” he said. “You build up your tolerance for bombing and you start building as a comedian from there as you figure out how to advance your own comedy.”
The comedy show is being put on by Premium Comedy and includes performances from Hannah Veldhoen and Mike Payne, as well as Morrison as the headliner. Premium Comedy founder Kris Bonaparte will be hosting the night.
“Kris has always put together a really good program and so I’m happy to come down and put on a show in Newmarket,” Morrison said.
Tickets for Morrison’s 10 p.m. show are $15 and for the 7 p.m. dinner and show it’s $39. Tickets can be found here.
