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Comic to end his ‘Blunderful Life’ in Nelson on his birthday

Canadian comic Derek Edwards, once described by Rick Mercer as “the funniest man in Canada,” will be wrapping up a two-year, cross-country tour with a pair of shows in the West Kootenay in mid-May.
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Canadian comedian Derek Edwards will wrap up a two-year tour across Canada with shows in Trail on May 18 and Nelson on May 19.

Canadian comic Derek Edwards, once described by Rick Mercer as “the funniest man in Canada,” will be wrapping up a two-year, cross-country tour with a pair of shows in the West Kootenay in mid-May.

“Hopefully by the time I get out as far as B.C. this turd should be polished to a fine sheen,” Edwards joked in a telephone interview from his home in Toronto.

Edwards began his “My Blunderful Life” tour on the east coast in 2009 and has been slowly making his way across Canada, performing at a wide range of venues in big cities and small towns alike.

The native of Timmins, Ont., (population 43,000) says he prefers playing in smaller communities and is looking forward to ending the tour with a performance in Trail on May 18 and Nelson on May 19.

“I’m definitely more at home in a smaller town,” Edwards said. “Any place you go out in the evening and there’s a meat draw, that’s my type of place.”

As the name of his tour suggests, the material in Edwards’ show is based largely on his own life and his experiences being, as he puts it,the second-most famous person from Timmins. (Shania Twain being the first.)

“It’s like being the second-best known person from Bethlehem,” Edwards says in a Just For Laughs performance available on YouTube.

“Nobody remembers Duncan of Nazareth.”

And though the theme remains constant throughout his tour, Edwards said the material is not the exact same night after night.

“I change it as I go,” he said. “I try to personalize it.”

People familiar with Edwards’ televised material can expect slightly more raw jokes in his live performances. While certainly not a shock comic nor a particularly foul-mouthed one, he said his shows are “not squeaky clean,” either.

“I can get away with brief forays into this and that using salty language,” he said. “But I don’t jump into talking luridly about sex. The first rule about anything is just go with what you know, so that’s no benefit to me whatsoever.”

Edwards plays at the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail on May 18. For tickets call 250-368-9669 or 866-368-9669.

He wraps up the tour in Nelson on May 19 — his birthday — with a performance at the Capitol Theatre. For tickets call 250-352-6363.