WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
A comedy troupe known for racist jokes is scheduled for two shows at Hamilton’s Levity Comedy Club & Lounge next month, in the wake of the cancellation of performances at other Canadian venues following community backlash.
The Danger Cats’ shows are scheduled for Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 at the downtown venue.
Their jokes include ones about Jewish people, Indigenous children who died at residential schools and convicted serial killer Robert Pickton’s victims. The troupe has appeared on podcasts and in photos with members of Diagolon, a far-right group named in a 2022 House of Commons report as an example of “ideologically motivated violent extremism.”
In his podcast, Danger Cats member Uncle Hack has also excused attacks on politicians because of their choices related to COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines, saying he’s not violent but it may also be their time to “pay the piper.”
His social media posts target numerous marginalized groups and refer to the Danger Cats’ shows as “desensitivity training.” In addition to Uncle Hack, whose real name is Brendan Blacquier, according to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, the Alberta-based group’s members include Brett Forte and Sam Walker.
The offensive nature of their show is promoted on Levity’s website.
“You’ve seen Brett Forte on Just For Laughs, you’ve heard him on Sirius XM but you won’t see him on CBC because he’s banned for life,” it says. “Come see why.”
The group did not respond to CBC Hamilton’s request for comment, nor did Levity booker and manager Patrick Coppolino.
‘Punch down’ jokes can normalize bigotry: advocate
Caitlin Craven, executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, said she looked up the Danger Cats’ material after hearing from people who brought the shows to her attention.
Craven said comics who “punch down” on marginalized groups often claim free speech as an excuse, or suggest offended people need to lighten up because they are just making jokes. Such jokes can normalize bigoted beliefs, she added, suggesting venues need to consider the role they play in that process.
“Any institution or venue right now really needs to be thinking about the way these harmful ideas are spread,” she told CBC Hamilton on Thursday.
“Part of the bigger issue is that we definitely see a lot of alt-right and white supremacist ideas couched in the language of it just being a joke.
“Of course, it’s not a joke because it’s reinforcing this consensus that it’s OK to punch down on women, on Indigenous people, racialized folks, disabled people, newcomers and migrants. It’s so important to understand how that dehumanization works to lay the groundwork for public policies that are also harmful.”
CBC Hamilton spoke to several standup comedians and concerned community members who said they were not comfortable speaking out about the shows. Levity is one of the few comedy-focused venues in the city.
Gym owner sorry for ‘mistake’ made in booking show
Last March, a venue in New Westminster, B.C., cancelled a Danger Cats show after the group was promoting T-shirts depicting serial killer Pickton holding a bacon strip, underneath the words “Pickton Farms.”
Pickton was known for targeting sex-trade workers and vulnerable women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Many of his victims were Indigenous women. He was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of full parole for 25 years.
The owner of a Vancouver F45 gym where the troupe later performed apologized after the show, saying, “Unfortunately, a mistake was made, and proper vetting of the event organizers did not occur,” the statement said. “We are beside ourselves and sick that we let this happen in our studio.”
The statement added the show was “not representative of the values that our gym stands for.”
Booker calls comedy troupe ‘shock comedy’
A Danger Cats show in Winnipeg was also cancelled last year, but a Thunder Bay, Ont., date in May appears to have gone ahead despite protests from community members, including Indigenous activist Esther Maud.
“They have clearly a lot of healing to do because nobody in their right minds should be joking around about dead children, let alone Indigenous dead children, because our people went through a lot,” Maud told CBC Radio’s Superior Morning.
Superior Morning12:20Esther Maud/Chris Mulowyshyn: Danger Cats
An Indigenous advocate in Thunder Bay says a comedy act scheduled to play the city is no laughing matter.
We’ll hear from her and from the promoter who booked the act.
Chris Mulowyshyn, booker at Thunder Bay’s Crickets Comedy Club, said he allowed the show to continue to support “free speech,” adding the offensive jokes the Danger Cats can be seen and heard making online or the T-shirts aren’t part of their regular live show and have nothing to do with the venue.
“I book a lot of comics I don’t like because people like them,” Mulowyshyn told CBC Radio, emphasizing he had “zero” hate whatsoever for any race or religion. “But I am not in the feelings business; I am in the comedy business.
“They’re shock comedy,” he added. “They’re not really much different than Howard Stern was 20 years ago.”
Support is available for anyone affected by this article and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Immediate emotional assistance and crisis support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national hotline at 1-844-413-6649.
You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.
