Comedian, facilitator and event producer. I love jokes and how they can help us move through hard stuff.
Sign up for the Cathartic Laughs newsletter for tips on how to joke about the curve balls life throws our way.
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Missing out on Tibb's Eve? Let's Laugh together in the New Year
If you are new here, welcome to my monthly-ish comedy newsletter!
What is Tibb's Eve you say? In Newfoundland, it is celebrated today as a time to enjoy a beverage with some friends before the rest of the holidays get going.
While I am making efforts to drink less, the spirit of making a point to see friends before you get into whatever your holiday routine is (be it family time, solo lying on the couch with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and chocolate or getting a jumpstart on those new year's resolutions that you may forget before January is out) is something worth remembering.
While I have had lots of lovely moments this year, I am still looking for work and am in my 'geriatric millennial mid-life crisis' era. It is a cycle of looking for jobs, realizing that I have too much experience for entry level jobs and not enough for ones that pay a living wage, getting depressed, watching films to escape and realizing that all the 'frazzled mom' characters are younger than me. Rinse, repeat.
I don't think I am special. Most folks I know are going through something tricky these days. Which is why Tibb's Eve is such a nice reminder to reach out to pals.
Robert Putnam is the academic who coined the term 'social capital' to refer to the ties between people in community. Overall there is less and less participation in community organizations like leagues, churches and social clubs than there was in the 1950s. So, very often, if we want to see people, we have to stop scrolling, reach out and organize to meet up with people we care about. Rituals like Tibb's Eve, an annual cookie exchange or the polar bear dips are all ways to help you get out of the house and connect with the people in your life during the darkest part of the year.
Sometimes we just don't have energy to make a whole gathering happen. It takes emotional labour and mental bandwidth that we might not have. I was fortunate enough that my partner organized a Tibb's Eve meetup with a few pals as I wasn't on the ball to get people together this year.
Comedy As RITUAL WITH FRIENDS
Comedy has been a ritual and a way to keep me connected to friends for almost two decades. When I lived in Halifax, it was getting a group together to see Picnicface play at Ginger's Tavern. When I moved to Vancouver, became The Sunday Service at The Fox. Both of these shows occurred Sunday evenings, standing in as a religious experience for this ol' agnostic, and gave me a way to participate and connect.
Now that I host The Am I The Asshole Game, I get to invite friends to attend my shows. And I feel fortunate that Little Mountain Gallery has a hang out space where I can see friends and meet people going to other shows. In a city like Vancouver, where people live in small places and arts space is rare, any friendly communal gathering area is straight up sacred.
Host Mossford L. Putnam looks a lot like Em.
If you are not feeling up to organizing pals to meet up before Xmas, you can get a friend to join you at my January 3rd show or any other Little Mountain shows.
Heck if you are looking for a last minute gift, a pair of tickets to comedy is a thoughtful gesture that doesn't break the bank. (Note that Little Mountain has a no refund policy so I am unable to refund tickets).
Our Next Show
The next Am I The Asshole Game is: Saturday Jan 3rd, 2026 at 7pm at Little Mountain Gallery at 110 Water St. in Gastown and tickets are $17.94 (all fees included).
TheAm I The Asshole Comedy Game Show combines the sexy swinging fun of The Dating Game with the can-not-look-away cringeworthy captivation of the “Am I The Asshole (AITAH) Reddit forum. On this show, a special guest performer shares a personal story of a time when they may have been a jerk and YOU, the audience, decide whether or not they are the A-hole.
To help with your decision we have an Expert Panel of wild characters from all different walks of life, who will give our storyteller hilarious (and questionable) advice. Their only qualifications are that they are experts in their own minds, much like anonymous Reddit commenters!
YOU decide if comedian Steev Letts is the A-hole!
Our featured storyteller is Steev Letts. Steev’s style is loud, self-deprecating and oddly sincere. Steev won the 2018 Vancouver Yuk Off Comedy Competition and Breakout Artist of the Year at the 2019 Vancouver Comedy Awards. He has performed on Just For Laughs Northwest and the Grindstone Comedy Festival. Steev's debut live album is Burger Queen available on Spotify and iTunes and his most recent special Endless Bummer is available on Youtube.
Mark your calendar, here are all the show dates for the year. We are always at Little Mountain Gallery in Gastown.
January 3 No Feb show March 13 April 10 May 8 June 12 No Shows July & Aug September 11 October 9 November 13 No Show December
If price is preventing you from grabbing tickets, use code 50AITAH for 50% off tickets at online checkout only (not at the door). I also have a limited number of free tickets, just reply via email at least 3 days before the show and I will send you the info.
Remember that the Solstice, and shortest day of the year is behind us, so it only gets a bit brighter each day from here.
Happy holidays y'all,
Em
Em Cooper (they/them) Comedian, Producer & Bon Vivant
Comedian, facilitator and event producer. I love jokes and how they can help us move through hard stuff.
Sign up for the Cathartic Laughs newsletter for tips on how to joke about the curve balls life throws our way.
Cathartic Laughs Comedy, Events & Workshops by Em Cooper CHECK OUT UPCOMING SHOWS! Photo of Em Cooper by Chelsey Stuyt Hey friends, How are you? How's your brain and heart coping with the news of late? It's rough. I have found that as news gets more overwhelming, my comedy has become increasingly silly as a way to process and to just take a break. Perhaps the GOAT of silly stand-up is Chris Fleming, whose new special Live at The Palace is out on Crave/HBO Max. I'm late to finding Chris'...
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