North American club, any weekend… 4 Stars!”
– Al Rae, CBC Radio, July 19, 2004
The trio of Jason Beck, Trevor Boris and Kenton Larsen first appeared at the Fringe as “3 Winnipeg Comics” in the summer of 2000 with “3 Winnipeg Comics… on Jerry Springer, Ricky Martin & The Seven-Day Movie Rental”, before returning in 2001 with “3 Winnipeg Comics in… Crouching Set-Up, Hidden Punchline.”
In 2002, the show was expanded into “5 Winnipeg Comics” with the additions of Jack Berkowski and Warren Persowich (a.k.a. Warren D. Wayne).
The next two years, the new team of Beck, Boris, Larsen, Berkowski and Persowich launched “5 Winnipeg Comics… in an Air-Conditioned, Fully-Licensed Venue” in 2002 and “5 Winnipeg Comics… in THE FUNNIEST SHOW ON EARTH! (Results May Vary)” in 2003.
In the summer of 2004, Beck, Berkowski and Persowich were joined by Charlie Onyske and Rob Bruneau for “5 Winnipeg Comics in… What has 5 Heads and 9 Nuts…?” The 12-night run of the show was followed by a special encore performance at Rumor’s Restaurant & Comedy Club on Wednesday, August 4th.
In 2005, Beck, Persowich, Onyske and Bruneau were joined by Kenton Larsen who returned to the line-up in place of Jack Berkowski for “5 Winnipeg Comics in… Live From The Press Club!” The show was dedicated to the memory of Jack Berkowski, who passed away following a tragic accident in May 2005. The 11-night run of the show received 4 stars from The CBC and three and a half stars from The Winnipeg Free Press.
In 2006, Beck, Persowich, Onyske and Bruneau were joined by Jewish mountain gorilla Mel Silverback (a huge hit on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”) for what was the most Fringe-like show ever: “5 Winnipeg Comics in… The Evolution Of Comedy.”
In 2007, National headliners BIG Daddy Tazz and “The BIG Bear” Gerry Barrett joined Beck, Persowich, and Bruneau in “5 Winnipeg Comics in… The BIG BIG Show: I Don’t Want To Grow Up!”, a humorous exploration of the path from childhood angst to life as a big, big kid. After eight fun years, 5 Winnipeg Comics went their separate ways.
