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FEBRUARY 26 - 7:30PM

Thursday, February 26, 2026
7:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m.

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Flato Academy Theatre &
IG Wealth Management
Presents

Inside Jokes

With Comedian Denis Grignon

Plus Music Performance by Cavan & Caden Mabee

One part hilarious comedy performance. One part entertaining keynote address that pulls back the curtain on how a standup routine takes shape.

Caden & Cavan Mabee: the sibling duo have been making music together for years, blending their talent and love of performing. After earning 3rd place in the 2024 Kawartha Lakes Youth Songwriting Contest, they continue to work on originals but also share their passion throughout The City of Kawartha Lakes with a wide mix of covers that everyone can enjoy.

Part 1:

Veteran, standup comedian Denis Grignon performs an act of proven comic material, the result of his 30-plus years of painstaking writing, rehearsing and touring the country – (and beyond: Denis went to Afghanistan in 2010 to entertain Canadian Armed Forces). It’s an act for audiences that like their comedy above the neck, not below the belt – and why he’s been featured on CBC Radio’s The Debaters and Laugh Out Loud.. It’s also why the Globe and Mail described Denis’s comedy as “wonderfully relaxed.”

Meanwhile, Roderick Benns – publisher of Kawartha Lakes Weekly and The Advocate – says:

“Denis is the kind of funny the world needs more of. A great storyteller. A bit of edge without anger or malice. And to top it all off, it’s just a whole lot of funny without the profanity. Since he’s our very own, we also get to hear a local angle for many of the jokes, which is absolutely priceless.”

Part 2:

After a short intermission, Denis, using slides and audio clips, breaks down what went into the first half – and how an act starts with a collection of unrefined jokes, then is shaped into a polished and smooth routine. Where did the idea for that joke come from? Why did he choose that specific word? How does he remember what to say next? Did he really stumble on that punchline? Or was that, you know, part of the joke?

Denis also draws on his decades-long career as a print and broadcast journalist – and his interviews with dozens of North America’s top comedians – to deliver a better awareness of an oft-misunderstood art form.