SIRIUS awards once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to up-and-coming Canadian comics Kathleen McGee and
Jack Dani
to open for
Russell Peters
on upcoming tour
TORONTO
,
Dec. 22
/CNW/ - SIRIUS
Canada
, the country's leading satellite radio company, and Canadian comedy superstar
Russell Peters
today announced the winners of its national comedy talent hunt - The SIRIUS Satellite Radio and
Russell Peters
' Search for Canada's BFF (Best Funny Five).
Thousands of Canadians visited the site to vote for their favourite video from among the hundreds submitted. In the end, 10 Canadian comics were selected as BFF finalists to compete for the chance to take the stage with international comic sensation
Russell Peters
. Peters handpicked Edmonton's Kathleen McGee from among the top 10 to share the spotlight and warm up the audience on his upcoming tour with her best five-minute comedy set.
"I watched all the entries - not just the top 10," said
Russell Peters
. "I wanted to make sure that I found someone who made me laugh, and Kathleen made me laugh."
"I'm very grateful to both
Russell Peters
and SIRIUS
Canada
for giving me this opportunity to show Canadians what I'm all about," said Kathleen McGee. "This is such a huge step for me! Hopefully one day I will headline my own first big national tour, I can only hope I'll be as gracious as Russell and always remember my comedy roots. For Russell to say that I'm funny means a lot to me!"
In addition, Russell made a wildcard draw and selected Toronto's
Jack Dani
as a secondary winner. Dani will also appear onstage with Peters at a tour stop.
"Choosing Jack as a wild card wasn't planned, but here again, he just made me laugh," continued Peters. "I like to think that I'm sharing something new and funny with my fans when I have someone open for me - it's like me saying, 'hey I like this person and I think you will too'."
"I was shocked to find out that I was selected as a wild card entry, and very honoured when I was told that Russell himself selected me out of the crowd," said
Jack Dani
. "Contests like these offer such great exposure for a comic like me and I'm thankful to both
Russell Peters
and SIRIUS for supporting the Canadian comedy scene and allowing me to unleash my humour on the unsuspecting masses."
Launched in October and promoted on CTV's The Comedy Network and online the contest set out to discover the Canadian with the funniest five-minute comedy set. Contestants were invited to upload a video of their best 5-minute set to www.sirius.ca and www.russellpetersbff.com. Website visitors voted for their top pick and
Russell Peters
selected the final winner from among the top 10.
Kathleen McGee and
Jack Dani
will have an opportunity to share the spotlight with Peters and perform a set live in front of a packed audience at one of
Russell Peters
' tour stops.
"We would like to congratulate Kathleen McGee,
Jack Dani
and all the Canadians who created videos and entered the contest for their efforts," said
Paul Cunningham
, Vice President, Marketing and Sales, SIRIUS
Canada
Inc. "The originality and quality of the entries really proves that Canada's reputation as a source of comedic talent is much deserved. SIRIUS
Canada
is committed to supporting up and coming talent both on and off the airwaves and offering comedy lovers a wide variety of programming from family friendly to unfiltered standup from some of the biggest names in the business."
Kathleen McGee, now living in
Toronto
, prides herself on her ability to make her audience laugh and blush all at the same time. She has appeared on BiteTV and toured all over
Canada
.
Jack Dani
is a Scarborough, Ontario native with a physically animated personality whose act tends to contain clever story-telling, impressions, impersonations and songs. He has hosted "The Bad Boyz of Comedy" show at the The
Toronto
Centre for the Arts, and was featured on a CBC documentary entitled, "Who Wants to Be a Comic?"
Russell Peters
Biography
With his signature irreverent take on race, culture and all of our so-called differences, Peters has been packing theatres, arenas and clubs worldwide for two decades. His televised specials and DVDs are chart-toppers throughout the world and he was recently ranked by Forbes -- along with Jerry Seinfeld and
Chris Rock
-- as one of the top ten highest grossing stand-up comics in the U.S. Peters is one of only a handful of comics to sell out Madison Square Garden in its long and storied history. To read Russell's full bio visit www.russellpeters.com.
About SIRIUS
Canada
SIRIUS is Canada's number one choice for satellite radio with 120 full-time channels broadcast from studios in
Vancouver
,
Toronto
,
Montreal
and New York. SIRIUS offers 100% commercial-free music plus premium sports, news, talk and entertainment programming from North America's most recognizable and respected personalities and brands. SIRIUS offers listeners unparalleled coast-to-coast signal coverage and digital quality sound broadcast from four high-orbit satellites.
SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the CFL, NFL, NASCAR and NLL and broadcasts live play-by-play games of the CFL, NFL and NLL. SIRIUS is also the exclusive satellite radio home of CBC's Hockey Night in
Canada
Radio. In addition, SIRIUS broadcasts live NASCAR races as well as Barclays English Premier League and UEFA Champions League soccer.
SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 3,500 retail locations, including Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Centre Hi-Fi, Costco, Dumoulin, Future Shop, Home Hardware,
London
Drugs, Staples, The Source, Visions, Wal-Mart and 2001 Audio Video. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only
$14.99
.
SIRIUS Canada's automotive partners include Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda,
Mercedes Benz
, MINI, Mitsubishi, Pana-Pacific, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). SIRIUS automotive partners make up nearly 60 per cent of light vehicle sales in
Canada
.
For more information visit: www.sirius.ca
For further information: Media Contact: Jeff Roman, SIRIUS Canada, (416) 513-7434, [email protected]
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