Ira Pettle, middle, with actors Dave Francis and Cedar Lynn Dobbin. (photo from Ira Pettle)
Laugh Out LIVE! will be hitting the road in the fall. On the list of cities and towns it will be visiting are Pemberton, Squamish, North Vancouver and Bowen Island, with classes on the North Shore coming this winter.
Known as a children’s entertainer for the last 25 years, Ira Pettle began producing Laugh Out LIVE! in December 2021 in Whistler with funny woman and partner, Rebecca Mason.
“Comedy has always been on my radar. Laughter is the best medicine and it lights me up to bring joy to others. Being raised on SNL, In Living Color, and a countless number of comedy films, TV shows, actors and the like, I feel like I’ve always known this was one of the paths for me,” Pettle recently told the Jewish Independent.
Currently, Laugh Out LIVE! brings stand-up, improv and sketch comedy shows to packed houses at various venues in Whistler, including the Maury Young Arts Centre, Rainbow Theatre, Whistler Conference Centre, Dusty’s Bar & BBQ, and the Garibaldi Lift Co. Bar & Grill (GLC). Pettle performs in all three shows.
The Marquee Variety Show is devoted to a mix of different comedic acts and can involve improv, sketch, musical comedy, film and parody. The Improv Battle pits teams against each other weekly “to claim unscripted victory,” and Stand-Up Standoff is a monthly competition where the best comics win $500 in prize money. There are also opportunities for writers, theatre technicians, stage managers and filmmakers on the show’s website.
Pettle began his improv and sketch career at the Second City Conservatory program in Toronto but was drawn to comedy from an early age.
“As a kid, I was always drawn to and fascinated by comedy. Watching The Carol Burnett Show, and SCTV (Second City Television) with John Candy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Rick Moranis … those were the most influential comedy shows for me as a young, aspiring performer,” said Pettle, who lists Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Adam Sandler and Bob Einstein as the Jewish comics he has been most influenced by.
Pettle has a master’s of education and has taught improv, acting and music to thousands of kids, teens and adults. In 2022, his debut children’s album, A Little Bit, co-written with Juno Award-winning singer/songwriter Norman Foote, was nominated for children’s artist of the year at the 2023 Western Canadian Music Awards. His next record is slated for release this winter.
Known as “DJ Ira” throughout the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, Pettle is a sought-after family entertainer. As a key player in the BC performing arts scene, he was named the 2019 Champion of Arts and Culture at the Whistler Excellence Awards, with another nomination at the 2023 awards.
“I discovered very early in my life that I was a performer,” he said. “An entertainer. I remember as a kid, the joy I felt bringing a smile to someone or soliciting a laugh. In those early days, it was my coming to the dinner table on all fours, pretending I was an ape, making my mom giggle, or going to the Blue Jays baseball game when I was 14 with my buddies and pretending to fall down the stadium stairs, getting 500 people sitting in the stands to simultaneously gasp.”
Today, when he’s not entertaining children or performing comedy, Pettle leads a number of improv, stand-up comedy, public speaking and presentation workshops. He uses improvisation as a tool to “release tension, awaken joy and return to the present moment.”
Many of the performers on his improv stage started out taking classes with him.
Pettle grew up in Toronto and says that learning about Judaism was a huge turning point in his life.
“Having been raised Reform, and being the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, I was always told how important my Jewish roots were,” he shared. “But, because my family’s religious practices were very surface level, I was confused and became deeply confronted by what I was told versus what I was doing in my daily life as a ‘Jew’ and, through a series of divine interventions, became committed, for the first time, to seeking out a deeper understanding of my Jewish roots.”
Pettle eventually found out about the yeshivah Ohr Somayach and studied with them in Israel.
“I felt ready (and passionately interested) in making a clear choice on whether to declare myself Jewish definitively and pursue/develop a more conscious connection to Judaism, or allow my Jewish roots to remain as is, or simply fall by the wayside/disappear. I needed to dive deep into the learning at the source.”
Pettle’s connection to Judaism was affirmed and, with a renewed and more solid understanding of his cultural roots and heritage, he remains, he said, “very honoured to be Jewish.”
To contact Pettle regarding his work as a kids entertainer, go to irapettle.com. For Laugh Out LIVE! inquiries, contact him via laughoutlive.com.
Cassandra (Cass) Freeman is a Vancouver improviser and journalist.