"Common thieves" rock the Canadian comedy boat

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on March 28th, 2008

From last Saturday’s Toronto Globe & Mail is an article about the lawsuits that are flying back and forth between Yuk Yuks founder Mark Breslin and the folks who own the two former Yuks clubs in the province of Alberta.

Chrysi Rubin and Bill Robinson, owners of the Calgary and Edmonton clubs that now operate under the Laugh Shop banner, have been sued, as has Judy Sims, the former head of the western offices of Funny Business (Breslin’s booking agency). Sims broke away from Breslin and Funny Business last year, taking some Yuks acts with her.

Breslin’s latest salvo, a memo that has been circulating by e-mail this winter, and addressed “to all comics,” outlines his attempt to bring a “diplomatic resolution” to the situation involving the owners of the Calgary and Edmonton clubs: Bill Robinson, and his successor, Chrysi Rubin. “As of now, Bill and his daughter Chrysi, acting like common thieves, have stolen our two clubs,” he wrote.

Breslin suggested that comics should “refuse to work” with the “rogue clubs,” urging loyalty to the Yuk Yuk’s brand. “We spent 20 years developing them out West, and I’m asking you to respect this,” he wrote.

The memo got under the skin of some comics, who saw it as a veiled threat to their Yuk Yuk’s livelihoods.

Robinson and Rubin saw it as “interference with economic relations” and filed a lawsuit of their own.

We suppose it’s up to a judge now.

We’ve worked in Canada sparingly over the past two decades– multiple times in Montreal at the Nest, once at a short-lived venue in Ottawa, once at a Yuks competitor in Toronto and once during a trip to the Calgary Fest. The country (and, by implication, Breslin’s Yuk Yuks chain and his Funny Business booking agency) is virtually impenetrable for most U.S. comics.

Disputes broke out in the 1980s when comedians complained they had to be booked through Funny Business, the talent agency set up by Breslin to service his clubs and touring shows. Comics complained that if they found gigs through other agencies, or performed at outside venues, they weren’t welcome at Yuk Yuk’s.

The federal Competition Bureau stepped in to investigate, and concluded in 1991 that Breslin’s empire controlled the supply of standup comedy and engaged in anti-competitive acts that could lessen the competition for standup-comedy services.

Breslin somehow claimed it a “clear victory for our system,” but promised to stop doing the things the comics groused about, and thereby avoided a full-blown hearing before the Competition Tribunal, which could have resulted in fines or seen his businesses broken up. The Laugh Shop’s lawsuit alleges that Yuk Yuk’s is not living up to its 1991 pledge.

The Competition Bureau? Sounds fierce!

But, if Breslin has gone back on the agreements struck with the Competition Bureau, we can’t imagine they would like that. We could witness the breakup of the chain, increased competition and maybe even higher wages. Stay tuned!