On March 23, American stand-up comedian, Trevor Wallace, brought his live comedy show “Are You That Guy?” to MacEwan University.

This is Wallace’s second time in Edmonton since performing at the 2022 Great Outdoors Festival. “I thought the (city) was cool,” he says. “It didn’t feel like Canada, like I felt like I was walking in downtown L.A., going to a 7-Eleven. It felt like I was at home. Nice, dangerous vibes.”

Wallace also performed at West Edmonton Mall before the pandemic, and the mall left a lasting impression on him. “It had a boat and a gun range. I was like, ‘You guys are more American than we are,’” he says.

Wallace decided to venture into stand-up comedy when he was 17, but he initially used comedy as a coping mechanism. “I would hang out with the cool kids, but I wasn’t a cool kid. Like, I was on the bench for the New York Knicks — good team, but they’re front and centre and I was on the bench,” he says.

“My other friends were buff and had muscles and played sports… but I didn’t have that. So, I tried to win people over with my charm and comedy. And I think I just kind of found myself reverting to that.”

He found that this particular viewpoint and brand of comedy resonates with audiences.

Wallace has been touring colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada, and he says he never quite knows what to expect. “Any comedy clubs are going to be set up kind of the same. (With) colleges… you never know what you’re going to get,” he says. Wallace has done shows in college auditoriums, classrooms, and even on an ice hockey rink. “They put the mats on the ice. I was in the middle (of the rink) and then there were people in the stands. That was a new experience for me,” he says.

His favourite part about performing at colleges is the sense of connection he is able to establish with the audience. “I connect with a lot of these people through the internet, just from TikTok, (and) it’s cool that people come out to these shows (from that online connection),” he adds.

For more information about Wallace, check out his website or social media.

Cover photo by SAMU.