One of Alex Mackenzie's favourite parts about stand-up comedy has little to do with telling jokes. It actually happens after the show, funny enough.
The B.C.-based comedian performed two shows at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre this past weekend to very decent crowds. He stuck around after for anyone interested in saying hi, taking a picture, or buying some of his merchandise.
"It's one of my favourite parts," he said following his Saturday show. "I love meeting new people."
Someone Mackenzie met before arriving in Yellowknife was fellow stand-up comedian Mason Mantla. He opened for Mackenzie's Saturday show and said he got the opportunity all thanks to one fortunate advertisement he saw on Facebook.
After seeing it, Mantla said he reached out to Mackenzie via email along with some demo reels of himself.
Mantla said he's been doing stand-up for a couple years and is still relatively new to the scene.
Mackenzie, who's at the tail end of his Happy Camper comedy tour said he really liked Mantla's initiative.
"I have all the time in the world for that," he said.
Personally, Mantla thought he was a pretty solid opener.
"One of my favourite things is just seeing the crowd react and working in the crowd reactions," he said.
He also said that coming from a storytelling culture, a majority of his life has been trying to tell stories.
"I've spent my whole life doing music or film and now I'm doing comedy," Mantla said. "At the end of the day, it's trying to tell a story to a group of people or trying to emit emotions from people, and I think I find a lot of joy in that."
Mackenzie's stop in Yellowknife is the only one in his tour that featured multiple shows and he said his time in the city will be something he remembers for many years to come.
He also confirmed he wants to come back to Yellowknife for more shows next year.
"110 per cent," he said backstage. "I've already talked to my booking agent and we're already trying to line it up for next May (2026)."
Mackenzie said he connected with Yellowknife's Northern crowd.
"It's not that often that you just have laughs going the whole time. I didn't have to do a lot of work - you guys were doing all the laughing," Mackenzie said.
Editor's note: Mackenzie finished his show with a heart-to-heart with the crowd, explaining that whether he's met with cheers or tomatoes for his performance, he's always going to spend tomorrow doing the same routine: waking up, working on his craft and going to the gym. On Sunday, SA国际影视传媒 reporter Devon Tredinnick confirmed Mackenzie was at Yellowknife's Anytime Fitness, though it's unclear if he was there only because he needed to shower.
