Comedy night had ‘em rolling in the aisles

Lorraine Deynaka enjoyed herself with Harold Preuss, becoming his hands and arms during his improv act.

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

Political correctness goes out the window and the laughs keep coming when Harold Preuss and Daryl Makk hit the stage. These comedians held a performance in the Elks Hall Nov. 15 for an adults-only audience. Preuss opened the evening with jokes about lesbians, Green Peace, drug dealers, fat people, Hutterites and Newfies. He also joked about makeover television shows, his fantasy with breast size and men wearing “Ukrainian brassieres.” He even picked on married couples, including those with children. Occasionally, audience members threw some jokes or comments his way and he responded in kind, making the audience laugh even more. Towards the end of his performance, Preuss invited Lorraine Deynaka on stage for some improv comedy. She stood behind him and acted as his hands and arms while he sang or joked with the audience. Cheers and applause marked his exit from the stage. Makk started his act by complaining about winter driving in High Prairie and taking shots at the “Wal-Mart greeter” jobs being created for the Canadian economy. It’s also his opinion school boards don’t flunk students because McDonald’s needs new fry cooks. Also, it isn’t called failure, but “deferred success.” Makk also gave his outlook on relationships. For instance, he doesn’t have a girl his age because she looks it. He also says men have to calculate how much make-up women will shed in the morning. “You can have cloven hooves or flippers, we don’t care,” he says. Makk goes to towns with populations under 1,000 and dates the women to ruin them for all the local men. He has qualms about political correctness, commenting Eskimos are now called “winter camping folks” and people with broken arms don’t wear slings but “arm immobilizers”. He hates cats and calls them Satan’s little beasts. “It’s the only animal that comes with a drug habit, catnip,” Makk complains. Applause and cheer greeted him, too, as he left the stage. Both comedians discussed their careers with South Peace News. Preuss worked in improv in Calgary and his act grew from there. “I like seeing people happy, it’s good for them,” Preuss says. “It’s just like being a salesman, except you’re selling jokes.” He’s been doing stand-up comedy for 20 years and has taken his act across Canada and to Australia. He likes working the small communities because the audiences don’t know him and the type of material he has. Makk has been doing comedy since February 1993 and he runs a show called Comedy Detour in Calgary. For him, comedy is a way to make people escape their troubles. “Making people laugh and forget about the stresses of life is the best medicine,” he says. “Everybody likes to laugh. If they don’t, then those are the people I talk about.” Makk was the class clown in school and even made the bullies laugh, so he made it into a career. He has taken his act across Canada, the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia and has performed on cruise ships too. He says Canada produces the best comedians, they just aren’t well known. This event was a fundraiser for the High Prairie Legionnaires hockey team. Makk and Preuss are part of the Puck ‘N’ Funny comedy troupe that holds fundraisers across Canada. A silent auction for a jersey, framed hockey photos and calendars with key holders was held following the performances. There were several raffles too and members of the Elks Lodge ran the bar. “The Elks support is great, we really appreciate it,” says Coach Arlen Quartly, adding the proceeds from this event will go towards the team’s tournament fees and travel costs.

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