Editor’s note: This is a story about adult humour and contains moments of (immature) adult content.
Dale Ehrstien has made the transition from jackass to smartass.
The Smithers native once known for doing antics inspired by the extreme stunt franchise Jackass will now be opening for Sam Tarasco and Tyrone Parsons who play Sam Losco and “T” on the television series Trailer Park Boys when they come to Prince George.
“I kind of just grew out of the stunt scene,” Ehrstien said. “I don’t want to hurt myself anymore; I just want to tell jokes.”
Ehrstien only started doing stand-up seven months ago.
He entered his first amateur comedian competition at Sonar Comedy and NightClub in Prince George in January against 16 other comedians and placed third.
“I didn’t really have enough material,” Ehrstien said. “You’re supposed to go five minutes but I went about three. I just started saying random jokes at the end. It ended up being really funny”
While he didn’t win the competition he did earn a weekly gig at the club as a result of his performance.
Ehrstien entered another competition in April where the winner would open for Brent Butt from the television series Corner Gas when he comes to Prince George and placed second.
Third time was the charm for Ehrstien as he won the next competition he entered two weeks ago. The winner gets to open for the Tarasci and Parsons when they perform at Sonar on July 13 and 14.
“It’s pretty big,” Ehrstien said. “I remember watching them when I was kid before the show was even popular. I was watching them on Showcase with my dad.”
Ehrstien moved to Prince George in 2010 to become a bartender but that didn’t work out so he tried to get into carpentry, which wasn’t a good fit either. Eventually he got a job as a mechanic, which he still does during the day.
On Friday and Saturday evenings he does a couple five-minute sets at Sonar.
While performing the past couple of months he’s gotten a chance to meet and learn from some veterans of the comedy scene. The best tips Ehrstien said he’s gotten is to hone your style, which for him is “dark and gross,” and to know your audience.
While performing for a group of mostly older women, Ehrstien made a joke about porn on the internet that was met with silence. When he made that same joke with a younger audience they erupted into a fit of laughter.
“That’s why I do it, for the feeling of ‘wow, all these people are laughing at some stupid joke I wrote in my basement on Tuesday about my penis,’ ” Ehrstien said.
The Smithers comedian plans on doing more shows and entering more competitions.
The next competition will be dear to his heart as the winner might get to open for Jackass star Steve-O when he comes to Prince George.
“That would be huge.” Ehrstien said.
