Hamilton comedian Justin Shaw brings PEI ‘tall tale’ back for one night

The 70 Mile Yard Sale, a funny, heartfelt solo show about family and Canada’s smallest province, returns after its debut at the Hamilton Fringe Festival two years ago.

For one night only this weekend, comedian Justin Shaw is bringing his solo show The 70 Mile Yard Sale back to Hamilton. It’s a happy homecoming for the show Shaw first presented at the 2022 Hamilton Fringe Festival and that originated out of a story he told in a Barton Street bar.

The show was inspired by a very real annual event in Prince Edward Island, called the 70 Mile Coastal Yard Sale, a hugely popular two-day event that sees the wares of hundreds of homeowners, churches, community centres and small businesses line the roads of the island’s eastern coast. Since 1998, the sale has been organized by the non-profit Wood Islands & Area Development Corporation, which hosts a barbecue and a charity raffle. 2022 was an auspicious year for the yard sale, as well as Shaw’s show, when the sale returned after a two-year hiatus during the height of the pandemic.

In a synopsis on Shaw’s website, the show is described as “a madcap journey across Prince Edward Island to retrieve a lost family heirloom. Equal parts funny and heartfelt, this tall tale is about family, friendship, and finding more than what you bargained for.” 

Elsewhere, it’s been called a “larger than life story about Canada’s smallest province.”

“I actually contextualize a lot of ‘PEI lore’ for audiences during the show, which is part of the fun,” he tells HCM. “It's a deeply specific Island 101 education from a very specific worldview.”

While Shaw hopes that audiences laugh and feel well entertained, he also hopes “they leave having a deeper sense of appreciation for small towns and communities.” The show itself became the catalyst for Shaw’s Bell Fibe TV1 series, Tales From Island Boy.

Shaw is a touring comedian with Yuk Yuks & can also be heard on Sirius XM. He has performed with Just For Laughs, appeared on Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out comedy show, and has a comedy album out titled Human Money. As a playwright, he has had his works produced by Feast Dinner Theatres.

Sunday night’s performance of The 70 Mile Yard Sale is part of a larger tour taking Shaw from Stratford and Hamilton to the Charlottetown Festival and an engagement next month in Calgary. As he puts it, “I'm being zipped around the country in a tour that makes zero geographical sense.”

The comedian and storyteller now calls Hamilton his home base and as he settled here as a transplant from the Island, he made a number of connections. “I became close friends with Matthew Surina through Hub of the Hammer and Matt Grande and Willow Watson through their time at Mosaic bar where I first shared this show in the 2022 Hamilton Fringe. Now the three of them work at The Staircase and they've been awesome enough to welcome me into their space to share my work.” 

Adding The Staircase to the tour list “was a no-brainer,” Shaw says.

Indeed, this past July, The Staircase was also Shaw’s venue as he performed at the Hamilton Fringe Festival again with Nook & Cranny: Twin Detectives, his show with Devin Bateson. Shaw says this year’s Fringe experience was a great one, and adds that “Devin Bateson is a wild comedian, a terrific collaborator, and even better friend. Our work and comedy styles really complement each other, and it was deeply satisfying to make something that was fun for the sake of fun. And audiences seemed to agree!”

“It's wild to think this show (The 70 Mile Yard Sale) began as a story I told at a bar on Barton Street, and now is programmed in major Canadian theatre festivals,” Shaw reflects. “I am very grateful for the support I've received from the Hamilton community as I hone my craft, and can't wait to share this story once again.” 

Asked what his own ultimate yard sale find would be, Shaw has a few thoughts. “Right now I'm hunting for B-52's ‘Cosmic Thing’ on vinyl, so if anyone reading this knows where I can find it for a fair price, please let me know,” he says. 

“I think finding a puppet or ventriloquist doll would be considered ‘ultimate’ because they say the best way to conquer your fears is to face them. I will not speak any further on the subject.”

NEED TO KNOW

The 70 Mile Yard Sale
Sunday, Sept. 8
8 p.m.
The Staircase
27 Dundurn St. N., Hamilton
Tickets: $20
Purchase online here
Find out more here