V360HQ · Big Laugh Boutique

Sean Collins — Ontario Routing

Internal working report. Enter the passphrase.

V360HQ · Big Laugh Boutique

Good To Be Here — Ontario Spring 2027

Shows, venues and routing built around the confirmed Peterborough anchor (Sat 27 Mar 2027). Every venue verified operating 2025–26 and sourced. The model throughout is self-promoted hall-hire / co-promote (we hire the room, we keep the door) — the same shape as the Peterborough deal.

Maggie · BLB · 15 Sep 2026 · v1 · research: 2 sweeps (comedy clubs + rentable theatres/routing)

01

The confirmed spine

Sean's three dates land as a clean consecutive Thu–Fri–Sat in 2027 (the "Wed 25 / Thu 26" I first noted was a weekday slip — the dates 25/26/27 are Sean's, and in 2027 those fall Thu/Fri/Sat). No gap day between them.

Thu 25 Mar
Toronto

Sean rescheduling the old Toronto show to this. Venue TBC — Comedy Bar (rentable, books international acts) is the one Toronto club open to a one-off; Yuk Yuk's Toronto (~280) is club-booked via head office.

Fri 26 Mar
Niagara Falls

Sean hoping to land it. ⚠️ The old Falls Ave Yuk Yuk's is CLOSED — the live options are the Fallsview club (Wyndham Grand) or Greg Frewin Theatre (~550, whole-venue hire). ~1h30 from Toronto.

Sat 27 Mar · ANCHOR
Peterborough

The Venue, 286 George St N (~900). Four-wall CA$1,500 (Al holds), venue keeps bar, we co-promote, door 75/25 to us. Confirmed.

02

Three regions — not one run

Straight answer to "where does this sit vs Neptune, and is Arjun near it?" — these are three separate trips, thousands of km apart. Only the Ontario cluster is drivable.

This runOntario — EAST

Peterborough + the Golden Horseshoe + Eastern Ontario to Ottawa. All drivable, legs mostly ≤2h. Late March 2027. This report.

ParkedNeptune — HALIFAX

Neptune Theatre is in Halifax, Nova Scotia — the Maritimes. ~1,750 km / ~18h drive east of Peterborough, or a ~2h flight. Not routable with Ontario — a separate fly-in leg. No reply from them → parked; only returns as a deliberate Maritimes add-on.

Separate swingArjun — the WEST

Arjun is Yuk Yuk's Western Canada (Calgary / Vancouver / BC) — ~3,400+ km west, a flight away. He is not working this area. His is the distinct spring-WEST swing (Sean clear last wk Apr → May). Chase staged separately.

03

Two booking models — the strategic split

The run divides cleanly, and it decides who controls the date, the money and the customer data.

Theatres / arts centres — FOUR-WALL (our model)

Rent the room, promote the show, keep the net door — same as Peterborough. This is the fit for single dates around the cluster. Independent rooms (The Venue, Empire Belleville, The Zoetic + The Westdale Hamilton, Greg Frewin, Capitol Port Hope) are the most flexible on co-promote/door terms and on keeping our own ticketing + data. Municipal PACs (Kingston Grand, Meridian Ottawa, River Run Guelph, Burlington PAC, Regent Oshawa, St Catharines PAC, Orillia) are flat room-hire + mandatory in-house tech/box-office — we keep the door but some (Regent Oshawa, Barrie's City rooms) force in-house ticketing (we lose the data). ⭐ The Westdale is the standout for keeping our own ticketing.

Comedy-club chains — HOUSE-BOOKED

Yuk Yuk's & Absolute book through head office (Yuk Yuk's = its in-house agency Funny Business Talent). Not a rental — the club sets the deal (guarantee or door split), usually a Thu–Sat weekend run, not a single night. Route through the agency, not the room.

Casinos — BUYOUT only

Casino Rama (Orillia ~5,000), Fallsview — talent-buyer / fee-offer model, large scale. Only via a promoter/agent buy, not a rental. Out of scope for a self-promoted run.

04

East corridor — Peterborough → Ottawa

The natural eastward run off the anchor. Legs of ~1–2h; Ottawa is the far-east end-cap (route via Kingston, never a mid-run return).

VenueCity~CapModelContact
The Venue ⭐ ANCHORPeterborough~900Four-wall (held)705-876-0008
Showplace Performance CentrePeterborough622Rentalboxoffice@showplace.org · 705-742-7469
Market HallPeterborough350Rentalmarkethall.org (overlaps anchor market — fallback only, not a 2nd Ptbo date)
FLATO Academy TheatreLindsay542Rental (confirm 4-wall)manager@academytheatre.ca · 705-324-9111
Capitol TheatrePort Hope380Rental (rate card)905-885-1071
Concert Hall, Victoria HallCobourg~500+Rental ~$1,331/day wkndconcerthall@cobourg.ca · 905-372-2210
The Empire TheatreBelleville700Rental (flexible)boxoffice@theempiretheatre.com · 613-969-0099
Kingston Grand TheatreKingston776Rental ⚠️ books earlyjedwards@cityofkingston.ca · 613-546-4291 x1139
Brockville Arts CentreBrockville700Rental (rates+bar)bacbookings@brockville.com
Aultsville TheatreCornwall680Rentalbrittney@aultsvilletheatre.com
Meridian @ CentrepointeOttawa954Rental (municipal)613-580-2424 x41553
Algonquin Commons TheatreOttawa700–835Rentalalgonquinsa.com
Yuk Yuk's / AbsoluteOttawaclubHouse-bookedhead office / absolutecomedy.ca
05

Central — Durham & Simcoe (the hinge + northern spur)

VenueCity~CapModelNote
Yuk Yuk's OshawaOshawaclubHouse-booked~1h from both TO & Ptbo — natural cluster date
Regent TheatreOshawa605Rental $2,750 wknd⚠️ in-house box office mandatory (lose the data); keep net door
Georgian TheatreBarrie680Rental (City)northern spur off TO
Five Points TheatreBarrie120–200Rental (City)club-scale; Debra DiGiovanni plays here
Orillia Opera HouseOrillia677Rental (2026 rates)full service; ~30 min N of Barrie
Whitby Courthouse TheatreWhitby~160Rental (split)small fallback only

Barrie/Orillia are a northern spur off Toronto — they don't sit on a clean west→east line. Only worth a 2-date add before the Toronto cluster, accepting a small backtrack.

06

Southwest — Golden Horseshoe, KW, Guelph, Hamilton, London

VenueCity~CapModelNote
The Westdale ⭐Hamilton342Rental — own ticketingbest for keeping our data; staff ~$30/hr
The ZoeticHamilton~300Rental (books comedy)info@thezoetic.ca · 905-902-5683
Burlington PACBurlington718Rental (municipal)vaughn.davis@burlington.ca
River Run CentreGuelph785 / 225Rental (municipal)519-837-5662 · main hall or Co-op Hall
Guelph Concert TheatreGuelph1,000+Rental/promoterbooks touring stand-up (Steve-O)
Rusty Nail ComedyKitchenerclubClub nightWalper Hotel; books Canadian headliners
The Registry TheatreKitchener143Rental (self-serve)small; bring own crew
Sanderson CentreBrantford1,125Rental (city, 12-mo)over ceiling for a club headliner unless strong draw
Aeolian Hall / Wolf Perf. HallLondon312 / 369Rental~2h from TO — far-west start point
Yuk Yuk's LondonLondonclubHouse-bookedFri/Sat headliners via head office
Comedy Bar (Danforth/Bloor)Toronto~100–300Rental — books int'l actsthe one TO club open to a one-off
Yuk Yuk's TorontoToronto~280House-booked (flagship)Thu–Sat run via Funny Business agency
07

Niagara corridor

VenueCity~CapModelNote
Greg Frewin Theatre ⭐Niagara Falls~550Whole-venue hirebest self-promote fit for the Fri 26 date; in-house tech
Yuk Yuk's FallsviewNiagara FallsclubHouse-booked⚠️ Wyndham Grand room ACTIVE; old Falls Ave room CLOSED — confirm
NFCC Fallsview TheatreNiagara Falls1,028Rental (convention-priced)large; conference venue
FirstOntario PAC — Partridge HallSt Catharines770Rental (+ 300 & 210 rooms)905-688-0722 (Jennifer Hunt)
Showtime ComedySt CatharinesclubClub-bookedcap unpublished — confirm
08

Routing — drive matrix + two options

Shape: a WEST wing (Golden Horseshoe + southwest), an EAST wing (Cobourg → Ottawa), with Peterborough/Toronto/Durham the hinge. Ottawa is the far-east dead-end — end there, never return from it. The one baked-in long haul is Niagara → Peterborough (2h34), softened by a Durham date on the way.

Key legDistTime
Toronto ↔ Peterborough137 km1h35
Toronto → Niagara Falls126 km1h30
Niagara Falls → Peterborough261 km2h34 ⚠️
Peterborough → Belleville~90 km1h10
Belleville → Kingston82 km1h03
Kingston → Ottawa195 km1h53
Peterborough → Ottawa (direct)272 km3h13
Toronto → Hamilton69 km1h04
Toronto → Kitchener / Guelph~100 km1h15
Toronto → London190 km2h02
Toronto → Barrie → Orillia92 / +40 km1h08 / +30m

Option A — full sweep (~11 dates, one W→E line)

London → KW → Guelph → Hamilton/Burlington → [Toronto Thu 25 · Niagara Fri 26] → Oshawa (breaks the haul) → Peterborough Sat 27 → Belleville → Kingston → Ottawa. Near-zero backtracking; you travel west-to-east once. Add Brockville/Cornwall between Kingston and Ottawa to push to 12–13.

Option B — tight core (~7–8 dates, recommended)

[Toronto Thu 25 · Niagara Fri 26 · (+Hamilton)]Peterborough Sat 27 → Belleville → Kingston → Ottawa. One western cluster, then a straight eastern run with every leg ≤2h. Guarantees the anchor cluster lands clean. Add St Catharines (770) + Oshawa (605) to reach ~9 without breaking the line.

09

Money & admin — per model

  • Four-wall / co-promote (our model): as Peterborough — hire the room, keep the net door, split with any local promoter. Independent rooms flex on terms; municipal PACs are flat hire + mandatory in-house tech/box office.
  • Ticketing + data: ⭐ independent rooms (Westdale, Empire, Zoetic, Greg Frewin, Capitol) let us run our own ticketing and keep the customer list. Regent Oshawa and Barrie's City rooms force in-house box office — we lose the data there. Factor that against using them.
  • Every municipal room needs: a $2M public-liability certificate and SOCAN / Re:Sound music clearance — standard, budget for it.
  • Club chains (Yuk Yuk's / Absolute): not a rental — the club sets a guarantee or door split via head office, usually a Thu–Sat run. Different economics; route via the agency.
  • Kingston Grand books early (resident-company priority Sep–Jun) — lock the slot well ahead or use a Kingston alternative.
  • Cambridge is a hole — no reliable rental house; serve it from Kitchener/Guelph.
10

Flags & next actions

Confirm with Sean

Toronto (Thu 25) room — his own contact or ours? Niagara (Fri 26) — which room (Fallsview club vs Greg Frewin)? These two firm the cluster.

Pick the shape

Option A (volume, southwest coverage) or Option B (tight, clean anchor). B is my steer — it guarantees the cluster and keeps every leg short.

Then approach

On JR's word, approach the shortlisted rooms per chosen route — ask room/date/hire terms (ask, don't tell). Independent rooms first (keep our data).

Watch

Niagara Falls Ave Yuk Yuk's is closed — don't route to it. Kingston Grand + Sanderson book far ahead. Ottawa = endpoint only.