Comedian Pete Zedlacher, who鈥檚 toured with Snowed In Comedy Tour for 10 years, is looking forward to smooth sailing for the festival after a couple of years of mayhem.

Hurdles included having to perform in two venues pretty much simultaneously in Victoria in 2022 due to reduced capacity of theatres. (Half the cast performed in one venue, then switched to the other right after their sets).

鈥淜nock on wood, I just jinxed it right there. Something will always come up, like we鈥檝e had water main breaks at one of the venues, and we had to postpone one year. It happens when we have 70 shows across Canada, something is going to happen.鈥�

Trials make for quirky stories and are all part of the package of a tour that gets 鈥渂igger and more exciting every year,鈥� Zedlacher said.

Hitting Vancouver Island next week with shows in six different communities, the independent comedy tour is a Canadian success story, started by Dan Quinn as a way to pay rent while snowboarding with his friends. It鈥檚 since expanded to be performed in Australia, the U.S., France, and Switzerland.

鈥淚 think most importantly for a standup comic is to go out and live an interesting life and experience things and then come back and report to Canada what鈥檚 going on out there,鈥� Zedlacher said.

A lot has been going on in the core cast鈥檚 lives this past year. Just for Laughs winner and tour founder Dan Quinn recently got married, Paul Myrehaug and six-time Canadian Comedian of the Year nominee lived in Europe half the year, and Zedlacher, who has been nominated five times for Comedian of the Year, said he worked a lot in the United States this past year. Erica Sigurdson, a regular on CBC鈥檚 The Debaters, will also join the ranks. All their experiences contribute to a show that has a little something for everyone while finding the funny in Canada, said Zedlacher.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a Canadian tour, we鈥檙e all proud Canadians,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e Canada鈥檚 biggest and best comedy tour, we鈥檝e been saying that for a few years and we haven鈥檛 gotten any pushback on that so we think that stands,鈥� he said with a laugh.

Considering how much of Canada Zedlacher has seen, it鈥檚 special that he said Victoria stands out to him. He said the Royal Theatre, where their show will be hosted in Victoria, is the tour鈥檚 鈥渃rown jewel鈥� and the first time he played there was at the Just for Laughs Tour 15 years ago.

鈥淚 remember being on that stage and going, 鈥極h if I could play this theatre all the time, this would be a dream come true.鈥� And shortly after that I started with the Snowed In Comedy Tour and we do it every year now, so dreams do come true.鈥�

鈥淚 like to walk behind the curtain and hear the rumbles from the audience, knowing that behind there are 1,400 people waiting. That always puts me in the right frame of mind.鈥� Even 27 years into comedy, it still makes him nervous but, he knows if he鈥檚 鈥渘ot nervous before a show, it鈥檚 not going to be great.鈥�

鈥淚 look forward to it all year long, like literally,鈥� Zedlacher said, speaking to the tour as a whole. 鈥淲e work hard all year long to get that brand-new set.鈥�

Snowed In Comedy Tour comes to the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Visitsnowedincomedytour.com/tour for ticket infoemation.