Never let it be said the local clergy lack funny bones. At least four local ministers (there may have been more) turned out Oct. 30 as comedian Dan Licoppe, fresh off a stop in The Pas, performed in Thomson on the Investors Group Comedy Tour.

Licoppe continues on the Investors Group Comedy Tour with a show tomorrow night in Swan River before heading to Dauphin for a show Friday night. After that, he’ll be in Porcupine Plains, Sask. for a corporate show Nov. 28.

In the audience last Friday night here were United Church minister Rev. Leslie Elizabeth-King, the Salvation Army’s majors Grayling Crites and Jacqueline Crites, and Pastor Ted Goossen from the Mennonite Christian Centre Fellowship. That’s pretty close to constituting a quorum for a Thompson Christian Council meeting.

The big beneficiary for the $30-a-ticket evening at Letkemann Theatre, which also featured a wine-and-cheese reception beforehand, organized by local Investors Group consultants Rod MacLean and Rob Johnston, was the Manitoba/Nunavut Division of the Arthritis Society, which was presented with a cheque by them for $500.

Winnipeg-based Investors Group is one of the largest financial services companies in Canada. They have been in business for more than 80 years and manage $55 billion in mutual fund assets for more than a million clients.

Licoppe, Winnipeg native, bills himself as performing “clean, clever comedy for corporate events or club appearances,” which seemed pretty much true. His sex jokes (Cialis, trade name for the generic erectile dysfunction drug tadalafil, was a favourite) were told mainly in the context of marriage and while much of his material might have seemed risqué at one time (although never vulgar) by contemporary standards it’s pretty mild stuff for a largely adult audience.

Licoppe is a regular writer and contributor on CBC Radio; trains and coaches groups and individuals on public speaking and presentation skills; created and performed as NBC’s Last Comic Standing’s character performer “Mel Silverback” and teaches stand up comedy and improv acting classes.

He’s also performed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, appeared on CTV’s Open Mike with Mike Bullard, and CBC Radio’s Madly Off In All Directions and The Debaters.