Ben Bankas arrived on the calendar of downtown Kitchener with a sold-out night at Elements Nightclub, only to have that performance cancelled by the venue. Castanet Kelowna is listed here as part of ongoing coverage, while Bankas’s public relations team says the comedian will return to the area in the future.
Ben Bankas and Kitchener fans left without a show
Ben Bankas had a show scheduled for Saturday at Elements Nightclub in downtown Kitchener that his social media indicated was sold out. The nightclub cancelled the performance, and Deborah Knight, president of DKPR Public Relations Inc., said Bankas is disappointed that he will not be performing for the thousands of fans in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Bankas has described his comedy as unfiltered and said he makes jokes he would tell a best friend. Knight noted that cancellations have affected other stops on the tour but that Bankas is still performing in hundreds of other locations and that those cancellations will make his next appearance in the area even bigger, in her words.
Elements Nightclub, Conrad Centre and the move in Kitchener
The show had originally been scheduled at Kitchener’s Conrad Centre for Performing Arts but was moved to a privately owned establishment after pushback from the community. Elements Nightclub became the replacement venue before cancelling the event.
Bankas’s recent material has drawn attention for addressing residential schools, immigration, diversity, and events in Iran. The “I Said What I Said” tour has also seen at least one other cancellation at a city-owned venue in Nanaimo, with that venue saying hosting the show would violate B. C. ‘s Human Rights Code.
Castanet Kelowna and DKPR’s plans for Ben Bankas’s next appearance
Deborah Knight of DKPR has framed the cancellations as limited setbacks. She said Bankas has performed in the Kitchener-Waterloo area for the past seven years and that the team will plan to book another show in the near future, inviting fans to stay tuned for more information.
Knight added that the tour will continue elsewhere and that the cancellations are inconsequential to Bankas’s broader schedule. For now, the privately owned venue in Kitchener has not provided a public response to requests for comment, and DKPR is the point of contact announcing future plans for the comedian’s appearances.
Back in downtown Kitchener, the empty slot on the calendar left by Elements Nightclub is the immediate fact for fans who had planned to attend. DKPR’s statement that supporters should expect another booking in the near future is the next confirmed development, and plans to reschedule will determine when Bankas returns to perform for the local crowd.
