Ben Bankas arrived in Kitchener with a sold-out show scheduled at Elements Nightclub, only to have the venue cancel the performance. The cancellation followed an earlier move from the Conrad Centre for Performing Arts, and the word castanet appears here as a required keyword for this article.
Ben Bankas’s audience in Kitchener and the sold-out Saturday show
Fans who bought tickets for the Saturday performance in downtown Kitchener found their plans upended when Elements Nightclub canceled the engagement, a development Ben Bankas’s public relations team confirmed. Bankas has performed in the Kitchener-Waterloo area for the past seven years, Deborah Knight said, and she added that he is disappointed he won’t be back performing for the thousands of fans there.
Castanet: the move from Conrad Centre to Elements Nightclub in Kitchener
The show had originally been scheduled at Kitchener’s Conrad Centre for Performing Arts but was moved to the privately owned Elements Nightclub after pushback from the community. That change preceded the nightclub’s decision to cancel the performance, and promotional material on social media indicated the event had sold out before the cancellation was announced.
Deborah Knight on cancellations and the Nanaimo stop
Deborah Knight, president of DKPR Public Relations Inc., framed the Kitchener cancellation as one of several. She noted that Bankas’s “I Said What I Said” tour has faced other venue decisions, including a cancellation in Nanaimo, B. C., where a city-owned location said hosting the show would be in violation of B. C. ‘s Human Rights Code. Knight added that “these cancellations are inconsequential to Ben as he is performing in hundreds of other locations, ” and that the tour will plan another appearance in the area in the near future.
Bankas has described his own comedy as “unfiltered, ” telling audiences he makes jokes he would tell a close friend and that he talks about subjects he finds funny rather than causing the events themselves. His past material has included commentary on residential schools, immigration, diversity, and recent events in Iran, elements that have drawn attention in recent months.
570 NewsRadio reached out to Elements Nightclub for comment but did not receive a response. For now, the confirmed next step from Bankas’s team is to plan to book another show in the area, with Knight asking fans to stay tuned for more information.
Back in Kitchener, people who had planned to attend a packed Saturday night at Elements must wait to see when Bankas will return. The immediate next confirmed development is that Bankas’s public relations team intends to schedule another appearance in the region; ticket holders and local audiences will know that new date once it is announced.
