Comedy news: Snowed in Comedy blog: Peach Riots in Penticton

Hello again! Well we've said goodbye to cloudy Whistler as the comedy tour moved deeper into the Rockies and we make our way across from Vancouver to Calgary. On Wednesday the quartet played the town of Penticton where Craig Campbell spent some of his youth.

Despite the fact that Penticton is set amid semi-desert, the town comes across as one of those places which can allow you to entertain the notion of packing up and living the ex-pat life - well at least briefly.

The town is set in a bowl between the mountains and due to the unique way the micro-climate works, Penticton is known as one of the hottest places in Canada. Summer temperatures can reach up to 38C and there is even a small wine industry based in the valley – which I am told produces an exceptional vintage.

Yet in the winter Penticton is also a short drive from the excellent skiing spot of Apex Alpine. Though small, Apex is perfectly formed, with enough to do to keep advanced skiers busy for at least a day, which is what we did, though as some of us found out, the runs that are blue aren't as easy as they seem (for reasons we're not sure we can explain)

Penticton, as Campbell told us, is also home of the Penticton Peach Riot. Food based civil unrest is pretty uncommon in any country but in Canada, mass riots are even rarer. So to have thousands of people taking to the streets – and rolling a giant peach stand into the town's lake was a massive event in the towns history.

Campbell, who witnessed the riot as a teenager added in a short skit during his live set that night about how he saw out the riot on the roof of a police patrol vehicle.

If anything, Campbell is the storyteller of the group. A lot of his set is based on life experiences and is rich in personal history. With this in mind, it has been interesting to see how comic's take ordinary stories and turn them into material and the reaction when those stories have resonance with the public they are performing to.

In theory, by talking about the riot Campbell managed to open up a wound in the collective consciousness of the audience, but the way he did this meant that instead of taking the Peach Riot story and making it into something serious, his retelling had more of a soothing effect, allowing the audience to laugh about an event which is, in theory, a dark moment in the towns history.

The tour has moved in to the shows in Kamloops and Prince George before arriving in Banff last night. More blogs and galleries up soon. Until then adios,

Tim