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Famous for high-end comedy and 50-flavours-of-wings nights, Hecklers is flying high after 17 years in the business.
“We’re known for our professional comedy night on Saturdays and our wings nights with 50 flavours on Sundays and Wednesdays,” says co-owner Aaron McGeough, who runs Hecklers with partner Derek Tusche, and silent partner Colin Lefebvre in Lloydminster.
“Sticking at it every day and trying to get a little bit better every day, every week, every month, every year is key,” McGeough says. “We’re then a neighbourhood pub the other days of the week, with lots of locals and regulars from the area.”
I witnessed Saturday night comedy with Chicago’s Kevin Bozeman headlining and enjoyed a feast of comedic talent. Known locally and nationally for comedy, Hecklers attracts comedians from all over the world, including those who have appeared on The Tonight Show.
“We’ve just built relationships with comedians over time and they get better and we get better,” McGeough says.
“We’re lucky to get the best comedians in the country, for sure. And because there’s no Yuk Yuks in town here, we get our pick of the Yuk Yuks and independent litter.”
“The headliner will do 45 minutes, the middle guy 20-25 and the host 10 minutes off the top. We also sneak in a 5-6-minute guest spot,” McGeough says.
Beyond comedy, McGeough says Hecklers, which also has music bingo and trivia nights during the week, stands out with its focus on excellent service and execution.
“We also try to be friendly and on time consistently. And we offer pretty reasonable pricing. We’re a place you can go when you’re coming after work or for your 40th birthday party. So we cater to all sorts of people.”
“We’ve just built relationships with comedians over time and they get better and we get better,”
McGeough, now 42, was just 25 when he and his partners bought Fat Tuesdays and turned it into Hecklers in 2007. He said it wasn’t their intention to have a comedy bar at the outset.
“We started more as a sports bar, then tried live music and comedy to expand our range. The comedy just kind of took off.”
While today, you can see a variety of different comedy shows in Victoria, back then Hecklers was the only bar doing it.
“Plus Victoria’s a nice place to visit. So it’s not like we’re convincing comedians to go to Fort McMurray. We get lots of guys in from Seattle and people in from LA and New York and all over Canada, and it really is an excellent product for basically the price of a movie.”
In the beginning, McGeough was doing a bit of everything until they got some traction.
“We started out pretty young and didn’t start with a lot of money. So I was bartending and serving and closing and cooking and whatever needed to be done. And as you get a bit busier you have a bit more time and you hire a few more people. It’s like the first time you plan a Superbowl party, there’s a lot more work than the 15th time.
“So that’s just been the plan. Try and be better next Saturday than we were this Saturday. And do that for ever and ever. People know that I used to get in a cab and ask for Hecklers and they’d say ‘Where is that?’ And now people just know.”
Tusche was approached about running Fat Tuesdays and got the opinion of his then work colleague at Moxie’s, McGeough. Enchanted by the new flat-screen TVs, the pair looked into buying the place – four weeks later owned a pub.
“I was young and we didn’t know what we were doing as owners. We’d both been general managers of pubs before. So there were a lot of details and hard lessons we learned over the years. And then, somewhere around year seven, things started to get easier.
“Now, today, I’m lucky that I have young kids now and I didn’t have them back then. We opened in late October of 2007 and in 2008 I think Derek and I worked every day, no exceptions. There wasn’t money for a bunch of staff – and we weren’t that busy. So we had four or five people working here and now we have like 35. It’s a different world than back then.
“But it’s nice to get here. And it was mostly just sheer determination and luck. The right timing and a lot of things going our way. We found comedy at the right time – and deciding to do 50 flavours of wings was big,” McGeough recalls.
“Plus we’ve had a lot of great staff over the years. We have probably 15 people who’ve been here longer than the pandemic. A lot of really good servers and bartenders and cooks/chefs. We’ve built a really good team. And time has been the key. It’s a well-oiled machine now, but it took a lot of tinkering and a lot of time.”
Manager Carolann Young has been instrumental in developing the Hecklers cocktail menu. I sampled the Cellar Sour on her recommendation. And it slipped down smoothly – a very tasty blend of Lot 40 rye, Creme de Cassis, blueberry bitters, egg white and simple syrup.
On the food menu there’s every kind of chicken wing, from hot & special sauces and barbecue sauces to dry rubs, plus an extensive range of starters, salads, burgers, sandwiches and main courses. I sampled the sublime Slow-roasted Beef Dip Sandwich, featuring roasted beef, horseradish mayo, onion rings, Swiss cheese, au jus dip, fries and Caesar Salad.
“We’re affordable,” says McGeough. “Our burger’s not $24 (they start at $13.99). You can get a beer, a daily lager for under $6 ($5.50). Meanwhile, wings on Sundays are $8 and will only go up to $9 next year.”
Also looking ahead, “we’ll make minor changes, and we have new managers, so it will always be evolving. But we’ll also keep doing what works so well,” McGeough adds.
“It starts with being the kind of place that Derek and I would like to go to and then working back from there. And we’re definitely now a place we’d like to go to.”
Hecklers
123 Gorge Rd. East, Victoria
250-381-1312
hecklers.ca
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