Two sold out shows for comedian Ben Bankas that were scheduled to take place at Elements Nightclub in Kitchener on Saturday night have been “cancelled by the venue.”

Spokesperson for DKPR Public Relations, Deborah Knight, confirmed to CBC News Thursday the comedian will not be coming to Kitchener and “unfortunately, fans will have to see the show elsewhere,” she said.

Bankas has received widespread criticism for a comedy routine he did in January, where he made jokes about the situation in Minnesota including that he said “good” when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother from Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Bankas is currently on tour and has had several shows, including six in Minnesota, cancelled after his comments. A show scheduled for Friday at The Venue in Peterborough was cancelled as well, according to the ticket selling website TicketWeb.

His Kitchener shows are still listed on his website as “sold out,” but they are not listed on his Facebook page under tour dates.

When CBC News reached out to Knight for a comment from Bankas on the Kitchener shows being cancelled, she said, “We are disappointed not be be performing for thousands of fans in the Kitchener area who have been coming to see his shows for the past seven years.”

She also sent a release from Bankas dated Feb. 19.

“Bankas’ digital footprint is exploding at an unprecedented rate,” the release said, adding he is gaining thousands of new followers on social media.

“I make jokes that I would tell my best friend,” Bankas said in the release. “It’s what I find funny. I’m not causing the awful things in the world. I just talk about them.”

CBC News reached out to Elements Nightclub for comment, but did not hear back.

Grassroots movement to cancel shows

Bankas’ shows were originally supposed to be held at the Kitchener-owned Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts, but the city confirmed last month that the shows had been moved to Elements Nightclub. The city didn’t say why the shows were moved.

There have been several grassroot movements to have his shows cancelled in Kitchener.

Posters put up at some Grand River Transit bus stops along King Street in downtown Kitchener asked people to scan a QR code, which would then send an email from the scanner’s account to Partytown, the group that own Elements Nightclub.

The email calls Element’s decision to host Bankas “shameful” and his jokes around Good’s death “extremely offensive and in poor taste” and added his comedy is also “openly hateful and disgusting rhetoric promoting among other things racism and homophobia.”

The email also calls for a boycott for other Partytown venues.

A demonstration outside of Elements Nightclub was planned for Saturday afternoon ahead of Bankas’ performance by Queer Youth Defence.

The Femme Folks Fest is set to kick off its seventh annual event with a comedy show in direct response to Bankas’ performance in Kitchener.

“We need to provide an alternative to let people know there are other ways to experience comedy an bring some joy and light and laughter and we came up with Just a Joke,” Amy Neufeld host of Just a Joke told CBC News Thursday, prior to the cancellation of Bankas’ show.

WATCH | Femme Folk Fest begins with comedy show in response to Ben Bankas :

Why this year’s Femme Folks Fest will start with Just A Joke

The seventh annual Femme Folks Fest begins this weekend ahead of International Women’s Day, celebrating music, theatre and comedy by women‑identified, femme‑presenting and non‑binary artists. The festival opens with the comedy show Just A Joke, described by organizers as a response to Toronto‑born comedian Ben Bankas performing in Kitchener on the same night. Bankas has faced criticism for jokes about the fatal ICE shooting of Renée Good in Minneapolis. CBC K‑W’s Diego Pizarro spoke with Lisa O’Connell, artistic director at Pat The Dog which is producing the festival, and Just A Joke host Amy Neufeld about the comedy show and its message.