A fail-safe Calgary cure to the post-holiday blues continues to be the High Performance Rodeo, hosted annually by a variety of downtown venues and running this year from January 9th to February 1st.

Ed tie corper si. Alis dolor sendit am nulpute magna facipis duThe 2014 lineup includes a healthy melange of cabaret, comedy and celebration, from The Garter Girls & Peekaboo Pointe’s sensual burlesque to the Gob Squad’s film-as-it-happens screening.

But what may be the most affective show this year for members of the LGBTQT community is Club Carousel: A Cabaret Celebration of Calgary’s Gay History.

The city’s own Third Street Theatre is putting on the performance in partnership with the Calgary Gay History Project.

"We will be presenting a 50-minute cabaret performance from queer and allied artists in order to honour and celebrate the legacy of Club Carousel, one of the first queer spaces in Calgary," says Paul Welch, artistic director for Third Street. "Club Carousel began operations in 1968 when it was illegal to be a homosexual in Canada (decriminalization took place in 1969, thanks to Pierre Elliott Trudeau) and it was the dawn of the community as we know it today."

This was only one year after Everett George Klippert was arrested and charged with four counts of gross indecency and jailed for a second time after confessing to engaging in homosexual activities with four consenting adults in the Northwest Territories, where he had moved from Calgary after being released from jail on a similar charge.

It was 1967, the year Trudeau would aptly say, "Take this thing on homosexuality, I think the view we take here is that there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation..."

Three months into his second prison sentence the Crown proceeded in declaring Klippert "a dangerous sexual offender". A court-ordered psychiatrist deemed him "incurably homosexual" and his sentence was increased to a life term. He made appeals to both the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories and the Supreme Court of Canada. Both were dismissed.

Political outrage ensued, ultimately resulting in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which would decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.

Despite decriminalization in 1969 many law enforcers would continue to deem homosexuality as "horrible" and "vicious". Though Klippert would be the last man in Canada jailed for homosexuality, he would not be released until 1971.

A dozen performers will take part in this month’s commemorative show on Calgary’s gay history, including a drag queen, a drag king, as well as performers in musical theatre, spoken word and a musician/singer/song-writer.

"We will also be speaking about major historical events throughout the performance, to give audiences context to what was happening in Calgary, Canada, and the world pertaining to the LGBT community," Welch says.

The Cabaret will be followed by a panel of special guests, moderated by the Calgary Gay History Project head Kevin Allen.

Club Carousel will be performed on the same night as another queer favourite; Agokwe, by First Nations playwright/performer Waawaate Fobister.

Fobister will tackle several characters in this one-man show, which portrays the unrequited love between two boys from neighbouring reserves.

Fobister has been named a tour-de-force for his dynamic story telling capabilities in the Ojibwan heritage.

These shows will hit the stage on the eve of January 30th. If you purchase your tickets together, by phone or in person at the Epcor Centre Box Office, you can see both for $50.

Agokwe begins at 7:30pm at the Engineered Air Theatre while Club Carousel starts at 9:30pm at the Big Secret Theatre.