I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my experiences as an amateur comic. However, as anyone who has tried stand-up knows, it can be a daunting exercise in constant humiliation. Who wants to chronicle that? Well, I'm throwing my hat in the ring.
I am 28 years old and I have recently started making the rounds in the stand-up comedy world in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I have wanted to be a stand-up comic since I realized it was a job. I remember watching Jim Carrey’s Molson Canadian special with my grandparents as a kid and they both laughed so hard they were both crying. I wanted to be so funny I made grown-ups weep too.
I got up on stage for the first time in 2003 - my freshman year of university. I was asked to host a culture show on campus and to "try to be funny". I had my moments and I was hooked. Unfortunately, I suffer from a genetic disorder called NF2, which includes bilateral acoustic neuromas (benign tumors on both hearing nerves). I lost my hearing completely a couple of months after the culture show. As a result, I lost all confidence to get back on stage and pursue comedy.
Despite losing my hearing over the summer, I returned to school in the fall and continued my undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario. Upon graduation in 2006, I went on to law school at Osgoode Hall at York University. I thought that with my disability, it would be best to get as much education as I could so people would take me seriously. I failed to take into account that I actually didn't want to be a lawyer. I loved telling people I was in law school, sure. I loved how proud my parents were and the shopping money from OSAP was amazing! But law school itself was a horrible experience where I felt like a huge phony the entire time.
After 7 years of university, 2 degrees and a lot of debt, I still couldn't kick the desire to do comedy. My parents pleaded with me to stick with the lawyer licensing process. So I did, and hated every minute of it. Also, I couldn't seem to get a firm to hire me. So I spent a year applying for articling positions and interviewing with different firms. I was rejected over and over and over. The rejection was due solely to my disability. This is a clear-cut case of discrimination. Yes, I am disgusted too! (Lol okay, probably not the reason I couldn't get a job, but it's very comforting to tell myself this).
To add insult to injury, I have been living in my parents' basement since graduation. Glamorous, I know.
All the while, I hadn't shut up about wanting to try comedy. Fortunately, my amazing boyfriend Stuart put his money where my mouth is. This past Christmas he bought me stand-up comedy classes at the Second City in Toronto, which ended with each student performing 5 minutes at the Absolute Comedy Club. A lot of people will say that you can't teach comedy; but I disagree. By creating an environment that allows wannabe comics to discuss their own material and try it out in front of a supporting group of classmates, is a learning curve in itself. I definitely got a lot of the class and would recommend it to anyone. My class was taught by comedian Evan Carter who is just an amazingly helpful and patient guy. He's also a very funny clean comic so check him out! It was great getting to talk through comedy as a profession and learn how to develop material with my fellow classmates. I found myself immersing all of my time and energy into my comedy fantasy and becoming more and more convinced that I could really do it.
My first show (the Second City student showcase on February 13, 2011), was all it took for me to bail on my half-hearted commitment to becoming a lawyer. My dad had made thinly-veiled threats about my living situation being conditional on my pursuit of my lawyer license. But I am an adult dammit. I do what I want, when I want and I'm not scared of my dad. I waited until he and my mom were out of town for a month and withdrew from the Law Society's licensing process. Take that Papa Cunningham! (He can't use a computer so I can be as independent as I want on this blog. It's so liberating!)
I hope that by being completely honest about the whole experience, I can show readers a side to comedy they likely don’t consider when they themselves watch comics perform. I would also love to see the blog become a forum for discussion for fellow amateur comics to share their experiences. I write about my own individual experience, which of course includes the obstacles my disability presents. For example, I point out where I feel my deafness helps and hinders my confidence on stage. But, I want the main theme of the blog to be my inexperience as a comic, not as a deaf comic.
I am including the video of my first show here. Thanks to my brother Shaun for thinking to film it with his iPhone, and to my boyfriend Stuart for captioning it for me (and of course other deaf viewers).
I felt amazing after my first show. Maybe because I had to drink 4 Coor's Light to get up beforehand, but also because I didn't completely bomb like I had anticipated. While on stage, I was mostly concerned with trying to speak clearly and to remember my material. The most difficult thing for me with performing, is that since I am deaf, I can't really feed off the crowd's reaction to my jokes. The stage lights are blinding so I am limited to seeing (and relying on) the front row's reaction. I am very appreciative of two girls who happened to be sitting in the front row and laughing very hard. Their very generous performance fueled my confidence in my material and got me through that first gig.
Regardless of where I manage to go with my comedy, I am forever grateful to Evan Carter; the Second City; my classmates; the enthusiastic support of my friends and family; my dad for finally coming around; and, my boyfriend Stuart for footing my class bill and interpreting everything in ASL.
I would like to encourage any fellow amateur comics to please post their experiences on here as well. There's the good, the bad and the ugly. We'll experience all of these on stage, but that's the nature of the comedy beast. The great thing about humiliation is that, with enough time, it always becomes funny. Best of luck to everyone else out there giving comedy a shot. Have fun and take all the laughs you can get!
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