As mentioned briefly in previous posts, a few of my colleagues are working on launching a comedy website, which – next to school, is probably the biggest deal I’ve got going on in terms of Comedy for the time being.  We’re throwing a huge launch performance tomorrow night in Kensington market and already have about 80+ people planning to attend, which is very exciting!

The idea for a website came up during the first semester and myself and a colleague brought it up to our program director in an attempt at working in a partnership with Humber College.  It was then decided that it would be easier for us to attempt the site without the umbrella of the college, so that is the path we have taken.  Over several months of meeting, many of us have poured lots of long hours, blood, sweat and tears into this project.  (Some, on the other hand, are barely happy even to perform, but that’s not for me to judge.)

Everyone’s had to overcome personal and group-related obstacles and hopefully tomorrow will be the result of a coming-together as a group of people dedicated to producing and performing our own original material live and for the web.  It’s exciting!

To those of you in Ottawa, Niagara or elsewhere, I so wish you could be in attendance, but for the time being, you can check out some of our stuff on the website as of tomorrow, 6am at laughdraft.com.

Those of you in Toronto, I strongly urge you to support your good ol’ pal and attend the show at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture at 167 Augusta Ave.   Get there early because parking around there kindof sucks and traffic is rotten downtown!  There will be beer and mixed drinks to help you relax (and to make our comedy THAT much funnier!)

It has been a challenging and exciting project to be a part of and I can’t wait for tomorrow to let you all know how everything turns out.

Stay tuned… or find out for yourself:

 

Working toward the launch party/performance for our new LaughDraft website,  we attempted a rehearsal today, during which those in attendance were berated for other members in our group’s lack of attendance along with other fun hostilities.

This field is challenging.  Every day I’m finding new and fun ways of feeling alienated.

Oh well, at the end of the day, support comes when and from where you need it most. (Like a good bra.)

One year ago today, I woke up to find a Dear John in my Facebook Inbox.  At that point I was 26-years old and held a respectable job for the Government.  I was and still am an adult.  But one year ago, this 26 year-old adult got Facedumped.  Five months later, I tweaked the tale a bit and told it to a crowd of strangers on stage at Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club in downtown Toronto.  It was one of my most successful sets to date.

To those of you who did not know me then, at the time, I was devastated.  It was a pretty dark time in Brie’s little world.  But to those facing relationship hardship, drama or break-ups, keep in mind; you never know…that which hurts the most also brings the most laughter and comfort to others.

Part of me feels like I should be thankful to the man that caused such pain and suffering, but I’m not.  The douchebag dumped me on Facebook for shit’s sake.  What are you, a socially-inept child-man?… Giant chicken-shit!!

Since I’ve been to Humber, many of the teachers have told me it might be best not to be in a relationship if you’re a comic, because a) you don’t want your partner holding you back and b) nobody in their right mind should want to be with a comedian.  That being said, relationships are fantastic fodder for a set because most people are either in them, just getting out of them or longing to be in one.  Why wouldn’t you want to give the people something they can relate to, then laugh at when they compare how not-terrible their circumstances are in comparison.

One thing I remember about having just been dumped is how happy and close all the couples I knew seemed to act around me.  I hated it at the time and wished sorrow upon everyone.  But the more I did, the more it was as if they were unconsciously reassuring each other that neither of them would be so shitty as to break up with the other over a social media tool, or at all, for that matter.  They didn’t have to do anything and their strength as a couple rubbed me like salt in an open wound.  Based on that experience, I can see how much of an impact shared and common social interactions, like a break-up, can have on the people in the audience.

And with that I acknowledge that a year has past and that not only am I still breathing, but I’m doing things and going places I never thought possible only one year ago.

…

So fuck you.

 

Today was an epic day of women’s empowerment.  Or at least, it was a step towards what will become a collaborative effort towards women’s empowerment.  The women in this field have to put up with so much, and what we deal with at Humber is only, I imagine, the tip of the iceberg.  Or maybe it’s worse than that, maybe being called bitch, cunt, feminazi, etc., are some of the harsher things we have to deal with, and once that’s overcome, what awaits us post-graduation will be a walk in the park, so to speak…at nighttime, without fear.

Fortunately, I’m not so naive.

Thank you ladies.  We MUST do this again,… soon.

Solidarity, sisters!

My last performance got me thinking a little about what I like the most about stand-up comedy and what I discovered is that I like the truth. Wow, right?  What a concept.  But follow me… I like the raw, embarrassing truths that all human beings have in common.  Set aside dick and masturbation jokes and enter Thursday’s “Awkward” show at Comedy Bar.  It was a series of performers, mostly comics, telling real-life stories that happened to them. They varied in nature, but one thing they had in common was this notion of “this is the kind of thing that happens to us all.”  The only difference is, most human beings try to forget these events ever occurred, whereas we comics like to recount the tales over and over and over again, to make people laugh and just for a second, as a friend of mine at the show put it, to make people feel like their lives are pretty damn OK in comparison.

One woman shared some of her writings from when she was pregnant, another read from her grade school and high school diaries.  One gentleman recounted his experience with a panicky first kiss, well into his twenties!  For me, it was an unfortunate bicycle accident.  (Which to some of you who have heard the story, know that that’s somewhat of an understatement.)  The stories were great, and they even inspire me to write some more personal/embarrassing tales, but with this brings along a certain amount of emotional baggage, unfortunately.

One of the guys mentioned that the Awkward show was like a therapy session, except instead of speaking to someone comforting, you’re on stage with bright lights shining in your face and rest of the room is so dark you wouldn’t know there was anyone in the audience, except you DO  know they’re there… and most of them are strangers. So, to tell a group of strangers some of the most intimate details of your life…not so therapeutic.    The bicycle story doesn’t really bother me, despite its private nature, because there wasn’t much emotionally involved…apart from the ridiculous amount of crying that took place and the bonding with my roommate that occurred as a result.  (I miss you, Steph!!)

I’ve been trying to think of some other tales I can tell, of a personal nature, with which many can sympathize, and a lot of what’s surfacing carries with it much emotional baggage.  I wonder if my colleagues in the Comedy program share these kinds of moments?!  Can one becomes able to separate emotions and feelings of say; sadness, loneliness, pain or fear in order to produce comedy.  It seems like a question of extraction.  For all the suffering you endure, there’s a tiny amount of funny you can squeeze out, and if successful, it’ll hit everyone else precisely where you want it to; on a level they all understand and that they can feel.

That’s what I want to do.  I want to make people feel.

Numbness and apathy can suck it.

Dear World,

Today, I performed in my first paid gig ever and I took home a big fat $9!  I’ve never been so happy to earn such a tiny amount of money! 🙂

I spent it this very night on a celebratory bellini from East Side Mario’s.

Life is good.

Hmmm.  I wonder if I’ll have to claim this as earnings on my taxes next year… teehee.

I headlined for the first time last night!  Hooray!  For those of you who are not aware, headlining a show is when you’re the last to go up during a stand-up show (or any show, I guess) & you typically get more time to tell your jokes than the other performers, and you’re typically responsible for making sure the people leave the show satisfied with the evening’s comedy.  I should mention that it was a last-minute invite to headline and I didn’t get paid for it or anything, but I was still very happy to a) headline for the first time b)have been trusted with headlining and c) got to work on my set for tonight’s Comedy Bar show.

So, big thanks to the Vest of Friends & all those in attendance at Sirens last night for letting me finish the show off making the entire crowd terribly uncomfortable.  Woohoo!

Now everybody come out to Comedy Bar tonight at 8pm for my first paid comedy gig!!!!! YAY!!!

 

Oh my goodness, shame on me for not posting more frequently.

Dearest readers, I have been so busy dishing out popcorn, I have had very little time to keep you all abreast of my current comedy-related endeavours, so allow this post to provide you with some helpful information to ensure you I’ve been doing more than cleaning up other people’s discarded Reese’s Pieces off sticky floors.

Paid Embarrassment

First off ladies and gentlemen, I will be performing in my first PAID gig this coming Thursday, June 2nd at Comedy Bar (a popcular venue for Comedy, for those of you not familiar with Toronto.)  That being said, the more people in attendance, the more money I can potentially make, so a) you should come watch the show and b) I don’t care, whatever.  If I make at least a toonie for this show, it’ll still be more than I’ve ever made before as a comic and I’ll judge it as a success.  The show is not actually stand-up comedy.  Rather it’s a series of comics telling real-life painfully embarrassing stories.  It should be painful in the way watching Ricky Gervais is painful…, delightfully so.

The show’s called Awkward: A Show of Epic Fails.  If you click on the title, you’ll be redirected to the Facebook event page, where you can find out more information about the show and RSVP that you will be in attendance.

Launch Party

The next big news is the Launch Party/Performance for the comedy troupe LaughDraft, of which I am a founding member.  On June 24th, we’ve got a venue, a liquor license & a bunch of fun new comedy to perform live as we celebrate the launch of our comedy website: www.laughdraft.com.  It would be amazing if any of you reading this could attend the launch and even more amazing if those of you who can’t make the launch check out the website and support our big project!  This is such an exciting project to work on because it includes so many different types of sketches and stand-up because there’s such a diversity among the comics contributing to the site.  It’s definitely something to look out for & really appreciate all of your support!

Anyhoodlydoo, I’ve slowly been sipping sangria (through a straw) throughout the typing of this post and am now sufficiently tipsy to acknowledge the fact I should stop typing.  Also, living by the Humber river has its disadvantages.  There are gnats in my apartment.  So many gnats.  I hate gnats.  But I love the word gnat.

So remember, Thursday June 2nd & Friday June 24th.  Come support you’re local cheese-named friend!

Until next time, g’night… (or g’nat?)