COMES AND GOES
lately, and i’m not sure why, my comedy ‘fire’ has been hit and miss. somedays i’m in love with comedy and feel really good about doing it, making it my living, and i can’t imagine doing anything else. other days, it feels like a complete waste of time and i can’t believe i’m doing it as it seems unimportant and tedious. i think it’s probably normal to not like your work or what you do at your work, but, i’ve never felt that way about comedy before. scary.

ON WITH THE SHOW ALREADY
the importance and the power of community has never been more clear to me than this summer. most, if not all, comedians here in winnipeg (at least the one’s in our community) are dying to perform. all of the rooms have been dark all of july and everyone i’ve talked to is dying to get on stage. yes, i’ve been up for gigs, but it’s not the same as sharing a night of comedy with your community of comics and the audience that has come out to support.

being on the road, performing by yourself in some town you’ve never heard of is a very ‘lonely’ thing. for example, my last trip to toronto (6 shows, 4 days) i had a gig in collinwood, ontario. collingwood is a resort town, the site of blue mountain resort, and i was scheduled to be onstage at 8pm. the organizers wanted me there at 2pm to test the sound system, lights, etc. and they were strongly in favour of me being there early to test the systems. so, against my will, i agreed to go out way to early to keep them happy. i was there when they wanted me to be, and the ‘sound check’ took 2 minutes.

so, there i was, in collingwood, ontario, gig scheduled for 8pm (it actually turned out that i took the stage at 11.00pm) and the sound check complete. essentially, i have 6 hours to kill in a small town, with no where to hang my hat, no where to chill out, and only a zellers, a wal mart, and a couple of chain restaurants as my food options. i hit the wal mart and looked for discount dvds, went to zellers and bought some socks and a couple of tshirts, and i hit a convenience store for some water. i look at my watch and it’s only 3pm. only 5 hours to go until show time. i spent the rest of my day sitting in parking lots, inside my rental car, reading books, looking through my joke books, and i tried to catch a snooze in the back seat of my rental. the snooze didn’t happen because i have this re-occurring nightmare of being stabbed by a crack whore with a dirty needle infested with aids (started when i first moved to toronto, and everytime i’m anywhere near that city, it comes back).

let me say, i’m extremely lucky to be able to make my living doing something i love. the other thing i love though, is community. at it’s core, it’s what theatre is about. it’s what stories are about. community. experience. events that define community and it’s experience. the sharing that happens while involved in a community, when you contribute positively to a community, when you care for and nurture that community – these are all things that i love about comedy and the greater comedy community. you’re either a part of it or you’re not. i’m proud to be a part of the winnipeg comedy scene.

now let’s get on with the fucking shows already. i miss laughing at you fuckers.

KIMMEL DOES IT AGAIN

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BEFORE I DIE
THE EG CONFERENCE

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