How I found community among comedians in the Royal City
Guelph is quickly becoming known for being home to a growing number of female stand-up comedians. An all-women’s comedy show can be filled a dozen times over with very little effort in this city. This isn’t to say that there are fewer funny women working in Hamilton, Brantford, Kitchener, Toronto, and so on but, that for a city of our size, the number of women doing comedy is almost equal to the number of men. That equality means that at any show you go to, you’re very likely to see more than one woman perform. It’s even possible to stumble into an unintentional all-women’s show here in the Royal City.
I began doing stand-up two years ago as part of my doctoral research at the University of Guelph. My dissertation was on the mediatization of stand-up comedy so it was never a priority for me to go to live shows. Due to one too many negative experiences, I didn’t like the idea of being alone in bars, in crowds, in poorly-lit spaces where hands and eyes wander a little too much for my comfort. So, I mostly watched stand-up on Netflix, YouTube, and TV.
When my supervisor, Dr. Alan Filewod, encouraged me to get some practical experience I was more than a little hesitant. Eventually, I agreed that it was in fact beneficial to get some first-hand experience and took two stand-up classes at The Second City in Toronto. Friends and family were very supportive about my comedy, but I felt awkward asking anyone for spots and all the places I knew to perform in were just a list of names in Toronto and I lived in Guelph. At this point I couldn’t help but think that if I wanted to continue pursuing comedy, my options were: Toronto or never.
The first time I was offered a spot, it was a couple months after I did the stand-up classes. I took the GO bus to Toronto from campus because I was too scared to drive in the big city. It was a six-hour commute there and back to do a five-minute unpaid set. I was so nervous I blanked on stage for a minute that felt like a millennium. It’s hard to get back into it and put forth that much effort for so little experience. I was definitely leaning towards the never performing stand-up again option after that experience.
There is a common misconception about stand-up amongst those who don’t perform it or don’t have friends who do it, which is that stand-up only happens in Toronto or at comedy clubs. In reality, most cities have rooms that, at the very least, run shows on a monthly basis. Many of these shows don’t charge cover and happen on weeknights. Stand-up comedians who are trying out new material or attempting to work on their stage persona, their crowd work, and so on usually attend these shows. It’s just hard to figure out where these rooms are located for stand-up beginners who are newcomers to a city.
It was weeks before I even thought to try comedy again after my depressing GO bus adventure. I was explaining my research to a classmate and he said, “Oh, you must go to The Making-Box all the time.” I had no idea what The Making-Box was so I decided to find out and attended a show—alone and awkward but excited that comedy existed in Guelph. It was great and everyone was very nice, but I was still too scared to introduce myself to anyone or ask for a spot. I didn’t think I was a good enough comedian to just go around asking strangers for stage time.
Eventually, I decided to just go for it and put my name down for an open mic at The Making-Box. If I was terrible and they hated me, I just wouldn’t do comedy anymore; it was only for research anyway (at least that’s what I kept telling myself). Since it was well after midnight that night, and I was with a friend who was more than ready to go home, and (if I’m being honest) I was scared someone would say I was terrible and they hated me, I somewhat rudely rushed for the exit as soon as I got off stage. Before I could leave, Jay Reid—one of the co-founders of The Making-Box—caught up with me at the door to let me know that I did a great job and that he would like me to do an opening spot for them at a future show.
After that night, I was also asked to do an opening spot by Ric Mattingley, the other co-founder of The Making-Box. My first opening spot in Guelph was at The Cornerstone in June 2015; one year after those stand-up classes in Toronto. For some time after that, I only performed at The Making-Box and I always waited to be asked to perform. What if they were just being nice? What if I asked and got rejected and they never asked me back again?
Through my experiences at The Making-Box I met a group of people who also perform stand-up comedy and seek to improve through a workshop that we now call Comedy Church, which is run by Erinn White at The Making-Box space. Erinn would ask me along to shows she was performing at and it helped me better learn to navigate the open mic circuit; this is something I still struggle with a great deal. People often think it’s impressive to get on stage, but for me that part is much easier than having to actually ask someone for time.
Having a community that is encouraging of everyone who is interested in performing not only grows more comedians, but better comedians. This is because creativity inevitably flourishes in a supportive environment that is rich in positive encouragement and provides constructive feedback on a regular basis. When it comes to women, specifically, it turns out that telling us we don’t have a sense of humour, aren’t funny, and that we should “take it off” as soon as we walk on stage doesn’t really make us magically hilarious.
Once I found the comedy community in Guelph, their support made it so that living here didn’t prevent me from doing stand-up as much as I wanted. Well, maybe a little bit, but certainly not enough to justify leaving the peace and small-town charm of Guelph for the high rent and big-city crowds of Toronto. Now, we perform even more as we venture beyond Guelph together, like a motley crew of a stand-up comedy troupe. We aren’t an exclusive group. We bring more people along with us all the time.
For my part, I offer the support I wish I had when I was alone on the bus for six hours that day. I also feel that my support is reciprocated: we get each other booked on shows, we give each other feedback, and we take turns driving to other cities. I’m not sure where my stand-up journey will lead but I know that I’m really lucky that I am in this amazing city, and I know that I’m enjoying each stop along the road.
Way to go Mirali! Good job.