The Comedy Tribune

My name is Niek Theelen. I started stand-up during my third year of university in Lethbridge, Alberta. I took a fine arts program and decided to take an advanced screenwriting course for the last assignment in this class. We were given the option to finish a longer version of a script we had worked on or to write the equivalent of ten minutes of stand-up. Eventually, I decided to write 10 minutes of what I thought were funny and honest takes on my experiences living life with a physical disability.

I received two full length pages of very positive feedback, some suggestions for improvement and a final grade of 90%. In the second semester of that year I went to SXSW, an interactive media conference in Austin, Texas. While there, I saw many comedy shows including comedy shows with Iliza Slesinger and conference sessions with many successful comedians to talk about their new podcasts, including Doug Benson, Ken Jeong and Bill Burr. While at one of the sessions, I was able to talk to Bill Burr in person and he said if I was interested in doing stand-up I should just give it a shot. So the next week when I returned home I signed up for a local open mic.

That night at The Owl Acoustic Lounge was the second anniversary of that show and they gave out a Comedian of the Month Award. Someone randomly came up to me and took a picture of me after that show. It was a picture that included 80% of my neck and only about 20% of my face, and if you go back to the venue today you will still see this picture framed in the back room. Apparently to this day, I’m still the only person to have received this award.

Even at the time, although I felt I had prepared and executed well, I felt that I was at least in part getting the award out of pity because of my disability. Therefore over the past six years I have put a lot of effort into my writing and performance so that I earn the respect of my peers as a comic who is funny and does some jokes about the challenges of living with Cerebral Palsy, as opposed to being labeled a “ comedian with a disability”. There is no denying that times are tough for a lot of people in the pandemic but one of the things that stand-up has given me the ability to do is to take my experiences mixed with the often negative perception society has of people with disabilities and to turn those perceptions into jokes on stage. If having a disability has taught me anything, it's the ability to overcome adversity that comes my way. I mean this quite literally, since the first time I made my way up the shaky stairs to a stage, over exposed lamp and mic cords that were spread out across the stage, and made my way to the mic trying my best not to trip and fall on my way to the mic.

Performing at The Owl Acoustic Lounge in Lethbridge, Alberta

As a comedian starting out many of us need a part time job. Over the past six years I have had some temporary jobs however I have also had interviews for the most basic of jobs like working at Walmart where the interviewer actually asked me “ how are you with ladders?” obviously most people know that this is an absurd question so I made the most out of a bad situation by telling the interviewer ”If you had read my resume then you would already know, I am a Central Alberta Snakes and Ladders Champion!”

Every day we see a whole lot of negativity in the news, which is why I wanted to write an article about some of the successes myself and a group of about a dozen dedicated comics have had in developing what I would argue is a growing comedy scene in one of the most unlikely places (Red Deer, Alberta, Canada), all while dealing with the challenges of a global pandemic.

At the time of writing this I have been performing stand-up for six years. I admit I have lots to learn but once in a while when a new comic joins our scene and I can share my experiences. As time goes on, the more people I talk to and the more I realize that your learning as a comedian should never stop. I have also learned to trust my own instincts. If everything comedians told us was true, like “ laughter is the best medicine,” then I would probably be planning a hiking trip as opposed to writing this article right now.

What I love most about stand-up is the camaraderie and sense of community that it gives me. When this pandemic first started in March 2020, I was no longer able to go out to restaurants and bars and do what I do: tell silly ridiculous jokes to make random strangers laugh. For me, and I am sure others will relate, stand-up is therapeutic, not only for those watching but also for those on stage. The therapeutic benefits I get from sharing my jokes and daily frustrations with random strangers are equally important. Not having that outlet for a few weeks was hard but by early April I started joining some of the virtual shows that were being streamed on Facebook. When things got slightly better, we got together in our cohort of friends and put together the same show in person with a backdrop in my friends garage. To date, we have produced 16 online virtual shows.

Some people may say that putting together this show sounds crazy but to me these were minor adjustments we had to make in order to do what I love. Looking back on it now, it’s funny how some of us were calling this “not a real show.” I know that nothing will replace or replicate the feeling of stepping in front of a room filled to capacity full of strangers and making them laugh but regardless of its legitimacy as a “real show,” it challenged me to try and come up with new material, to write more and to focus more heavily on a podcast I had started last summer: The Inspiring Brains Podcast.

As mentioned, I am by no means a pro comic but I try my best to learn and improve everyday. The first two or three years were spent only performing in small cities in Alberta, primarily Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer. It took some time for me to gather the courage to inquire about going Comedy Monday Night in Calgary which is Western Canada’s longest running open mic which is produced by James Moore. I am proud to say since that time James and I have become great friends and talk regularly. I would even go as far as to say that if we did not have James Moore, the entire stand-up comedy landscape in Alberta and likely much of Canada would not be the same as it is today.

It was not until I stepped on the Comedy Monday Night stage for the first time that I realized that getting continual laughs throughout your set was possible. I was used to having to work hard for every laugh from my previous small town performances. Hearing this kind of audience response was frankly a shock but, it did trigger a commitment to myself to take this ability I have gained to make people laugh and see where it can take me.

Prior to the pandemic, I had been preparing to do my first ever live album recording. Unfortunately, it got canceled, along with basically every other event that had any resemblance of a good time across Canada. Approximately three years into my stand-up journey, I was given a last minute call by a booker in the city that they were looking for someone to perform with Mike MacDonald later that night and the following day. I agreed and went to the show, not knowing nearly as much as I do now about the type of icon this man was. It was a shock to the Canadian comedy community as a whole when Mike passed suddenly only a few months later. I will forever treasure and remember those shows as some of my favourite memories but, I regret being “a new guy” who at the time could not muster up more than a few words to say to such a legend. If I could go back I would have asked to sit with him for just 30 minutes to get his perspective on the current industry. I even remember my friend telling me about how Mike took the time out of his day to call my friend, who he had not previously met, and talk to him about my friend's stand-up and his goals for over an hour. From what I know and have read about Mike he was the kind of person who was willing to give advice to anyone who asked, not only was he a brilliant comic but, he left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire me and many others around the world.

After Mikes’ death, I promised myself I would try to be more social and talk as much as possible to people that inspire and motivate me in comedy, in business and in other aspects of my life. While the process of starting a podcast has not been entirely seamless, as I have had to re-record a few interviews which had to be re-recorded because of technical difficulties. I have now been able to have extended conversations with people who I consider icons in Canada, including Tim Nutt, Dave Merheje, Derek Seguin, Martha Chaves and John Wing.

In the last few months, I have been able to get out and do socially distanced shows outdoors in restaurants and bars as well as to get back to doing guest spots in clubs. I have started working with my friends on putting together a major fundraiser to help seniors and families in need over the holidays by putting together an event that allows me to pursue my passion and do what I do best: make people laugh.

Currently parts of Ontario and Quebec are back in lockdown similar to the way things were in March. Where I am in Alberta this is not the case... at least not yet. I know regardless of what happens, whether the fundraiser gets postponed or shows get canceled, whether comedy takes place in person or virtually or by telling jokes to people as I shovel my sidewalks this winter, I will keep finding ways to battle through the adversity and continue to grow as an artist. Even if the government won’t currently recognize me as an artist (The government of Canada does not currently recognize stand-up as an art form eligible for grant funding that other artists have access to. CASC The Canadian Association of Stand-up Comedy, is working hard along with government officials to change this) , I will keep working hard to share my passion with anyone willing to listen because it’s what I love to do.

I believe that having performed in small towns since I started has made me a better comedian because it has forced me to constantly write, edit and improve. This is because small towns, are likely to have smaller crowds where audience members are likely to have seen me perform before so it forces you to adapt and constantly challenge yourself. I remember that used to bother me when other comedians use Red Deer as a punchline to one of their jokes. Since then, in the last two or three years, our group of Red Deer comics have been competing in competitions across the province and representing our city extremely well. So now when someone laughs when they hear I’m from Red Deer, I love to defy their expectations and give them way more than expected.

I believe if your comedy does great at a bowling alley in Red Deer with 10 people, it should do even better in a bigger city with a bigger audience. Red Deer will likely never gain as big a comedy scene as Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto. At the end of the day, though, if Red Deer was good enough for Mike MacDonald there is no reason why I can’t succeed as a comedian (or anyone else for that matter). No matter where you live or what state our world is in, as long as we continue to find innovative ways to share our art form and have a group of people willing to listen, there will always be a ways for us to share the joy of laughter and I personally have no plans to stop anytime soon.

Niek Theelen - @NickTheelen