Full disclosure: The author of this article is involved in the comedy scene, employed by one of the venues and is friends with some of the people interviewed for this story.
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It鈥檚 been said that 鈥渢ragedy plus time equals comedy.鈥� But what if tragedy is unfolding in real time? Can we afford to laugh? Do we need laughter more than ever? The Courier checked in with four local comedians to chat about comedy in times of crisis, joking about sensitive topics and how to make money in a gig-less economy.
鈥楾he saltiness is so good鈥�
Sophie Buddle recently returned from Halifax, where she writes for the CBC sketch and news satire show This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been covering the corona story and I wasn鈥檛 worried about it for the first couple of months, but it鈥檚 just taken this turn. It feels so sudden,鈥� she said, from her home in Vancouver. 鈥淲e just wrapped two weeks ago, so I鈥檓 in kind of a good position, because most of my income for the year comes from writing for the show,鈥� she said.听
Usually when Buddle is in Vancouver, she tries to perform as much stand-up as possible, but due to current social-distancing restrictions, every comedy show in 麻豆传媒映画has been shut down. 鈥淢y Facebook notifications are just about everything getting cancelled,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hings I didn鈥檛 even know I was invited to got cancelled.鈥澨�
Even with the serious nature of the pandemic, Buddle is still finding humour in these dark times.
鈥淎ll these companies are going bankrupt and millennials are tweeting at them, being like, 鈥榃ell, if this company didn鈥檛 want to go bankrupt, it shouldn鈥檛 have been eating avocado toast every day,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭he saltiness is so good.鈥�
Buddle is never one to back away from sensitive topics in her own stand-up.
鈥淢y comedy is very dirty and pretty political, so that鈥檚 kind of my bread and butter,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 find it great to talk about sensitive topics because comedy is all about building that tension up and then letting it go 鈥� it鈥檚 a very easy way to create tension in a room.鈥�
For now, Buddle is holed-up with her boyfriend, recording episodes of her podcast, , 鈥淲e did a bonus episode of him and I, early on in the quarantine,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l do another one in a few weeks and see if we still love each other so much.鈥�
鈥楯oking about it takes a bit of the power away from it鈥�
is a three-time Canadian Comedy Award winner, he hosts the weekly stand-up showcase The Laugh Gallery and regularly appears on CBC鈥檚 The Debaters. Despite the current climate of collective anxiety, Clark is trying to stay calm.
鈥淚f I鈥檝e learned anything from any kind of disaster movie, it鈥檚 that panicking does not help,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always the panicky idiot that gets eaten by the zombie.鈥�
Like many gig-economy workers, he has plenty of reasons to panic, including no holiday or sick pay, no employment insurance and a sudden drop in income. 鈥淚n one way or another, all my income is tied to comedy,鈥� he said. 鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 affecting me, but I would guess it鈥檚 affecting other people even more.鈥�
Fortunately for Clark, he already has one foot in the digital realm, with his podcast
鈥淚n a nice twist of fate, my podcast partner, Dave Shumka, was going to go away for a holiday, so we had banked some episodes already,鈥� said Clark, who will try to keep recording the podcast. 鈥淎s long as we can find a safe way to do it, we will continue to do it.鈥澨�
Clark doesn鈥檛 avoid sensitive topics in his comedy, especially when it鈥檚 something that affects all levels of society.
鈥淭his is a thing that everyone is thinking about, so you can鈥檛 not mention it, because then you鈥檒l look like you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l be like Jared Leto.鈥�
The Hollywood star recently emerged from a 12-day silent retreat in the desert 鈥� completely cut off from all forms of communication 鈥� only to emerge into our new pandemic reality.
鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 the most humour-rich story that鈥檚 come down the pipe in the last few days,鈥� chuckled Clark. 鈥淚 think we seek out humour because that鈥檚 the only way our brains can get comfortable with how insane things are. Joking about it takes a bit of the power away from it.鈥�
鈥榊ou need to be able to laugh at the ridiculousness of certain things鈥�
Rae Lynn Carson is a stand-up comedian and a professional improviser. She regularly performs at 麻豆传媒映画TheatreSports and in the monthly sketch and improv show Nasty Women.
鈥淎t this moment, the gig economy provides 100 per cent of my income,鈥� said Carson. 鈥淚 have a decent paycheque on its way, but I don鈥檛 have any shows booked for the rest of the month, so I鈥檓 just going to be living on that.鈥�
She added, 鈥淚鈥檓 also diabetic, so I have to buy diabetic supplies on top of bills and rent 鈥� it鈥檚 going to be tight.鈥�
Even with challenging times ahead, Carson is trying to see things in a positive light.
鈥淚鈥檓 grateful that I can still make people laugh, even if I鈥檓 not making money doing it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I do miss making a room full of people laugh 鈥� it鈥檚 like ecstasy for me.鈥�
Carson believes that laughter is a great way for all of us to relieve stress and tension.
鈥淚 think you need to be able to laugh at the ridiculousness of certain things, like the whole T.P. situation,鈥� she said. 鈥淵eah, maybe last Tuesday, you and Susanne went to the friggin鈥� store and bought five packs of 24-roll toilet paper and now you鈥檙e thinking, 鈥極h God, what the hell was I doing?鈥� You know what 鈥� we all make mistakes and it鈥檚 easier to acknowledge those things by laughing about it and just letting it go.鈥�
鈥楢rt is important 鈥� and it鈥檚 an important thing to support鈥�
Aaron Read regularly performs stand-up at various shows around Vancouver, teaches improv at Blind Tiger Comedy and is also a member of the long-running weekly improv show The Sunday Service.
鈥淚 just got a cheque for some commercial work, right before this all happened, which is a godsend,鈥� said Read. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure a lot of artists, especially in this city, don鈥檛 have savings. If I didn鈥檛 have this cheque, I wouldn鈥檛 have savings.鈥�
Read is all-too-aware of the ground shifting beneath his feet.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a weird time, because everyone is trying to pivot online,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 scrambling to figure out how to still make a living from making art.鈥澨�
His improv troupe, The Sunday Service, uploaded a pre-recorded show to YouTube last Sunday, and set up an Eventbrite page where viewers could donate if they wanted to.
鈥淭hat allowed us to help out the Fox [Cabaret, which normally hosts the event] with the revenue that they鈥檙e losing, as well as paying the staff that would鈥檝e been there and the [audio and lighting] tech person. We also paid ourselves a little bit,鈥� said Read. 鈥淚t was right at the beginning of social distancing, so I think people really appreciated it.鈥�
Read emphasized that although people are on lock-down, they shouldn鈥檛 spend too much time on the internet.
鈥淒on鈥檛 be online all the time. Even though it鈥檚 really cool and has lots of information, it鈥檚 still really toxic,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll those assholes in the real world, who weren鈥檛 online, are now online. So you鈥檙e going to get the equivalent of a Donnelly pub flooding the internet right now.鈥�
Despite the negativity of our current zeitgeist, Read is trying to see through the smog.
鈥淧eople who are hoarding stuff and reselling it, like, capitalizing off of a pandemic, at first I thought those people were disgusting,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut then I was reading some stuff that was saying, 鈥楧on鈥檛 get mad at those people, because they鈥檙e just evidence of how broken our system is.鈥欌��
Ultimately, Read believes comedy can help us rise above our present mess.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a good time to exercise comedy that鈥檚 about catharsis,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd for comedy that鈥檚 absurd, that鈥檚 silly, as a break 鈥� not to make you forget, but to take you to another world for a second.鈥�
Referencing the millions of people at home on their couches, Read added: 鈥淎ll anybody is doing right now is self-soothing by watching stuff and listening to stuff. Art is important 鈥� and it鈥檚 an important thing to support.鈥�
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