Last weekend my husband and I, along with our two about-to-be-wed childless friends, went out to see a comedy show in Toronto's east end called "Time Out." It is a stand-up comedy night by parents for parents. This monthly event is hosted by the talented and beautiful Erin Keaney, and I was very excited to check out the show.
Though, I have to admit — I was a little nervous. What if our childless friends didn't think the show was funny? What if it was just a room full of tired drunk parents laughing at poop and labour jokes? Tyler and I would be laughing sympathetically, but our friends? They'd never want to pro-create, and there would go our plans to have our baby marry their future baby!!
Well luckily, the show was hilarious and all of the comedians were prepared with their best material.
Unlike me. Who came totally unprepared. You see, I had offered to film the event and interview a few of the comedians beforehand. Well, I was in such a rush to get out of the house without alerting Cole of my departure, that it wasn't until we got to the venue that I realized...I had forgotten my video camera. Hm. Sort of important. But, I'm an improvisor, so I pulled out my pen and paper and did the interviews anyway.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the comedians who had offered up her time to chat with me was someone I already knew from my improv years at Bad Dog Theatre. The lovely Jana Peck and her head full of blonde bouncy curls met me upon my arrival with a big smile, "I was wondering if it was you when Erin said a Yummy Mummy blogger was going to be here!" she said. I gave her a hug and then also introduced myself to the second comedian who would be performing stand-up for the first time that night. A lovely woman named Stephanie Baptist.
The three of us sat down. Me in the middle with my notebook, and we just chatted. I probably should have actually taken notes. But I did write this down:
Jana Peck: Never gets out of the house. Ever. 2 year old son. Freelance copywriter and actor.
Stephanie Baptist: Two girls ages 10 & 6. Masters in Education from OISE. Works for a company called Roots of Empathy. Actor and Educator.
And then in the 15 minutes before the show, we had a mom-conversation pow-wow. It was sort of like speed-dating. And again, I probably should have been taking better notes...
But after watching their stand-up sets (where I finally took proper notes) here is what I learned about Jana and Stephanie:
Jana was the first comic to perform, and informed the audience that in her relationship with her husband "...the dry humping doesn't happen anymore." So they had to rent a luxury hotel room (in the same city where they live) just so they could have some quality get-it-on time. After beautifully re-creating the scene, I felt like I was in the hotel room with Jana and her hubby (rawr!!!) and she made me laugh out loud when she described how she pulled a muscle in her back trying to look sexy while lying on the bed. "I took a Geritol and then we did it."
Later in the evening, the rookie stand-up comic Stephanie was called up to the mic. As an actor, she's not new to the spotlight and she informed the audience that she would be reciting two stories that she wrote. "It's not stand-up comedy," she told us, it's "Dr. Seuss for Drunks." In a strong yet soothing voice, full of rhythm and perfect punctuation, Stephanie captivated the audience with her hilarious stories full of vomit and parent-filled-rage over pink misplaced toys.
At the end of the evening, I was in such awe of the talent I had witnessed. From Stephanie's first-timer set to Angela Maiorano Thurston and Ryan Belleville's pro-sets, there wasn't a dry eye (or pair of underwear) in the room. I quickly chatted with a few other comics before I left, but had to get home quickly to feed my son because my breasts were about to explode.
It felt so amazing to be surrounded by so many talented and lovely people, and only further fuelled my fire to get up on that stage myself. I haven't done a stand-up set since I was 9 months pregnant just over a year ago. I have the itch (no, not an infection) and Erin has asked if I'd like to come do a show in the next month or so. Of course I said "yes" and this time — I'll remember to bring my camera. So stay tuned — and follow Erin's FB page for information on upcoming shows (she produces four a month. Because she's Wondermom and apparently isn't busy enough...)
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