Crawlers of Comedy

Last night I went to see Women of Comedy at The Social Capital on the Danforth, “a comedy show by, for, and featuring women of colour” hosted by the charming Isabel Zaw-Tun. The comedians were hilarious, full of energy, and so original. I have to say it was refreshing to attend a show like this after being in room fulls of men (which I usually wouldn’t mind) – women just bring a fresh perspective, and you can see the amount of thought, creativity, and courage that goes behind each set.

As I was leaving, I ran into the beautiful Faiza, who’d just delivered punchy jokes alluding to racial bias and revealed on stage her quirky talent of playing the ukulele. She gave me some tips on practicing material – she said it’s ok to do the same set over and over (thank God because I was thinking how am I going to come up with new jokes so fast?!). We caught the subway to Ossington station, and I took the bus home.

On Tuesday I took part in an amateur night at Joker’s Comedy Club in Richmond Hill. It was a fun night – I came in second place!! The venue is amazing and grand. Pictures of famous Canadian comedians grace the walls – it feels so official. It’s been on my mind for many years to do some stand-up, and it’s so neat to actually be doing it!! The host of the show, Vong, was so encouraging and had the audience do a special welcome for me since it was my first time performing for an actual audience – everyone started chanting my name as I took the mic.

The other day I went to see Monia Mazigh speak about her new book, Gendered Islamophobia, at the festival of authors at Harbourfront. It was a great panel discussion, where she recounted some of the recent incidents in Toronto and how stories that are projected about Muslim women distort society’s perception. She talked about the book Not Without My Daughter and the impact it had back in the 80’s. My mom and I both read that book and had discussed it quite a bit. Personally, I feel that everyone has a right to tell their story – it’s not your job to assess the impact, it’s your right to tell the truth. If even one woman is experiencing those types of harrowing restrictions, it needs to be discussed and acted upon.

My friends and I went to the Just for Laughs festival this week – only one show so we could say we went – we are officially Crawlers of Comedy. We saw Dulce Sloan and she was so so good. She shared dating stories (stay away from “broke dick” she advises). She talked about travelling solo, men that are hobo-sexual, and just turning 40 and wanting a husband. I saw a clip of her on Insta recently where she says “Is that a grey hair?”…. “Where’s my husband? – He’s late!!”

K better get out and enjoy the day – looks nice out!