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event!
Thursday, August 2 - Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Comic capers
A CONVERSATION WITH COMEDIAN SHANNAN CALCUTT,
WHO IS APPEARING AT THE KELOWNA COMEDY FESTIVAL
By Lori-Anne Charlton
Kelowna, British Columbia
event: I want to get a behind-the-scenes look at life as a comedienne, on the road. Tell me a bit about what that's like.
SC: Well, I've been on the road since April of '99, without a base. It's been wonderful to be working this much - certainly it has its ups and downs, but it's wonderful to be in so many places, and it's fantastic to be working, and wonderful to meet so many extraordinary people. And then there's the other side, I guess. You get a bit tired of not having a place to unpack, or having your apartment to go back to.
event: In all this traveling that you've done, is it you and your people, or are you with a group of comedians?
SC: No, it's just me, actually, just myself. I'm a solo performer and I'm always on the road alone. I don't travel with a stage manager or company.
event: Do you meet much with other comedians?
SC: I meet a lot of other performers, definitely. Especially at fringe festivals and comedy festivals - you meet a lot of other people which is sort of the fun of it. You get this community. Certainly, my community is on the road. When I go to different festivals I see people from all over the world, and that's really the community.
event: How does it work, hanging out with comedians? You know, the funny guy is always the focus, the one that gets all the attention, buy you're all funny.
SC: It's just great fun. Everyone's a bit funny; a bit charming - it's a great time. They're totally wonderful personalities and it's a real treat to be with so many amazing people, in the comedy circuit, in the theatre circuit. For sure.
event: What makes you laugh when you're watching other people?
SC: I'm a person who likes physical comedy, people who just sort of tell it like it is; I mean the honesty in it I think is quite funny. It's really different with every comedian. It's hard to specify what makes me laugh.
event: How do you not laugh, during your own performance?
SC: You're just in it. You have to be totally committed to what you're doing. Often I'm saying things that are so ridiculous and the audience is just losing it, but you're just totally focused and just have your own logic, really. I mean Izzy, my clown, completely has her own logic. So whenever she's talking about something, she really believes what she's saying.
event: Tell me a little about your show.
SC: It's Me, Only Better (the shows title) is a trilogy. Izzy was stood up in the first show and so she's tired of rejection. So in It's Me, Only Better she's applied to join a convent and she's eagerly awaiting her acceptance letter. She's had to change herself to get in, and she's trying to convince you - and herself - that she's going to be accepted. She talks about how, the thing about the church is they want dedicated followers - she thinks she has a gift for it. And then she starts to tell you a story about how she saw a cute guy at the mall and followed him home. It's a really fun piece.
event: Do you have a variety of styles of comedy?
SC: I've been performing clown primarily, for two years, so that's really my focus now.
event: What do you try to bring across in a performance?
SC: The shows are funny, but very much they have an emotional connection as well. Izzy shows a lot of vulnerability, so the idea, when you come to see Izzy, is that you're not just laughing at her ridiculousness but you're laughing at your own. You see yourself in her, so it's like a mirror effect. I think that's the attraction to her - she's very vulnerable and has her own logic, and tells it like it is. So people relate to Izzy.
event: Who do you admire/look up to/pattern yourself after?
SC: I'm a huge fan of Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway. Those are people that I admire their work. Gina Bistoni, I think, is a great clown in Canada; George Carl is one of my favorite clowns - just real people doing real work.
event: Is that something that you would eventually like to do - move to television or film?
SC: I would love to have the shows on television, like on the Comedy Network or something. And it would be fun to have a talk show with Izzy.
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