The Great Canadian Laugh Off

A couple of years into my comedy career, I went to Toronto to compete in the Great Canadian Laugh Off.  It was a comedy competition open to amateurs and professionals from all over Canada, with the winner getting $25, 000.  I qualified via an online draw.  Other qualifiers won their spot by performing at the various Yuk Yuk's comedy clubs across Canada.
I would be performing at the Toronto downtown Yuk Yuk's against 7 other comedians.  This would only be the second time I would be performing in an actual comedy club.  The first time was at another comedy competition in Prince George.  The only stage time I had ever had at this point was in front of Native audiences at Native conferences and in front of mixed audiences at the university.  University audiences were great.  They were very open-minded, but a little too PC for me.
But a comedy club audience was going to be different.  Usually when I performed, I was the only comedian on the show, or sometimes I was the only entertainment for the evening.  And sometimes, the audience did not even know there was going to be a comedian that evening.  But a comedy club audience is different.  They are there for comedy, they expect to laugh.  It makes your job easier.
Before I went to Toronto, I did an interview for a local newspaper and I told them I wouldn't go all the way to Toronto if I didn't expect to win.  I said, "My best 8 minutes can hold up against anyone's best 8 minutes."  This was before I ever saw Rob Pue (see my earlier blog).
Anyways, I did my set and felt like I had only did okay.  I didn't even finish in the top three which was surprising.  I didn't think the other comedians I competed against were that great.
But after my set, the owner and CEO of Yuk Yuk's, Mark Breslin, pulled me aside and said he wanted to talk to me.  At the end of the night, we talked and he said he really liked my material but he warned me about the dangers of becoming 'ghetto-ized'.  I raised my eyebrow when he used this term.  He said he could use that word because he was Jewish.  He explained to me that he had seen other Native comedians before that only appealed to Native audiences.  This is what he meant by ghetto-ized.  And I knew what he meant.  There is a danger of writing material that only Native people will understand.  I mean, I have a joke about Bingo that I have to explain to White people, but Native people get it.  And there are some Native comedians that make a career out of catering to just Native audiences.  That's not for me though.  Because I had done shows in front of mixed audiences, my jokes had to be accessible to everyone.  And I think they are.  So I don't think I am in any danger of having my material, for the most part, becoming ghetto-ized.  
After that one show in the Toronto Yuk Yuk's, I moved to Vancouver and began working out new material in front of mixed audiences, mostly White audiences, in comedy clubs and comedy rooms.  I also got a chance to watch other comedians working, developing material.  I got a chance to share ideas, and work out new jokes with other comedians.
It was during this time that I also got a chance to witness what Mark Breslin warned me about.  A big name Native comedian stopped by one of the comedy rooms in Vancouver and did a set of Native humour.  He did not get any laughs.  It was not his usual audience.  It was a real eye-opener.  But at the same time, I had some White friends tell me that when they saw Native comedians on TV, and they didn't laugh once.  But they thought I was funny.  So I must be doing something right.