Comic warms up for the hometown crowd
Taking the stage at Yuk Yuk's comedy club, Haida comic Brian Majore says he's no different than any other Canadian.
"You know, I want the same things you do: I want a nice home, I want a good education...and whatever else the government wants to give me."
Raised in Houston, Majore says he's always wanted to do a show here. He'll get his chance May 12 when he and fellow comic Chris Gaskin perform in a Community Hall fundraiser.
A veteran of TV spots and 1500-person stage shows, Majore lets his jokes drop in a relaxed, friendly voice.
"I'm just telling my story," he says.
But if any venue can make majore nervous, it is Old Massett or Houston, his two hometowns.
"There will be a lot of classmates and people that knew me in Houston, and never thought I was funny," he says, laughing.
Majore first started doing stand-up in 2003 after taking a humour class at UNBC.
"It wasn't a how-to class," he explains.
"We studied indigenous humour in all its forms: short stories, songs, novels, plays, things like that. And of course, stand-up comedy."
Instead of a final exam, Majore's class students broke into pairs and performed. The odd one out, Majore tried his hand at stand-up.
"I managed to gather a couple of stories together: one about the hassle I got trying to cash a cheque that was fairly large, and another one about how I would like to be the actor who plays the suspect in the Crime Stoppers commercials," he says.
"I always seem to fit the description."
That show won Majore what he says was a rare A+, and opened the door to a future where he would find himself opening for Don Burnstick at Vancouver's Rio Theatre and driving around afterwards in Burnstick's SUV limo.
Burnstick gave Majore some valuable tips early on, but of all the comics Majore loks up to, Charlie Hill takes a special place.
A Native American, Hill is one of the few comics to perform on the Tonight Show of both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno.
"He's very political, very funny," Majore says. "Kind of in-your-face, which is what I admire."
Majore says his own act doesn't shy away either.
"My university professor described it best. He said the best part of watching me perform was actually watching the white people in the audience, because they didn't know how to react."
"You could see them looking at each other, going 'That's funny, but am I allowed to laugh at that?'"
Tickets for the adults-only show are $20 per person, $35 per couple, available at First Choice Fashions. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Proceeds from the show will fundraise for the Houston Figure Skating Club.
