Jon White had 99 reasons to do a special event comedy show, but it wasn't enough. He needed one more. Now he's getting it, and you can be there on Thursday night to see it happen.
Not every comedian gets to celebrate their 100th show - their com-tennial, if you will. And many who do have it pass without notice. White was given some veteran advice early enough in his amateur career that he was able to still count back and account for all his stage appearances. From then on, he never failed to count forward as each new spotlight shone on him. Thursday night is No. 100.
"I really started taking notes when I opened for Damonde Tschritter, that was about my 11th show, and it was his advice that I should track every show," said White. "Write it all down, each time, like clockwork. What was the date? What was the place? Who did I work with? What was it for? And I did that, all longhand, so now I can look in these binders of loose-leaf, like my school days, and see what all I've done on this journey."
White has become one of the leaders of the local comedy scene, and at his age and stage trajectory he now has a goal set realistically at 1,000 shows one day.
It has become part of his daily DNA. Even though he has a workaday job, he is always setting aside evening and weekend time to get on stage and ply his performing arts trade.
He and his girlfriend are off on vacation, soon, and he is even trying to set up gigs in the city they are visiting.
"It all kind of blows my mind how fast this has all happened. It was only three years ago I listened to my friends and got myself up on stage to give it a go," White said.
"It all kind of blows my mind, to be at 100 shows already, and it is still fun and still exciting."
The Canadian comedy community has an open-door policy.
Headliners are insistent of themselves that they spend time with up-and-comers, that they share their experiences to encourage their peers, that cliques don't develop. Even the stars of movies and TV take up this developmental attitude, if they see an opportunity to add a few new drops to the national talent pool.
White was accepted into formative conversations early on by people like Matt Billion (another Prince George comedian who is now a national comedy star), Charlie Demers, the aforementioned Tschritter, and one of the giants of the standup stage Mike McDonald. The latter said something that particularly stuck in White's mind.
"He was so good to me. I didn't ask him for any advice, he just freely gave me some that was really good to know. It was a writing tip, and it's been really helpful, and I don't even know, yet, just how helpful it will one day be.
"What he told me was to never throw out anything I write. If you thought it was funny, that was for a reason, so hang onto it. Maybe right now you don't know what to do with it, it doesn't fit the moment, or it's not quite a finished thought, but maybe 10 years later it will work out. I've already had that work out, just going back through the notes and seeing fragments of jokes, and having that trigger ideas."
The legendary comic George Carlin once told an up-and-coming Louis C.K. that every year he put aside his current material and wrote a whole new show. This kind of prolific act development stunned and scared the rookie, but he heeded the sage advice and C.K. later told the world about that imperative career advice.
White is of the same belief, that a standup act can only survive if there is a constant evolution of material.
"I'm going to make sure there is a lot of new stuff (at the 100th show), because I'll have friends coming who have been there for shows all along and I want to give them something fresh. I don't want to disappoint them," he said.
"But I also want to go back through some of my better stuff from the past so I can bring in a nostalgic feel with the new feel. It'll be a little of the old and a little of the new."
Nelly's Pub (2280 Hart Highway) has lately become a willing safehouse for the city's comedians.
That is where White will take his stand on Thursday night.
Supporting White is a plethora of local standup comedians who will do a few minutes of their own material to warm up the audience.
They include Brian Majore, Mike McGuire, Virginia O'Dine, Alex Mackenzie, Mwanasi Loongo and perhaps others. But of course Jon White (which is the official title of this event).
Showtime is 8 p.m., tickets are $5 at the door while supplies last.
