A veteran on the standup stage treks all the way from Toronto to Prince George this week.
Michelle Shaughnessy is one of the country's blue chip comedy commodities - a hot commodity if you will - and she cracks up Nancy O's on Thursday and Friday nights.
She was at the same place about a year ago and still has flashbacks, she said.
"It was a great time, jammed packed out both shows, so we hope for the same again this time," she said. "I actually made friends that trip that I still have, the owners of Nancy O's are wonderful, the people in Prince George were so friendly, I can't wait to come back."
She went considerably out of her way to do so. Her only other B.C. appearances on this tour are in Vancouver and Victoria. The long distances between viable comedy markets is one of the reasons she moved back to her home base of Ontario after living a few years in Vancouver.
"I'd look at my rent bills and look at how many dates on the calendar I was out of town on the road, paying all that money to not live there, so I had to change that," she said.
Things are career-busy for Shaughnessy since relocating. She was already well known in comedy circles for good responses at clubs like Yuk Yuks, appearances on The Comedy Network and The Women's Network, plus strong results in the Stand Up and Bite Me competition and all the way to the finals of The Great Canadian Laugh Off.
She says summer is typically slower for the working comedian, but the gigs are lining up for fall.
"I've been on the road since I was 18, and it's not something that I want to do my whole life, but I do enjoy the road. But it wears on you. Ideally I'd like to write a TV show and share my story that way. I think that's every comedian's dream," she said. "Being in Toronto now means I have thousands of opportunities but also thousands of other comics trying to get work, too. It's working out, though. I'm really grateful that this is my job."
The hardest part might be figuring out what an audience wants to hear, she said. If you want to succeed with "comedian" on your business card, you need enough material to handle anything the feedback suggests.
"If they don't like it, you'd better be prepared to shift gears," she said. "Sometimes it doesn't always work out, and sometimes you think you have it but you actually don't, so it's important to pay attention and feel the audience out."
For that you must almost constantly developing new jokes. She said she is one of those who has to give over to the waves of inspiration when they unexpectedly show up. She has less success by blocking off time and forcing the writing.
She describes her style of material as "confessional" by mining the moments of her own life and interpersonal relations dating back to grade school.
Her performances at Nancy O's get underway at 8:30 each night. Tickets are $15.
