To transform from Brian Majore into Kil Gan K'aas, now that is a funny story. The young Haida student chipped away at post-secondary education, finally earning his degree from UNBC after nine years. When he did, his aunt Dorothy gave him a traditional name that reflected whom he had become. The translation: Funny Storyteller.
Majore scrabbled through amateur nights, open mics, opening for the openers of the opening acts, signing up for any stage time that might get him a bit closer to his goal of being a professional comedian. Today, he is both a university graduate and an acclaimed standup comic.
As a leading "funny storyteller" he wants to break ground for the next generation. He doesn't want anyone else to have to embarrass themselves like he did over a prolonged period of time to earn the comedian chops. He wants them to embarrass themselves right away, next week, in front of a live audience.
Majore still remembers when the realization flashed that he wanted to do standup as a profession. He was in a class with professor Heather Harris at UNBC. She was teaching indigenous humour, looking at how it shows up in legends, poetry, novels, movies, etc. At the end, the students were expected to make a presentation on the subject. Majore did it as a standup routine, combining some real-life experiences into a humourous vignette. He blended the time he got to cash a large cheque with the thoughts he'd had about being the actor in the Crime Stoppers reenactment ads on TV. Hilarity ensued, he got a perfect score from Prof. Harris, and he was on his way.
Majore is one of many Prince George comedians who are "killing it," as they say in the business when things are going well. One of his buddies is Jon White who was recently the cover boy for Scene PG Magazine, had a feature article in The Citizen, and celebrated his 100th stage performance only a couple of weeks ago. "In the article, Jon talked about how he got his start at an amateur competition a few years ago, and that got us all thinking," said Majore. "There hasn't been another one of those contests. We get a few newcomers show up at our gigs and ask us about getting some stage experience, and we try to make that happen for them, but we knew a big contest was a way to get a bunch of them out together without so much performance pressure and feeling nervous about approaching us."
The Newbie Comedy Contest kind of lays it out plainly. If you're a rookie in this rare form of performance art, this is your time. That could mean you've never had a minute of public stage time, or maybe you've found yourself at a microphone five or six times, you know if you're new in the game. The organizers aren't sticky about that sort of accounting, they just want to coax emerging talent out of the woodwork. It's happening Nov. 24.
Ok, fine, at long last, quit badgering, I'll do it. That was the mock exasperation the contest evoked in Neelam "Penelope" Pahal. She is one of the newbies already signed up to take part. She has been hanging around the live comedy crowd for awhile, enjoying the local talent and their imported headliners, and her quick-witted personality was noticed. She's been getting gentle nudges to get up on stage and the contest brushes aside all excuses. It's only six minutes of her time, and she is excited to feel the sparks it will ignite.
"I've been writing a lot. I've got a lot to talk about," said Pahal, knowing the best tickle trunk of material for a comedian starting out is personal experience. Write what you know. "I was born and raised in Prince George but when I got to Kindergarten I couldn't speak English, only Punjabi, so yeah, I've got stories. I've seen some things."
She has an inner dialogue that drives her humour, she said, so she's working to hone and refine the mental voice first, then take the next step to externalize everything.
"I do have a couple of people I can bounce things off of," she said. "But my boyfriend likes subtle humour and there's nothing subtle about me, so I don't know if I'm getting a true reading. I can't wait for an audience to be there."
She is already promising Majore the Newbie Comedy Contest will not be her last appearance. "Look out, I'm rolling now," she laughed.
The more people who attend the show on Nov. 24, the more money the winner gets. A panel of veteran comedians will act as judges (Virginia O'Dine, White and Majore) with the audience acting as the weighted fourth judge. Tickets are $5. First comedian takes the stage at 8 p.m. and there is virtually no maximum number of newbies, said Majore, they will start the headliners after the last rookie, no matter what time that turns out to be. Each contestant has a maximum of six minutes for their set, but it can be shorter without penalty.
It all happens at Nelly's Pub at the Northwood Motor Inn. Information and registration can be found on Facebook under the Newbie Comedy Contest event listing. Majore encourages contestants to sign up in advance, but if someone gets the nerve that very night, moved by the spirit of comedy, they can sign up on the spot and perhaps start their journey to being a funny storyteller.
