It was the night I’d been waiting for. The night where winning the Brantford Comedy Festival Rising Stars Competition paid off. The night where I got to warm up the audience for both Seán Cullen and Tom Green for the Saturday night show of the Brantford Comedy Festival.
As part of my prize I got to stay in the Best Western Plus in Brantford. Before I drove down on Saturday afternoon I Googled the hotel to get directions and took a look at their swankiest rooms. Little did I know I’d be staying in one of them. Yes, that is a jacuzzi bath in the left-hand corner and a fireplace in the background….
Thanks to Jamie Stephens I had already opened for Tom in Kitchener and Niagara Falls so I wasn’t as incredibly nervous as I could have been. After checking in, dancing around my giganto hotel room and getting changed I met Tom in the hotel reception and his driver John took us to the Sanderson Centre. I felt right posh.
The theatre is beautiful – it was built in 1919 and has a large auditorium. It is easily the biggest venue I’ve ever done stand-up in.
The first set went well and Dwayne Doucette managed to get some great pictures of me onstage (click on the first thumbnail and click on Escape at the last image):
Right after my first set opening for Seán I was whisked away to be interviewed by Brant News – you can see that interview below.
After being interviewed I rushed back to the wings to listen to the rest of Seán’s set – it was awesome! I’ve never seen anyone improvise so well and so much in a stand-up show. He managed to get a whole ten minutes’ material out of just one sponsor…..
After the interval I did another set for Tom – it went really well and I was relieved and happy to be able to sit back and watch all of Tom’s set knowing I’d done a good job. After the show I had to sign a bunch of autographs and had a whole lot of pictures taken with sponsors and audience members. It was really fun.
It was Jamie’s birthday so after the show I went with him to Gus and Guido’s (the venue for the Rising Stars competition itself) where I had a well-earned pizza and (ahem) several pints. Needless to say I slept very well in my king-sized bed back at the Best Western Plus.
Thanks so much to Jamie Stephens, Tom Green and Seán Cullen for a wonderful night. It’s not one I’ll forget in a hurry.
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Marilla who?
I am a British-born actress and stand-up comic who does lots of voice work (for commercials, cartoons and corporate clients) and sometimes, when I'm very lucky, tv and film. When I was in England I did mostly theatre. Now I'm in Canada I spend the majority of the time writing and performing stand-up. When I'm not making episodes of Talking Bollocks, that is. And that's me for you.