2011 – an amazing year!
2011 was an incredible year for me professionally for many reasons. At the beginning of January I was looking forward to returning to London, Ontario to play Madge Larrabee in the Grand Theatre‘s production of Sherlock Holmes, the Final Adventure. I was delighted to have something in the pipeline. In the second week of January my agent called and said that I had an audition for The Railway Children. Rehearsals would start two weeks after Sherlock Holmes closed. It was too good to be...
Read MoreThis week’s gig – it’s a doozie
Wanna see Sandra Shamas (and me) for $10? Here’s how. West End Girls is a monthly all-female stand-up show (featuring one token boy) produced by Daniela Saioni and features many comics who trained, as I did, with Dawn Whitwell. The show normally takes place at Poor John’s Cafe in Toronto’s West End (hence the title of the show) but for the anniversary shows Daniela likes to take it up a notch and have a fancy location. This year we’re performing at The Royal Cinema with...
Read MoreIn the news again
The Brantford Comedy Festival is in the news again! This article appeared in Brant News today. And I get a mention – hooray! I dunno, all this media attention could go to a girl’s head. First The Sputnik and now Brant News – where will it end? I had a blast tonight opening for Tom Green at Chrysalids Theatre in Kitchener. The audience were very responsive and Tom is a super-nice guy. I can’t wait to do it again in Niagara Falls tomorrow night and on Saturday night in...
Read MoreI finally made the big time, ma…
Today I got a hit for “Marilla Wex” on Google Alerts. Don’t judge me. You all do it. The lovely Kiley Bell interviewed me shortly after I won the Brantford Comedy Festival Rising Stars Competition. I was clearly still in shock. I didn’t know what she meant when she said she wrote for Laurier Brantford’s student newspaper. She told me it was the local university. I apologized and explained that I’m foreign. You can read the interview in its entirety here. I...
Read MoreBeing a female comedian
Saw this today on Funny or Die. It’s funny because it’s what dumb guys who like to say women aren’t funny think. What do you think? A Day in the Life of a Female Comedian from Maria Bamford ...
Read MoreOpening for Tom Green – three nights in a row
Jamie Stephens sent me a message on Facebook that I should call him. So I did. He asked me if I would be interested in opening for Tom Green in Kitchener and Niagara Falls as well as in Brantford for the Comedy Festival. I nearly spat my tea all over my laptop. “Yes! Yes! Yes please!” Three nights in a row! Needless to say I’m even more excited than when I won the Brantford Comedy Festival Rising Stars competition. Because it’s three times as much winning! Now I sound...
Read MoreI won! I actually won a stand-up competition!
As you know, I made it through to the finals of the Brantford Comedy Festival’s Rising Stars Competition a couple of weeks ago. Well, tonight was the final. Last year I came second, so I felt like the stakes were really high. When I got there, Jamie Stephens told me that they’d pre-drawn the comics and that I had the sixth, and final, spot. I had mixed feelings: on the one hand, this was a way better spot than I got last time (second); on the other hand – would the audience...
Read MoreI guess a seven month hiatus from stand-up doesn’t hurt…..
Tonight I did my first stand-up set for seven months. And lo – it was awesome. That’s not meant to sound conceited. I was nervous – it was the qualifying round of a competition that I came second in last year. I didn’t have time after Railway Children ended to book an interim gig to do a warm-up set. If I’m brutally honest I nearly cancelled last week – I felt like I had totally bitten off more than I could chew. The last show I did was That’s What She...
Read MoreMarilla 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.