A mentorship program is being run by two veteran comics at Little Mountain Gallery, with support from the city.
Trying to break into comedy is a hard gig, with limited stage time and a competitive field in Vancouver.
But for one group of up-and-comers, a comedy mentorship program is helping them get a leg up in stand-up.
Run by Little Mountain Gallery in Gastown, two veteran professional comedians (Niki Mohrdar and Adam Reed) are working with six emerging comedians to hone their craft. The first of its kind, it’s called the Comedy Residency Mentorship Program and is supported by the City of Vancouver.
“We’re working specifically with groups of people who are typically under-represented in the comedy industry mainstream,” Mohrdar says. “The residency is a chance for them to expand as performers and gain seven to 10 minutes of new material.”
The up-and-comers include folks like Arya Afshar, Lai Lai Liu and Morgan Mitchell. For someone like Mitchell, an optometrist and actress who got into stand-up last year, it’s an exciting opportunity to learn the ropes.
“We all try to make our sets better, stronger, develop a clearer voice, those types of things,” Mitchell says.
Comedians analyze routines like plays at a hockey game
While being funny is one thing, developing a 10-minute set is another. Mitchell has been going out as often as she can this summer, not only to get on stage, but to record her sets for Mohrdar, Reed and her colleagues in the program to analyze, like a hockey team watching tape after a game.
“They can watch both your physicality on stage, and they also dissect your joke structure and the order of your jokes and try to make it more cohesive or tighter, find different ways you can add a punchline or a different way to view a joke to make it hit harder,” Mitchell says.
After a few weeks in the program, she’s got five minutes of material she’s quite happy with and is continuing to sharpen up the rest, she says.
“For me, a couple of my punchlines are working okay, but they’re not hitting as hard as I want them to be. So we’re working on maybe rewording it or if I put it after a different joke, if having more context will get a bigger laugh.
“It really depends on the joke and the structure of whatever you’re trying to work on. But playing around with wording is really important. Playing around with timing is very important,” she adds.
Mohrdar says they’re also trying to push some of the comedians to explore new expressions and physicality on stage.
Having the feedback of professional mentors and colleagues helps the comedians develop more quickly. Comedy, unlike most other art and entertainment forms, has no formalized development system. Most of the time, comics have to figure things out themselves or with friends and family.
There are some stand-up classes, but Mohrdar says those are for beginners.
“For the most part, comedy classes are a chance for those who don’t necessarily have any experience in comedy to dip their toes in,” she explains.
Different generations of Vancouver comedians inspiring each other
The comedians in the program all have performed around Vancouver to some degree, and show promise. They were approached to participate, Mitchell says.
“Comedy is quite a tight-knit group. You see the same comics at all the open mics. So everybody kind of knows everybody and I felt very honoured that Niki and Aaron saw potential in me to be a part of this program,” Mitchell says.
Mohrdar says: “They’re all people we think have already an established stage presence and good writing.”
She adds it’s a two-way street, with the newer comedians’ enthusiasm and curiosity bolstering the veterans’ passion for comedy.
“I’m learning a lot from them as well, and they’re inspiring me,” she says.
While the program is helping the comedians sharpen their skills, they may find it difficult to find places to perform, as Vancouver doesn’t have much in the way of stage space for comedians.
“I think there are a lot of small actors doing a lot of big things for comics in the city. I think there’s been a failure on the part of the city to create more space,” Mohrdar explains.
That said, the group of emerging comedians will get to end their residency with two showcases at the end of the program, performing their wholly honed sets on Oct. 7 and 9 at Little Mountain Gallery.
Comedy Residency Mentorship Project Showcase
When: Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 9, at 9 p.m.
Where: Little Mountain Gallery – 110 Water St.
Cost: $21. Tickets via the project website
Morgan Mitchell is one of the participants. | Brendan Kergin / V.I.A.