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From bombs to bad wine

Jen Grant discusses her time in the Middle East, drunk audiences, and homemade wine
JenGrant-Laugh
Photo courtesy of www.jengrant.com

Jen Grant is headed north for Timmins Comedy Festival 2016, and will be bringing bold, yet relatable humour to the city. She's a stand-up festival veteran in Canada, and has become a favourite guest on CBC Radio's 'The Debaters.'

But out of all of her high profile performances, one really sticks in her memory.

"One of the highlights of my career is performing for the Canadian troops in Israel and Egypt. I think that was in 2004, so that was pretty crazy. I was so excited just to be a comic. It was all new, and someone was paying me to go do this, and what an honour. You hear people say 'its such an honour' but it really is" said Grant.

She said it has given her new perspectives on comedy, and in life in general. Despite being a joke teller, entertaining the military is something she took very seriously.

"When you go there your like 'oh my gosh, these people are here at Christmas time away from their family and doing such a difficult job. It just makes you realize how important that particular gig is. I don't think I've ever had a more important gig than that," she said.

Grant recalled some challenging overseas performances, including one for an audience of over 300 people with only 25 English speakers, as well as being the only stand-up comic among a barrage of singers and dancers.

She said was 'pretty nervous' to go overseas to a turmoil hot zone, but didn't think twice. "I don't know if I'd do it again. I know its important to do, but I feel like I'd be more scared now. When I did it before, I didn't really think about it. When we were crossing into Egypt, there was a hotel that was half-gone because it had been bombed. It was a normal looking hotel, it looked like the hotel I had just come from. I was like 'Holy shit, that could actually be the hotel we were just in.'

Grant also has a comedy album titled 'Nobody Likes Your Homemade Wine.' It is a topic she has fun writing about, but thinks she is making a much needed point. The bit usually gets a big reaction from audiences.

"In some small towns, I can tell I'm hurting people's feelings, but it's like 'oh well'. There's always some people who feel nervous for laughing, because their friend is sitting next to them who makes homemade wine, and probably brings it to their house. Its fun doing a joke like that, let's cause a bit of tension here, and you know what, its the truth I'm sorry, but you are not an expert on making wine and why did you ever think you could?" she said. 

So truthfully, has Grant ever had even 'decent' homemade wine? "Of course not. The shitty wines at the liquor store are still a million times better than somebody's homemade wine they made from a kit, from a strip mall. But I guess if you don't really know what good wine tastes like, then you don't care, you're just getting drunk off of shit" she said.

Having performed for much larger audiences than anything she will face in Timmins, the festival will be change of pace and a breath of fresh air for Grant, but she says she loves performing in places where stand-up comedy is not on the marquee very often.

"They really like the show, and they're not jaded at all, and they just really want to see some stand-up, because they don't have a comedy club in their city" said Grant.

"You can feel it when you come into a room. You can feel the buzz, the energy of the room because people are looking forward to it, and the audiences are responsive. Sometimes a small crowd is better than a sold out comedy club crowd. It really depends. Sometimes the right combination of people get together."

The notorious 'two-drink minimum' policy has been a comedy club staple for decades, so Grant says its rare that comedians perform in front of a 'no alcohol' crowd, but adds there is a fine line between merry and obnoxious.

"Its brutal when they're wasted. It's terrible, they can't follow a joke that's why. They have a terrible attention span because they're drunk."

She's not really an audience interaction comic, but will engage in conversation with people if provoked. She also says she doesn't mind hecklers as long as they aren't nasty.

Grant says sometimes an overly intoxicated audience member, just might have a good reason for it.

"You don't know what's going on in anybody's life. The story I'm thinking of is when there was this really loveable drunk, who kept interrupting me, but I wasn't mad because he was so nice. I found out afterwards that he had driven a long way to propose to his girlfriend, and she had said no that night. So I could see why he was wasted and still sitting next to her, that can't be fun."

Tickets for the Timmins Comedy Festival are available for purchase exclusively at Altered Reality on Third Avenue.