“Am I the only one that thinks it’s kind of fucked up that they sat all the Indigenous people at the table that says ‘reserved’?”
Chris LaPointe, an Indigenous comedian, joked about the booth reserved for the comics at Ollie’s during the comedy event, titled “Got Land?” held at Carleton on Jan. 15, to a roar of laughter from the packed room.
The event, the first of its kind at Carleton University, featured a lineup of Indigenous comics and a ‘token white guy’ for diversity.
Flipping the colonial notion of tokenism on its head, the comedians aimed to make serious issues—such as racism, missing and murdered Indigenous women, and water bans on Canadian reserves—more accessible to the audience through biting humour.
Janelle Niles, producer of the show, sat down with the Charlatan just before headlining the act.
She said the lineup of Indigenous comics share a community. Each member of the group takes turns hosting, headlining, and performing at different shows.
“Everybody feels included in that we’re all equals because we’re all comedians,” Niles said. “It’s like being a classmate … Everybody’s trying to get that 4.0, but they’re still a classmate. We all have that same goal.”
“We’re stronger together than ever apart,” she said.
Although she has wanted to be a comedian since she started writing jokes at 14, Niles didn’t start pursuing comedy seriously until she conquered the barrier of post-secondary education at Algonquin College.
“I’m in my second year in massage therapy now, but when I first got to college, it was a stepping stone for me because I was 10 years out of high school, and I didn’t believe I could,” Niles said. “Once I overcame that barrier, that boundary, it was shooting for the moon.”
“If I can overcome this in my life, maybe I can do the next step and overcome comedy,’ because that was the next thing I was scared to do,” she added.
Niles said she began her comedy career on Jan. 14, 2019—a year before her headlining performance at Ollie’s.
Niles said her friends recorded her first-ever comedy performance a year ago, and when she sat down to watch it on the anniversary, she saw how much her comedy has grown.
“I don’t even recognize that person, that comedian’s different from the one I am today, and it just shows your progression,” she said.
Although she still gets a bit nervous, Niles said the feeling of being on stage is like no other.
“It’s fight or flight. It’s your sciatic nervous system going up to 110,” she said. “It’s an adrenaline rush that, while you’ve felt this adrenaline rush [before], it’s a different monster.”
“You can use that energy or you could get lost in it,” she added. “It all comes to time, the more you’re up there.”
Inspired by comedians Charlie Hill, Don Burnstick, and Dave Chappelle among others, Niles said what motivates her comedy more than anything is the message behind it.
“They all had one thing that really was expressed through their comedy and it was either trauma or culture,” Niles said. “I saw that, and I’m like, that’s where I need to be.”
Describing her comedy as a mixture of gallows humour, dark humour, and observational humour, she said she is still trying to find her own comedic voice.
“That’s how everybody starts in comedy. You kind of mimic the people that you admire until you find your own voice,” she said.
Although it tackles serious topics, such as Canada’s relations with Indigenous peoples, Niles said her comedy is meant to be inclusive.
“When it comes to comedy, when we bring up those topics, it’s in such a way that they [the audience] feel included in the conversation and not attacked,” she said. “We’re just trying to let you know that this is still happening. We’re still here.”
“If you’re in the vicinity of these jokes, you are included in these jokes. Whether you feel like you’re the victimizer or the victim, get that out of your head,” she continued. “We are now a family.”
Dominique Van Es, the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) Mawandoseg Centre coordinator who reached out to Niles to bring the event to Carleton, said she did so after watching the act at Eddy’s Diner.
“My boyfriend is non-Indigenous, and he went to the show in September with me and there were times when he was unsure whether he should laugh or not,” Van Es said. “I think it comes with a lot of different ethnicities or other races—you can laugh at yourself, but you don’t like it when other people laugh at you.”
“But I do think no matter what the joke was … it’s meant for all sorts of people to come,” she added. “I don’t think people should feel uncomfortable. It’s all just good fun.”
Van Es said events like the comedy night provide opportunities for communities to come together to support one another.
“This is a good way for everybody to relax a bit and talk about maybe sometimes hard issues,” she said, citing Canada’s history with Indigenous people.
“If we are constantly yelling at non-Indigenous people about all these wrongs and what they should do better, they’re eventually just going to tune out and not want to listen,” Van Es said. “But, if you are able to make them laugh, they’re much more receptive to whatever you’re saying.”
Van Es added the Indigenous community at Carleton can be “out of sight, out of mind,” so having events like this helps bring Indigenous voices into the spotlight.
“If people aren’t actively seeking out Indigenous resources or like Indigenous events, specifically non-Indigenous students, they’re not going to really go to it or be exposed to it,” she said.
Niles agreed with Van Es, and added she wants her comedy to spark deeper conversations about issues facing Canadians that are often overlooked, and in order to do that, everyone must feel like they can speak.
“A lot of people have that in the back of their head, they want to ask a question, but they don’t want to appear ignorant,” she said. “Sometimes they want to find the answer without asking the question.”
”They say that comedy is the last form of free speech, and I’m taking full advantage of it.”
Although Niles has accomplished so much in just over a year, she said her dreams are even bigger. In addition to her dream of performing at Just For Laughs, the Montréal-based comedy festival, Niles said she would love to have a Netflix comedy special in the future.
“If I ever have a Netflix special, a big portion of it—and you can say this verbatim, too, if you’re listening to me five years from right now—I would give a portion of my Netflix special to my reserve and I would donate this to help build houses or fix our roads because we definitely need it,” Niles said.
Niles said it is very important for her to feel she is giving back to her community, adding that she is inspired by the activism and generosity of Indigenous comedian, Don Burnstick, who has given back to the Cree community throughout his professional career.
“The only person who can sell you is yourself,” Niles said of how difficult it can be starting out as a comedian. “You have to go to those open mics you have to go to those clubs, you have to get your face known, you have to get your name known. You have to do the work.”
Niles reflected on her year-long career by sharing an anecdote between herself and a comedy club owner that had taken place a couple of months ago.
“The owner called me by my name, he didn’t know who I was,” she said. “I was there for like a year. And I was like, there it is. Finally some recognition.”
Featured image provided.
