A conversation with some of the Just For Laughs 42 comedians
Chanty Marostica, 31, is the winner of SiriusXM Canada’s Top Comic competition in 2018 and was nominated for Comedy Album of the Year at the 2019 Juno Awards. Their JFL solo show is taking place at 9 pm on September 24 at Comedy Bar. <i/>
The Strand: Do you remember the first joke you ever told?
Chanty Marostica: It was about when parents reach a certain age, they have to get a mom haircut. How when you have to get the mom haircut you wake up with a note under your pillow that’s like “Time to get a bob!”
How did it feel recording a comedy album? Were you thinking about the recording when you were performing? Does it feel weird to listen back to it?
I know that I’m a visual performer, so you have to see me to really get what I’m talking about. I’ve been told in really negative ways, where I won’t get a radio spot because they won’t understand. But it’s like, Steve Martin and Robin Williams have albums where it’s just laughing, and you have no idea what’s going on and they sell millions of those. And people love my album, even though they probably have no idea what’s happening. But I’m also aware on stage that I’m doing a recording which kind of gets you out of the moment. Jeremy, who did the recording, editing, and mixing of my album was so wonderful to me. He sent it to me like 1000 times, because I kept being like “ It expired, I didn’t listen to it” because I hate the sound of my voice, because I’m trans and I sound like a woman. Listening to it to get it edited was really hard, but once I started listening and once, I listened to the final cut, I was like “Oh, I’m pretty good at comedy!”
Would you like to record another one?
Oh, of course. My albums will just mark the steps that I’m taking through my transition and also in my journey as a comedian. It’s a stamp on a place on your life. A lot of the jokes on my album are about being a lesbian, or about my experience in the first 34 years of my life. For me, it was kind of like a love letter to myself and to the woman that I grew up and was. I’ll never be able to tell a lot of those jokes again. It’s like being able to look back at a scrapbook of your life but through your own comedy, so I hope to record another one next year.
What’s your favorite subway station?
Museum station. I’ve never actually been in it, but I love stopping there. Also, when you go over the bridge to Broadview, that’s kind of like where I’d like my ashes to be thrown out the window of the subway because I love standing up and just seeing that as such a beautiful view. And then I can send all the texts I’ve been working on.
What advice would you give to university students, first year, fifth year, fans of comedy or otherwise?
I would say if you’re doing something because you owe it to someone else or because you have to do it, don’t. Trust your gut and do what you want to be doing. Life is long and you can do a million things. Just trust your gut. Life is long but it can also be very short.
If you couldn’t do comedy what would you be doing?
Nothing. That’s the only thing. I don’t have any other transferable skills. I have a nice voice, but comedy is my world. Making people laugh is the most important thing that I can think of.
Any other shows or events you’d like to promote in Toronto?
After my solo show on the 24th is my Tranniversary party. I’m throwing a special show to celebrate one year since I came out at JFL 42 last year. It’s gonna be a big ol’ bash at Comedy Bar to celebrate all of the comics that I mentor and the trans community and myself. I’m also going to be holding the first multi-festival queer showcase, I did the first JFL queer showcase in March and then all of the festivals come out in October. They showcase comics in mainstream comedy but there’s a whole queer comedy community with hundreds of comics that will be overlooked so I reached out to them and I’m throwing the first one. I’m gonna be showcasing ten new voices that need to be seen by this festival.
What’s it been like mentoring younger comedians?
I would say that it feels like work, but it doesn’t. There was a lot of comics wanting to take me out for coffee and pick my brain and ask me where they can go that’s safe and it just happened too many times so I was like, you need a space and you don’t have it, and I have the means. I have enough of a name, and I have nothing to lose by standing up for other people. I started shows to create space for them. It feels like what I was meant to do.
Speaking of finding spaces for people, my goal with Stranded this year is to try to find a place for marginalized groups to experiment with comedy that makes them feel represented. What advice would you give us (editors) encouraging everyone to feel comfortable contributing, or to people who want to contribute but feel scared?
If you feel scared it’s probably because you feel alone. The most empowering thing you can do is be the first voice. There’s not a lot of trans people of colour doing comedy, there’s a lot of groups that we’re missing from the LGBTI2SA+ rainbow. If you are the first voice, it’s safe for other people to come out and share theirs. Being a pioneer is really hard. We’re in a time where we just have to be the stepping stones for the people that come after us, so you just gotta do it. It’s also recognizing that if you’re trying to lift up other people’s voices, your voice isn’t the most important. It’s about listening and unlearning and learning how to be an ally. Sometimes even if you feel like you are the most marginalized person in a room, there’s someone more marginalized with less privileged than you don’t get to be in that space. If you have a story to tell somebody else has that same story.
That’s what I liked about your comedy as well, knowing that people can connect to those kinds of jokes in a way that they haven’t necessarily seen before.
It’s incredible. I was always told that my story wasn’t important. Funny is funny, but if someone’s like “I don’t get this” then it’s not for you. My voice is really important, and I was always told that it wasn’t. I realized that if I thought my voice was important that other people would as well. If I had to be the first one, then so be it. It’s so rewarding to know that so many people needed to hear my jokes and needed to hear my voice and didn’t go to comedy clubs and didn’t enjoy stand up until they saw what they’re seeing now.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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