Empow(her)ment brings new voices to stand up
DANELLE GRANGER, CONTRIBUTOR
Lauren Cochrane laughs with the audience at Empow(Her)Ment at The Park Theatre on Nov. 27. THE PROJECTOR/Danelle Granger
Chantel Marostica organized an all-local, all-female comedy night at The Park Theatre on Friday, Nov. 27. According to Marostica, the comedy scene in Winnipeg is dominated by male comedians.
“There are far fewer women on the Winnipeg Comedy scene than men. There are a lot of reasons why that could be. Feeling outnumbered is one reason why one might be afraid to start trying stand up,” said Marostica. “But that’s why we have nights like Empow(her) ment and open mics for women, to create safe spaces for women.”
Marostica represents LGBTQ people through her comedy and thinks it’s important to stay authentic to herself in her comedy.
“I represent LGBTQ people by being an out-gay performer, so it’s very important to make others like me feel their voice is represented properly, so I’m very proud that I’m so authentically myself on and off stage,” said Marostica.
Marostica’s goal of having comedy nights with only female stand-ups is to make safer spaces for them to do stand up comedy, and to talk about social inequalities and feminism.
INFOGRAPHIC BY VANESSA OGIBOWSKI
“It’s very important for women to use comedy as a platform to discuss social inequalities and to advocate for themselves as feminists,” said Marostica.
Comedy is a different experience for every person, and we all teach our lessons and share our views somehow in our writing and performances.”
Kenny Kolada, a RRC student, is impartial to the idea of feminism in comedy and thinks comedy shouldn’t have any restrictions.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a male, female, straight, gay, or whatever. If you’re funny, you’re funny because everyone finds different things to be humorous,” said Kolada. “It shouldn’t matter what the person’s age, sex, race, or sexual preference.”
Kolada thinks that comedy is a positive way for students to cope during exams.
“I do think that by going to comedy shows, or keeping a humorous attitude, is good for a student around exam weeks,” said Kolada. “It’s a good way to stay positive and reduce stress when feeling so overwhelmed.”
