Ondiek Goes to… a Feminist Comedy Show

Last night I had the pleasure of being able to attend the hilarious (and equitable) Crimson Wave Comedy Show at the Comedy Bar! The event was jointly sponsored by both Rainbow Trinity (have I mentioned before that Haley’s the president?!) and the Woodsworth Inclusive (WINC). I found out about the event pretty last minute. I’ve been cramming and writing this entire week, and for a few days I completely forgot that social media existed. Okay – that was an exaggeration. I was still on Facebook doing my usual educating/creeping, when I finally saw that I was invited to this event. While multitasking typing a final paper and shoving graham crackers into my mouth, I deduced I was too busy to go to the event. But after my word count hit ‘1587/2000’ at 8pm, I decided that I deserved this. Also, Haley agreed to proofread my paper.

I’ve been to a few stand-up shows in my lifetime, but I’ve never been to a “feminist” comedy show, so my third-wave feminist self was naturally very excited to attend the event. Also, the fact that it was located at the Comedy Bar on Ossington, which is directly on my way home , and more importantly 5 steps away from a McDonalds, made the deal even better. So, after meeting in the quad, we left to go on the magical spaceship that is the TTC! And after about 10 minutes of utter vehicular euphoria, we were there. We had to walk on the sidewalk for like 3 minutes too, but I’ll just pretend the subway dropped us off in front of the venue.

We got seated, and the show started. The opening monologue of the show was done by self-proclaimed besties Natalie Norman and Jess Beaulieu. They were absolutely hilarious; I don’t know what I expected from a duo named the ‘Crimson Wave,’ but they definitely lived up to their name. They constantly went there with their jokes, and I cheered as obnoxiously as Regina’s mom in the timeless 2004 classic Mean Girls.

The rest of the acts were funny (and mostly equitable) as well! I had so much respect for the acts that were just starting on the stand-up scene. It takes a lot to be comfortable enough to put yourself out there, and still be witty. They’ve inspired me – maybe one day I will get into feminist stand-up? So, thank you Rainbow Trin and WINC for coordinating this event, I had a spectacular night. I’ll definitely check it out again during the break. It happens every Sunday!  UofT, how do you like your comedy? How about your feminism?