YORKTON – Comedian Myles Morrison is set to headline Yuk Yuk's comedy show at Tapps Jan. 20. Yorkton This Week did a Q&A with the Sask-based comedian ahead of the performance.
Is it your first time performing in Yorkton? Being Sask-based maybe you have some past experiences with the city?
I’ve only performed for private company parties in Yorkton, so I’m looking forward to this show being open to the public. I’ve been to the Yorkton Film Festival before, and that’s a great time. I tried skeet shooting at the wildlife federation, and left without accidentally shooting a toe off, so that was a bonus.
As a Sask comedian, where did you find the space to cut your teeth?
Performing in small town bars all over the province. They were tough crowds in the beginning, so when you got them laughing you knew you really had something. We used to perform in a really rough bar in Prince Albert every week, and we always said it was like training in higher altitude. Sometimes you’d have good shows, sometimes they'd go terribly, but it was great because it didn’t matter. No one was posting about it on social media afterwards. You could just go up and try stuff and see if it worked or not. It was a good space for that if you had the stomach for it.
What made you want to start and which comedians, if any, would you say inspired you to give stand up a shot?
George Carlin, Monty Python & Steve Martin were my favourites growing up. I liked Mitch Hedburg a lot when I started. I was kind of a wild kid growing up; a lot of broken bones and broken hearts, and I had a lot of stories from that, that I thought would work on stage. I had a lot of people telling me I should try it. I had emceed a few events, so I started writing stuff down I thought would work until I thought I had enough material to give it a shot.
You've performed in some of the smallest cities and towns in Saskatchewan and in the biggest cities in Canada. How do the audiences stack up against each other?
There’s generalizations of course. Small town crowds tends tend to be more conservative, and I shy away from jokes about religion there. Big cities tend to be more liberal, and the audiences tend to be more accepting of jokes that push people past their comfort zones. Honestly though, it all feels pretty similar across the board. I try and talk about things that unite everyone, and tell shared common experiences that everyone goes through, so they’re left with a feeling that we’re all the same, and we all have the same dumb things happen to us, and we all have the same dumb thoughts about it, and we should all laugh at it, because humans are pretty ridiculous, and this world we live in is pretty ridiculous, and it’s a relief to acknowledge that sometimes.
These days it seems every comedian has a podcast or some form of social media presence. Do you feel like those things are necessary for success in the industry in this day and age?
Not necessarily. There’s definitely cases where that’s launched comedians to levels they might not have otherwise reached, and it’s important to have a place people can find you, but I think a lot of comics get fixated on social media and podcasting, and they lose focus on their craft, and they chase fame instead, and that can be fleeting. I’d like to do comedy forever, and live audiences are the real gauge of that. If crowds like you, they’ll book you back. I’ve noticed a disconnect between how people feel out in the real world, and what they post about online, so I find the online thing a bit disingenuous. It can be an important tool, but I look at it as more of a distraction.
Honest opinion on the current state of stand up comedy?
It’s in a boom right now, which is cool because the last one was back in the 80’s. There’s pros and cons with that. It’s nice to see comedy in the spotlight. There’s a lot of comedians right now, and there’s a lot of comedy out there that maybe isn’t ready to be out there yet. Comedy is cyclical, it ebbs and flows, so when it’s popular the quality has to dip because there’s so much of it, and then people tire of it. When it’s less popular, those comedians are really fun to watch because they’re doing it for the love of the game. That usually catches on and becomes popular again and the cycle continues.
I watched an older set of yours where you said you've been doing stand-up since your 20s but were back in school, meanwhile it looks like you've got 20+ sets between now and spring. Are you working in a new career and still doing stand-up? If so, how do you find time to juggle it all?
I have a kid too. Yeah, it’s a balancing act, and I’m usually spinning multiple plates. I try not to spend too much time away from family. If work/comedy suffers, that’s ok. Comedy is a marathon, not a sprint. Some people try to rush it, but it takes decades to get really good at it. There’s some pretty big egos in this industry but in actuality none of this really matters, so as long as home life is good, and my priorities are straight, I just try to enjoy the ride.
Current favourite comedians?
Nate Bartgatze, Mike Birbiglia, Gary Gulman. All their new HBO/Netflix specials are great. I have to give a shout out to Chris Gordon who has a hilarious new comedy album called “Industry Favourite” that I think deserves a special mention. It’s one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while. Everyone should check him out.
Anything you want to promote or add?
I’ll be on Comedy After Dark Comedy Festival on Prime Video later this year, follow me on Instagram and if you’re thinking of booking a comedian for your next event check out www.mylesmorrison.com
