Mike Delamont is getting the chance of a lifetime to jump start his career as a comedian.
The Victoria resident is performing on Just for Laughs: All Access airing this Saturday on the Comedy Network.
“It’s a really overwhelming experience. For someone who wants to be a comedian in Canada or anywhere really, Just for Laughs is the biggest comedy festival in the world,” Delamont said. “So the fact that any of the scouts even knew my name was really — I couldn’t wrap my head around it.”
Delamont first started making people laugh with a sketch comedy group in 2004 after he finished high school. Six years later, after a short, somewhat unsuccessful stint of doing sketch comedy in Toronto, a friend suggested he try his hand at stand-up comedy.
“It’s a very different feeling. I like stand-up comedy a little bit better,” Delamont said. “When you succeed, it’s because of your hard work and when you fail it’s because you made a mistake. It puts a lot of pressure on you, but the successes feel a lot better.”
A year and a half ago, Delamont got his first opportunity to audition for the popular stand-up TV show, currently in its third season. A couple of months later, he was surprised to get an email asking him to perform.
Delamont spent the next six months coming up with jokes to fill his six-minute segment, most of which are based on life experiences.
“The biggest joke is that after I got married to my wife, we had some struggles because she is a nurse so she has to get up really early and I’m a comedian so I go to sleep really late and I was always waking her up and she’d get justifiably angry,” he said. “I devised a plan to not wake her up, so that’s probably the biggest bit and I think a lot of people can relate to trying to slip into bed without waking their better half up.”
Delamont’s segment airs on Just for Laughs this Saturday (Aug. 29) at 10 p.m. on the Comedy Network. He will also be performing at the Victoria Fringe Festival tonight (Friday) and will be releasing his first comedy album next month, Mike Delamont Live, which was recorded in Victoria, on iTunes and Sirius XM.
