White Rock’s Lisa Person doesn’t seem like the usual brash personality most people associate with stand-up comedy.
A freelance graphic designer by trade, she’s naturally quiet and reserved, and freely acknowledges she’s a little older than many of her colleagues currently challenging the boundaries for women in the Vancouver-Lower Mainland comedy scene.
As she remarked at the opening of a monologue at one of the raunchier showcases she played, “I know what you’re thinking – shouldn’t you be scrapbooking?”
Anyone who has sees her comedy sets quickly realizes that she’s possessed of a sharp, dry, quirky sense of humour and a knack for observing the ridiculous in everyday life.
She can definitely ‘go there’ when it comes to more adult-oriented material, but her humour depends more on coaxing audiences down one avenue of thought, only to hit them with an unexpected zinger.
Local audiences will be able to discover this rising – and hardworking – comic’s style in I Am Woman! Hear Me Laff! a new two-hour show featuring four women stand-up comedians coming to Surrey Arts Centre, Wednesday, March 9 at 8 p.m.
Person is the opening act for the evening featuring well-known Vancouver-area comedians Tanyalee Davis, Katie-Ellen Humphries and Christine Lippa.
Men should find their share of laughs in the show – it’s not just a ‘women-only’ evening – but patrons should be aware that the humour is likely to venture into the ‘blue’ side of the spectrum.
“This is a very lucky opportunity for me,” she said. “This is the biggest show I’ve been in, in the two years I’ve been doing comedy.I’ve made a lot of progress in the last year and I’m really happy about it.”
Person draws many of her laughs from themes of dating, sexuality and aging – although she notes that the material she develops couldn’t be described as strictly autobiographical.
“I will start off with something from my life, but it will get totally twisted so that, in the end, it’s not about me at all,” she said.
“But it usually starts off from some truth.”
She’s learned that editing – paring down jokes to a few key words – is an important tool for a comedian, as well as taking every opportunity to hone bits and try new material in front of live audiences (she reckons that she’s at showcases and open-mics four to five times each week.
“That’s the only way to get better, even for experienced comedians. And you can never predict the jokes that are going to work best with audiences.”
One of her tried and tested bits has to do with her unconventional choice of venue for first coffee dates, in which she quips that she never chooses Starbucks, because there are too many college-age girls there.
“That’s a routine that always gets a laugh, no matter what audience I play to,” she said, adding that she has developed both risque and ‘g-rated’ versions of some of her jokes, depending on the venue.
Surprisingly, Person confesses that going into stand-up comedy was a recent, unplanned development for her.
“I always enjoyed watching it, but never gave any thought to doing it,” she said.
Also a singer and songwriter, she started penning witty, humourous songs to perform at open-mic showcases.
“I was very self-conscious about my singing and guitar playing, so I thought the only way to deflect attention from that was to write amusing songs. I took my first stand-up course at Lafflines Comedy Club because I thought it would help my performance.”
The irony, she said, is that stand-up has taken her away from the music.
“The audiences are different from music audiences – they tend to be less patient. They need more rapid-fire punchlines than a song can deliver.”
But she doesn’t regret the new development, she said – and doesn’t even mind being in the situation of having to warm up a crowd for other comics.
“I’m just very happy being in front of an audience,” she said.
“I enjoy stand-up. It’s very addictive – after a while it’s hard not to do it. It’s a unique art form, even if it is very demanding.”
Surrey Arts Centre is located at 13750–88 Avenue; tickets ($25 to $40, including all fees) are available from the box office, 604-501-5566, or online at tickets.surrey.ca
