issue 6 // volume 44

Combating stigma
through comedy

> Free comedy show takes on mental illness

Caroline Ho
Arts Editor

 

his Friday evening, Stand Up
for Mental Health is bringing

mental health issues to the
spotlight—by laughing about them.

Stand Up for Mental Health
(SMH) is an organization that
aims to overcome both individual
struggles with mental health and
the stigma surrounding the subject.
The organization’s founder David
Granirer, a comedian and counselor
who also has depression, partners
with mental health organizations
to teach people how to develop
and perform stand-up comedy
based on their own tribulations.

SMH is based in Vancouver
and according to its website runs
programs all across Canada, the US,
and Australia, helping participants
gain confidence and performing
at conferences, treatment centers,
government agencies, college
campuses, and more. On October
13, Granirer and the SMH Society are
bringing their experiences right to
Douglas College’s New Westminster
campus with the Stand Up for
Mental Health Comedy Show.

Friday’s show takes place at 7
p-m. in the Laura C. Muir Performing
Arts Theatre. The event is free and
open to all Douglas students and
community members. However,
attendees are asked to register online
beforehand, since limited space is
available in the 350-seat theatre.

Stephanie Haslam, Interim
Manager of Student Engagement and
the one responsible for bringing this
comedy show to Douglas, told the

 
 

Other Press in an interview that she
invited the SMH Society to the school
in order to promote mental health
awareness in the month of October.
Given the stigma around mental illness,
many people are often reluctant or
afraid to discuss how it affects them.
Haslam said that she believes this
show’s humorous approach can help to
normalize the topic and prompt people
to start a deeper conversation around it.
For many individuals out there
who are struggling with mental
health issues and might not be ready
to open up about it, Haslam hopes
this show will resonate deeply and
provide some measure of reassurance.
“T think it makes you feel like you
are not alone,” she said. “Even if you're
not ready to talk about them, you might
be able to relate to the stories that
people are telling or the experiences
that people have gone through”
However, even for anyone who
doesn't think they're directly affected
by these issues, Haslam still very
much welcomes and recommends
attending Friday’s show. Prejudice
around mental health issues affects all
of society, and we all need to realize
that struggles with mental illness are
very common but that they are nothing
to be frightened of. The upcoming
comedy show can provide an opening
for people to talk to friends and family,
and to work together to end the stigma.
Most importantly, Haslam wants
to encourage people on Friday to come
out ready to engage in some much-
needed dialogue about mental health.
“Tt’s time that we start
talking about it,” said Haslam.
“Tt’s time that we make it ... a part
of our regular conversation.”

To register for the event, go to https://www.

douglascollege.ca/student-life/get-healthy.

 

Image via standupformentalhealth.com

arts // no. 7

What does ‘home’

feel like?

> Home Cabaret boasts diverse evening
of local performers on October 13

Jillian McMullen
Staff Writer

 

he City of New Westminster, in

partnership with New Works,
a non-profit dance organization
based out of Vancouver, is hosting an
evening showcasing the city’s diverse
arts community on October 13 at the
Anvil Center. The evening boasts a
multidisciplinary, intergenerational
lineup all demonstrating what the
idea of “home” means to them.

The event is one of five that the
City of New Westminster has planned
over the past year as part of their
Canada 150 celebrations. The Other
Press spoke with Biliana Velkova, the
city’s Arts Coordinator, ina phone
interview about their programming
approach to these events.

“What we are doing is around
collecting community conversations and
community stories about what ‘home’
means to New Westminster,” said Velkova.

People, she explained, can
have vastly different ways of
examining what that means.

“Is home where we sleep? [Is it]
where we feel safe? Home may be the
river. Home is unceded land. Home may
not even be here. Maybe it’s somewhere
else that you go back to every year,’ said
Velkova. “We're looking at the idea of
home ina very broad sense, but also
connecting it back to New Westminster.”

The multiplicity of feelings
towards “home” is representative of
the evening’s lineup, which features
dancers, opera singers, circus performers,
bluegrass musicians, and drag queens.
Beverly Walker—Cultural Programs,
Presentations, and Special Events
Coordinator at New Works and curator
of the event—also spoke with the Other
Press. Walker chuckled as our reporter
pointed out the shows broad range of
disciplines slated for the evening.

“T hope it will be like an old-
fashioned variety show,’ said Walker.

Admitting she did not fully
appreciate opera in the past, she said she
remembered an event earlier this year
when she, like many in the audience, had
powerful reactions to the bigger-than-life
opera singer performing—the same singer
performing at Home Cabaret. People,
she said, reacted so positively, even cars
driving by slowed to see the captivating
performance. Walker would love to see
audience members similarly come to the
event to see one act and discover others
they would have never thought to explore.

Drag performance is another art that
is becoming more and more visible in the
art community. The art of drag has never

had the level of popular interest into it as
right now, making it a very exciting time
for the art form. Walker elaborated on this,
calling it “an imagination of the exotic.”

Despite its smaller size, New
West is proving its arts culture is
equally as rich as Vancouver's.

“We wanted to feature the best
of what's happening right now [in
the city’s arts community], but this
is just a snapshot,’ said Walker.

“New West is a cultural hotbed.”

These types of interdisciplinary
events have the potential to establish
relationships between artists that
may not have happened otherwise,
so Walker says she is excited to see
what types of artistic connections
that may come out of the evening.

“I think this might be an event
where [what happens] backstage will
be equally if not more exciting.”

When asked what has been the
most rewarding part of working on
Home Cabaret, Walker said, “I’m
thrilled to connect audiences with
great art and artists with resources.”

Artists, she said, have to go where the
work is, so the idea of “home,” the theme
central to the event, is often articulated
through the availability of work.

Velkova echoed a similar sentiment.
“We are always really open to having
accessible and diverse programming. We're
always working with different cultures,
different ages, different abilities to
showcase the diverse talent that we have.”

Both Velkova and Walker thanked
a grant provided by the Government
of Canada that helped make this event
possible. Walker added that she has really
appreciated the way the City of New
Westminster has approached the Canada
150 celebrations. The city has made a
point to insist on their celebration of “the
Confederacy” rather than of “Canada,”
something Walker said responsibly
honours Canada’s Indigenous peoples
and the over 40,000 years of history and
arts that preceded European arrival.

If the lineup wasn’t enough to
convince a potential audience member,
Walker urges people to give it a try
as this is a free event and it’s a great
opportunity to “get together with
other art appreciators.” The evening
will feature an artist pre-show chat,
where performers will answer questions
on their work, beginning at 6 p.m.,
as well as an after-show social.

“Tm really proud of what we're doing
here in the city. We have an amazing
community, both artists and audiences,”
said Velkova. “I just want to let people
know that the Anvil Centre is open, that
there’s a lot going on here, and that we’re
always looking to welcome new people.”

€¢ We're looking at the idea of home in a very
broad sense but also connecting it back
to New Westminster.” — Biliana Velkova,
Arts Coordinator of New Westminster