Image courtesy of Sled Island’s website.
Monica Urribarri performed as a part of Sled Island Comedy, an event that took place during the festival on Saturday, 7pm at Vern’s.
TRANSCRIPT:
Brooklyn (CJSW)
You say your name to the mic.
Monica Urribarri
Monica Urribarri.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, say it again.
Monica Urribarri
Monica Urribarri.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I hope you guys didn’t get a boner like I just did. Can a white girl speak Espanol?
Monica Urribarri
Si. Yo hablo Espanol e tu?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Pequeño. That means small, right?
Monica Urribarri
Yeah, very out of context. But, yeah, it means small, but in, completely out of context.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Hey, I didn’t say I was a Spanish comedian. That’s for you. Um, so you book Spanish comedians in Calgary. Can you tell me a little bit how you got started on that?
Monica Urribarri
Yeah. So at first I connected to because there was a major headliner from Venezuela who was coming to town, and I was so excited to see him out here, so I messaged the group that was like the entire production of the show, and they allowed me to open for him, which was a very exciting opportunity. But then after that, I got connected with the production team, and now I’m part of the team. And then taking care of, like, the Calgary shows. So they bring, like, huge headliners from Latin America, Venezuela and Mexico, different countries, and then they bring them to Canada, and then they do a tour throughout Canada. So I take care of booking the rooms in Calgary and making sure that everything’s set up for when they come over and, yeah, promoting the shows, doing a lot of different things the day of the show. So yeah, that’s how I got into it. And I’m just like, one person in the team. But it’s very exciting to be able to be part of the Spanish comedy scene in Calgary, because it’s very small.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah. What has the response been like to bringing people from Venezuela and other countries you mentioned, what’s the response from the fans been like?
Monica Urribarri
Yeah, we do tend to have a good audience. Some of the shows sell out. If they don’t, we still sell at least 100 tickets for every show. So there’s been a good audience for that. And also, like the people that we’re bringing are usually comedians that are very well known within Latin community. So that gets them exciting, because they get to see a comedian that normally they would have to see in a major, huge theater. They get to see it in a smaller venue, in a way, more intimate way. So that’s been great. And then I also been able to connect with other comedians like me that are starting out and are also do Spanish, so they want to learn. So sometimes we also have small shows for us that are like trying to grow, or the Spanish speaking shows as well.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s awesome. I don’t actually know this. How long have you been doing comedy for?
Monica Urribarri
I have only been doing comedy for one year and a half, which most people get surprised by, but I’ve been doing it almost every day. So I’ve been doing it pretty hard. And as I mentioned, like doing Spanish, doing English, trying to promote shows, trying to also be at shows, open mics everywhere. If you’re in Calgary and you go to comedy shows, you have seen me somewhere.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Have you always just been a really funny person, like growing up, were you like class clown?
Monica Urribarri
No, I actually was a super shy kid. I never talked to people. I got bullied throughout my teenage years, so I was actually very quiet, and I wouldn’t open up about all of the struggles I was going through, through the time, not even to my family, like my uncle used to say, I was his favorite nephew, because I never bothered him—niece, favorite niece. But I got here to Canada and finally started doing therapy, talking things out. And honestly, if anything, I feel like I’m an introvert, more of an introvert in Spanish than I am in English, because I got to open up more once I got here, and after that, my therapy is because I was doing so much therapy. He told me that I deal with my issues with humor a lot, and he recommended me checking out comedy shows. So I started going to a lot of comedy shows. I became a huge fan for like, six, seven years, until finally I made the jump and got on stage. And it was a very impulsive thing. I wasn’t planning to ever do comedy until a friend told me I was so funny one day, and then I looked up the nearest comedy show that same day and got on, and I haven’t stopped since.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Well, you’re a fucking natural, and you’re so beautiful. You’re so stunning. Everybody just wants to look at Miss Monica. She’s so beautiful. So you talk about dating a lot in your show, which I know this is pretty common for us lady comedians. You know it’s hard out here. We do live in Alberta. Monica, do you have any dating advice for me?
Monica Urribarri
Don’t… I haven’t been dating since I started doing comedy, because it’s taking so much of my life, if anything, I feel like I’m getting married to comedy. Clint, is your boyfriend? Yeah, Clint. Burns manager is my boyfriend, and I love him, and actually, he’s the most supportive boyfriend I ever had, even without being my boyfriend. And yeah, so I haven’t really been dating, and I think I’m much happier now, which is surprising. I mean, eventually I think I will get back out there, but for now, I’m just focusing on, you know, enjoying life and yeah, just enjoying myself, doing comedy, laughing, laughing at night. It’s, yeah, I do have a very tough day job.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
What do you do?
Monica Urribarri
I’m a social worker, so I get to see a lot of people going through a rough time. So comedy, it’s always been my outlet. That’s how I got started in therapy, and it’s still my outlet. So when I talk about dating or talk about things that have been hard for me, is a way of making something that hurt at one point, make it something artful, artsy and funny and happy, and make people enjoy it.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Well, I know everybody here always enjoys you. Whenever I do a show and I bring my friends, I go get ready. This is gonna be, this is gonna be great. And I know Chandler really looks up to you too, like we both talk about you. We both think you’re awesome. Chandler’s, he’s okay. He’s fine. He’s actually in Lethbridge right now, yeah, doing a show in Lethbridge, which is like, okay.
Monica Urribarri
That’s my next step. I haven’t gotten I haven’t really gotten out of Calgary for comedy, and it really would love to do other cities, other towns, get myself out there. But so far as I said, I haven’t been doing comedy that long. So so far, just been focusing on getting good. So when I do get out of Calgary, I can just make everybody laugh, for sure.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I know they will. Thank you so much for doing this, Monica, I really appreciate your time.