Funny Ladies at She’s Canadian, Eh!

DeAnne Smith: one funny Canadian lady.

If ever there was a doubt in your mind that women are funny (a-HEM, Adam Carolla), please allow me to introduce Exhibit A into evidence: the She’s Canadian, Eh! comedy festival.

Spearheaded by local comic Eman El-Husseini, this year’s festival — its second edition — will feature comedians DeAnne Smith, Christina Walkinshaw, Heidi Foss and Stephanie Tolev, among others.

And it’s not all Amy Schumer-style filth, you guys.

“I find it boring when everybody’s trying to do the same thing,” El-Husseini says, referring to dirty jokes; she says she noticed a lot of women trying to emulate Schumer at this year’s Just For Laughs New Faces shows.

If Canadian comedy is anything, El-Husseini says, it’s diverse — particularly among the ladies. She points to two Jewish lesbians and two Jordanians filling out the opening talent slots for the festival, not to mention that she herself is of Middle Eastern origin.

“Canadian female comics, we’re really different. We’ve got unique styles,” she says. “We Canadian girls kick ass at that.”

But it’s not so much where people come from, or whether they have (or like) vaginas or penises — at least not anymore. “Guys are starting to not see the difference between female and male comics,” El-Husseini says.

She likes to think of the She’s Canadian, Eh! festival as a way to showcase female comics — not because of gender-based adversity, but just because she knows some pretty funny ladies. ■

She’s Canadian, Eh! runs Oct. 4–6 at Club Privateer (1222 Mackay). Opening show on Oct. 4 at 8 p.m.; shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Oct. 5 and 6. Call Eman at 514-802-4253 for info or to reserve, or try your luck at the door. $15