‘O’Me Nerves’ Laughs Up Thousands for Mental Health

(disclaimer: readers may find audio clips offensive. All ideas expressed are used for comedic purposes only.)

Addressing mental health is no laughing matter, but the Canadian Mental Health Association of New Brunswick — CMHA NB — proves that raising money to support mental health services is.

On the last Saturday of every month, the Fredericton-based organization hosts its “O’Me Nerves Comedy Series” at Grimross Brewing, who provides their venue for free. Comedians like Cory Hartlen also provide their services free of charge.

“I spent a little bit of time as a touring comedian, and I think mental health is something that comedians fight with a lot because you’re alone,” said Hartlen, “It’s not like being in a band where you have bandmates that you can travel around with. You’re almost this transient person going from town to town.”

Hartlen was one of six comics to perform at CMHA NB’s latest show, “City Supremacy: A Tri-City Smackdown,” a debate-style comedy event featuring a pair of performers from Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John. The show, hosted by 106.9’s Ryan “Crash” Barton on March 30, raised $1,245.

Lori Wheeler, director of communications for CMHA NB, said the idea for the series was brought to her by Mark Harnett, a local comedian who was inspired by the association’s “Laughter is the Best Medicine,” a one-time mental health comedy fundraiser headlined by the late Mike MacDonald.

The series started in September of 2017 and has raised upwards of $17,000. All money goes to local mental health services.

But Wheeler said the series also provides an “attainable evening out for couples.” With tickets selling at $10 each, shows have been consistently selling out since September of last year.

Each show centres on a theme. March’s show saw comics take the stage to poke fun at bizarre city bylaws. At the end of each set, the audience gave comics a score which went toward their city.

The city with the most points at the end of the night took home the prize with its pair of comics receiving trophies for their efforts. For team Fredericton, Hartlen was the first to grab the mic. He joked about engineering students, road signs, and the city’s infrastructure.

As a child growing up in Miramichi, Hartlen remembers listening to Mike MacDonald on one of two stations — “three on a good day” — and his CBC prime time shows.

“I’d record those and watch them until they wouldn’t work anymore,” said Hartlen. (Check out a selection from his set below.)

 

Following Hartlen’s lead was Saint John’s Dan Theriault. The 31-year-old father of two tried his hand at stand-up after taking a course through UNB’s College of Extended learning.

Inspired by Dane Cook and Demetri Martin, he pulls a lot of material from his personal life and enjoys making others smile whether its a room full of people or his children.

“I’ve always liked making people laugh. I tried to be the class clown,” said Theriault. “I love making my kids laugh. My daughter, my oldest, she’s two-and-a-half, so she laughs just when I make a fart noise with my mouth. That’s a lot easier than getting up on stage and making a room full of adults laugh. I mean, fart noises are funny.”

Mental health hits close to home for Theriault. He struggles with anxiety and depression, often incorporating them into his act. He sees comedy as therapeutic.

“I’ll write about things I’m nervous about or things like when my daughter was born. I was really worried about that, so I ended up writing quite a bit about the birth of my daughter, getting ready for my daughter. It kind of helps to get it out of my system.”

(Due to technical difficulties, Theriault’s set is unavailable.)

Next up was Evan Steeves from Moncton. Steeves, 27, has been performing for four years, starting in campus bars as a grad student in Halifax. He is inspired by one-liner comics like Mitch Hedberg and describes his style as “one-liner word-play.”

He believes comedy and mental health go hand-in-hand.

“Mental health is super pervasive within comedy,” he said. “There are a lot of comics who are mentally unwell and there’s a super high percentage of comics that actually end up taking their own lives. The fact that we’re doing a comedy show in support of mental health is really important.”

Steeves’ brought the laughter by telling a story about golf in residential areas.

 

After his set, Steeve’s passed the mic to fellow Monctonian, Mitch Colt. With three years of performing experience, Colt returned to the stage after taking a break from comedy to help his friend Steeves represent their city.

A self-described “seasonal employee” of the comedy world, for Colt, “Comedy is a love interest that I keep coming back to, but we can’t seem to make it work.”

Colt’s inspirations are Roseanne Barr, Joan Rivers, and Don Rickles.

“I remember watching their shows and being fascinated by the fact that they were attacking real issues but they were doing it in such a funny way,” said Colt. “When I think of my style, there’s always a goal. I’m always trying to say something with each set that I do, and something I’m trying to prove to everybody.”

He attacked the issue of sexual assault through a bit on banning protective sports gear.

 

Completing team Fredericton was Kaitlyn Adair. Originally from Bathurst, Adair, 29, is a nurse who works in abortion clinics and provides her services as a sexual assault examiner. A “jack of many trades,” Adair is also a yoga instructor and filmmaker with two production companies, “Rebel Femme” and “Feast Media.”

She is a newcomer to stand-up, having started in July. She was motivated to throw her hat in the ring after watching a show that made her uncomfortable because of its sexist content.

“I was like, ‘There has to be something better,'” said Adair, whose comedy heroes include Trevor Noah, Michelle Wolf, and Sarah Silverman.

From there, she started her own comedy show, “Stand-Up for Rebels,” a fundraiser for Clinic 554 and a short film she was working on. She roasted Moncton’s tourist attractions and Fredericton’s animal bylaws.

 

Last but not least was Saint John’s other half, Chris Hovey, a 26-year-old pipe designer for the Irving Oil Refinery. He began performing almost two years ago after seeing an ad on Facebook for a six-week comedy workshop. He’s been performing ever since. A fan of Ron White, Dave Chappelle, and Mike Birbiglia, Hovey relishes in making others bust-a-gut.

“Just about everyone’s had an experience where they’ve been with a group of friends, and they’ve said something to get a laugh from the group. It’s that, just times however many people are in the room. To come up with something that’s just an idea in your brain and then to vocalize it and have an entire room of people respond to it, it’s incredible.”

Hovey’s ideas on Saint John deer had the audience doubling over with laughter.

 

In the end, it was Hartlen and Adair who took home the prize for Fredericton. The series will return on April 27 with a show called “Flood of Funnies.”

But CMHA NB is not just trying to raise money for mental health. They’re also trying to change the language of mental health. Wheeler says one example is changing the term “committed suicide” to “died by suicide” to remove the connotation of a crime.

Many comedians second Wheeler’s sentiments. Colt believes no matter how much money is raised, we need to change the way we think about mental health to make a real and lasting difference.

“The reality is everybody has mental health whether yours is very strong or not. If all of us are not safe, then nobody is safe. We have to pull everybody together with us,” said Colt. “The more we create humour from the things we feel shouldn’t be laughed at, while there will never be a cure for mental health issues, there will be a way to live through it and be happy.”

(To listen to the sets again, check out the playlist below.)