Comedian’s mental health crisis at heart of Certified
Derbyshire’s solo show explores her journey through the health system
I have long considered Loose Moose alumnus Jan Derbyshire an insanely funny comic. What I didn’t know was that Derbyshire was once certified insane.
“It started back in 1998 in Toronto. I used to joke that my erratic behaviour and mood shifts were just artistic temperament, but then I was diagnosed as bipolar.
“I ended up in the psychiatric system, but my real psychiatric land was Vancouver. That’s where things escalated and I was eventually certified,” says Derbyshire, who has turned her experience with Canada’s mental health system into a solo show.
Certified, sponsored by Handsome Alice Theatre, runs in the Pumphouse’s Joyce Doolittle Theatre March 15-17.
Derbyshire’s earlier solo show, Funny in the Head, dealt with how she fell into the mental health system and how she eventually got out. She calls Certified a sequel.
“My story has really changed. I’ve come a long way from the experience as I related it in Funny in the Head. This is a very different show.”
Derbyshire is hoping her play can do what the mental health review board failed to in her case.
“Even if they let you go, they don’t actually certify you sane, which is what I want my audiences to do through Certified.”
Derbyshire says her solo show examines what mental health boards consider crazy and how they treat the conditions.
For years, Derbyshire was treated with drugs but she insists she no longer takes medication, explaining she has “found other ways to navigate my disorder.
“I am proud that I have reclaimed my whole spectrum and am living life on my own terms.”
Derbyshire says she went straight from high school into
Even if they let you go, they don’t actually certify you sane, which is what I want my audiences to do through Certified.
Loose Moose where she gained the confidence to do standup comedy.
“My real ambition was always to be a writer, but standup became the way I could support my addiction to writing. In 1986, I heard that Punchlines comedy club was paying $50 for a standup set. I was there in a heartbeat.”
Certified is Derbyshire’s 23rd play so she feels she’s “had a really successful career as a writer. Eight of my shows are solo shows and I exercise my acting muscles through them.”
Tickets for Certified are $20 general and $15 for students and arts workers, and can be reserved at handsomealice.com or purchased at the Pumphouse box office prior to the show.
The show runs March 15-17 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee on March 17 at 2 p.m.