Comedian’s hard work pays off
David Green took home the title of 2017 emerging artist at the St. Catharines Arts Awards Monday night.
Green, who has been doing comedy in the Niagara region and beyond for about nine years, says he was surprised and humbled by the win. “It’s emerging, but it’s been a long time. A lot of hard work over the years. It’s nice to be rewarded for all the stuff that’s been happening.”
Green says he first decided he wanted to do comedy when he was living in British Columbia, watching a lot of the television show Curb Your Enthusiam. He says he decided then that he wanted his own TV show — a sitcom.
“I was like, how do you get that show? You’ve gotta be like Jerry Seinfeld. You’ve gotta become a comedian first and then go from there.” So that’s exactly what he did. Green now performs frequently, as well as building major projects, such as his Niagara Falls show Live on Queen with David Green, a movie filmed in the Niagara Gorge called Gorge, and the Garden City Comedy Festival.
He’s currently working on making his dream of having his own sitcom a reality, as well as another shortfilm called Old Town, with the same people who created Gorge. The short-film will be set in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Green’s comedic style uses a lot of wordplay, puns and clever humour combined with a thick English accent and John Oliver-esque mannerisms.
He gives one joke free of charge.
“Did you hear what happened to the head of the fruit farmer’s association when he showed up for the plum festival? He was im-peached for being im-peared.”
Green says some of his inspirations are Mitch Hedberg, Gerry Dee and Jeffrey Stroop.
He gave a four-minute performance at the award ceremony, which will air on TV Cogeco at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Green says the win isn’t just a win for him, but for comedy. “It’s not just me that’s emerging, it’s comedy in general in St. Catharines.”
Twitches and Itches Theatre was also named 2017 emerging artist at the awards ceremony, which took place at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.