MAKING COMEDY TRULY ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL
Comedian knows first-hand how difficult it can be for some to enjoy a live show
Montreal comedian Abby Stonehouse feels everybody could use a good laugh these days. No argument there. By “everybody,” Stonehouse means just that.
It’s not comedy content that concerns Stonehouse. It’s accessibility.
Stonehouse knows from what she speaks. She has a moderate degree of hearing loss but can empathize not only with others having to deal with hearing issues but with any impairments that prevent them from taking in comedy or any other kinds of shows.
As the program coordinator at CHIP (Communicaid for Hearing Impaired Persons), Stonehouse has been able to help rectify the situation. To mark its 40th anniversary, CHIP, in conjunction with the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, is presenting Comedy for a Cause: Accessible Comedy for All, Thursday at the Delta Hotel.
The evening is being billed as Montreal’s “first-ever, fully accessible standup comedy event.” The show will be wheelchair accessible and feature closed captioning, T-loop (a special type of sound system for those with hearing aids), sighted guides and, upon request, braille tickets and ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation.
The laughs will come courtesy of, among others, acclaimed Canuck wit D.J. Demers, whose hearing loss didn’t hinder him from making it on America’s Got Talent or winning the Just for Laughs fest’s Homegrown Comic Competition. Hosting the event will be Gael Hannan, the renowned humorist and writer whose hearing issues have hardly held her back, either. Stonehouse will also let loose at the show with a barrage of one-liners.
Interestingly, Stonehouse, who wears two hearing aids, points out that being on a comedy stage is one of the few places where she feels most comfortable.
“That’s because when I’m in front of an audience, I’m the only one speaking, as opposed to being in a noisy bar or restaurant where it’s so loud that I mishear conversations and my jokes can fall flat as a result,” Stonehouse says in the CHIP offices, across the street from Concordia’s Loyola campus.
“Imagine being in a setting with earplugs in your ears. That’s what it’s like for me and so many others just about all the time. Wearing hearing aids is not like wearing glasses, where you put them on and you can see properly. With hearing aids, there are various factors every day to which we have to adjust.”
Hearing loss runs in Stonehouse’s family. Her dad has severe hearing loss, while her aunt’s is more moderate.
“I sort of saw this coming in the years before I got my hearing tested,” she says. “I was having problems being able to communicate.”
But rather than clam up, Stonehouse was able to mine her hearing issues for comedy fodder.
“That and my dating life have been great sources for me,” cracks Stonehouse, who appeared at Just for Laughs last summer. “Human interaction creates a lot of humour. Honestly, sometimes I feel very happy that I have hearing loss, because there are certain things in this world that I don’t want to hear.”
She does concede, however, that she isn’t always able to determine if comedy crowds are cheering or jeering her act.
“That’s actually a good thing,” says Stonehouse. “I’m mostly oblivious to that, so I think everything is good and everybody likes me. But, because of my moderate hearing loss, I am sometimes able to hear if I’m completely bombing a set — which sometimes I wish I wasn’t able to hear.”
Stonehouse’s comedy veers toward the salty side. That’s not normally problematic, except when her father decided to catch her act at Just for Laughs.
“Because of his severe hearing loss, he missed at least 50 per cent of my stuff, which was still a bit disappointing, even if he didn’t have to know intimate details of my dating life. But he still had a great time.”
Stonehouse credits CHIP’s executive director, Heidy Wager, for coming on board to help get this fully accessible comedy show off the ground.
“The beauty of this event is that it’s not just about people affected with hearing loss, it’s about all accessibility — including wheelchair and vision as well,” Wager says.
Stonehouse acknowledges that she is relatively well off compared to so many others.
“I have access to most events in Montreal,” Stonehouse says. “But for people with more profound hearing loss or dealing with wheelchair and vision issues, it can be so very isolating here.”