Comedy for the community
Truro meme page looking for local contributors
TRURO – Comedian Evan Mumford has operated the Hi, From Truro Instagram meme page since October 2021.
Now, after moving to Victoria, B.C. last summer, he’s looking to the community to keep the page alive.
“It was super fun while I was in Truro,” said Mumford, a Bible Hill native. “I had my finger on the pulse of what I could make fun of. What was fair game and what was going on.”
The Instagram page is a gallery of memes about the town. Whether it be poking fun at people who obsessively check obituaries in the Truro News, or how many cartwheels one can pull off on Inglis Place, there’s no doubt that Mumford had hit a comedic sweet spot within the community.
“It was a really good, positive thing,” he explained. “What’s kind of good about this community is the outpouring of cynicism. A lot of people that live in Truro don’t really love it, but there’s a lot to love. There’s a lot to make fun of too. It’s a bonding thing.”
Mumford has been practicing comedy since 2014 when he first took the stage during an open mic night at a university in B.C. to great crowd responses. After moving back to Truro in 2021, the meme page became a refuge for his clever Truro-centric bits, enjoyed by over 4,000 followers.
“It’s part of my comedy act. I talk about Truro because it’s a funny town, but I also have a lot of love for it,” said Mumford.
PASSING THE TORCH
Since his move back to B.C., Mumford admits that he’s let the page fall by the wayside for other endeavours.
This shift in focus led him to think about the pages’ future and a possible change in posters.
“When I have some time, I’ll make a meme or two and post it, and people still seem to react quite a bit, but I just got to thinking … it’d be kind of a fun thing to pass it on to somebody if someone were to be interested.”
While Mumford would still be an admin on the page, posting the occasional meme, he would like to see the page become community-oriented, with one or more people making their own contributions.
For those unfamiliar with creating memes, Mumford said he’d be willing to teach the tricks of the trade.
“Part of it is passing it on,” Mumford explained. “I want it to be this communal Instagram page that people can possibly share in the future, once we get a couple of people on it.
“One of the big things about it is just me being from Bible Hill. I’d love to throw it out there for anyone who grew up in Truro proper, or Millbrook. It’d be awesome for them to get involved, as well.”
Mumford hopes to push forward with his comedy. As an aspiring writer, his dream is to start writing for television, specifically sitcoms.
The page has helped him in that endeavour, said Mumford.
“As far as writing, it certainly (helped). You have to edit it down to a certain character limit, you have to match with an image that you think is broad enough that people will laugh at it, but not too broad that its niche to Truro, which is a tough line.”
Though he’s taking a step back from the page, Mumford is delighted he had a chance to make different sects of the community laugh with his posts. It’s also given him a new respect for his hometown.
“I’ve gained a broader respect of the town, and the people in it. People in Truro are sincere, but also willing to poke fun at themselves.
“I would make these jokes that I thought might be crossing the line, I’m sure some of them may have crossed the line at specific groups, but then I get someone from that group mention to me that they shared it with their friends and they’re having a blast.”
Anyone interested in posting for the Hi, From Truro Instagram page, is asked to email hifromtruro@gmail. com or message the page directly.