Laughter great medicine

Laurent d’Entremont

Over the years, because of my act as a storyteller/comedian, I have been invited to perform at many different places - places that I would never have gone otherwise.

For example, just recently I had the pleasure to be guest speaker at the RCMP’s Southwest Nova District regimental dinner at White Point Lodge in Liverpool. The RCMP were celebrating their 75th anniversary in Nova Scotia, having first assumed provincial policing responsibilities and becoming our province police force on April 1, 1932.

These RCMP functions are fun and rich in customs and traditions. They always have a professional piper who pipes in and out the movements of the high-ranking officers of the regiment. As the evening’s guest speaker (comedian in this case) I sat at the head table next to assistant commissioner Ian Atkins, along with the mayor of Liverpool, the RCMP chaplain, and other prominent officers of H division.

My role, besides comedian, was to follow the assistant commissioner and march to the tune of the bagpipes everytime we moved within the assembled officers. I found this most amusing and joked with Staff Sergeant John Warr and Staff Sergeant Frank Landry, “If the boys at the coffee shop could only see me now.” The RCMP are a most wonderful group of men and women to entertain (for the second time). They really appreciated corny humor.

Some of the other places at which I have entertained are the Nova Scotia Stamp Collectors in Halifax, Acadian functions in French at Grand-Pre, the Nine Mile River Jamboree, a country music festival organized by singer Joyce Seamone at Fox Mountain near Aylesford. There was a tour with an assemblage of storytellers on Isle Madame, Cape Breton. Some time ago I told my stories to the seniors at Northwood Manor in Halifax. At the other end of the scale, I did the same storytelling with local school children many, many times.

Other gigs were at shopping centers, libraries, banquets, office parties, festivals, car shows, writers’ workshops, radio stations, local TV - even at a prayer group, and I was once asked to cheer up a group of stressed out school teachers.

I enjoyed, in recent years, being the guest speaker at the Fieldwood Heritage Society in Canning and several times I entertained the VON nurses and the stroke victims in their care.

Many doors were opened because of my storytelling and when former premier John Hamm and his entourage were on a farewell tour in West Pubnico, they were good sports and laughed to a rendition of local stories at an early morning breakfast meeting. The former premier sent me the nicest letter of appreciation afterwards.

A good experience as a comedian was at the Seniors’ Expo in Halifax when singer Rosemary Clooney was the headliner. This was about 10 years ago. Clooney gave a first-class performance. She was very affable and smiling as she reminisced with her audience about her earlier days in show business and fondly spoke of those she had worked with, people like Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, for example.

Security was very tight at that event and I was backstage when Rosemary made her exit and if anyone had hopes of getting her autograph it was not to be. The famous singer, who was escorted by two security guards, was sporting a look on her face that could have stopped a clock…she spoke to no one. In fairness though, by this time she was very much ‘weight challenged’ and I was told afterward that she was in extreme pain because of this.

Those were some of the places and events that made my life a bit more interested than it would have been otherwise.

There is one more place that I just love to return to over and over again; it’s the Wilf Carter Night in Canning. In Canning, I feel completely at home and just love that audience. (Of course, I love all the audiences). I am sure all the performers at Wilf Carter Night feel as I do because they also keep returning there time and time again.

Stand-up comedy and storytelling, just like writing, is something that entertainers do simply because they love doing it. If we can make people laugh and forget their problems for 15 minutes, or entertain them with our stories then it is all worth it.

Every now and then, like all public speakers, I am bound to unintentionally ruffle somebody’s feathers, but I stick to my golden rule of comedy - make yourself, your accent, your culture and so forth the butt of jokes, keep your act clean and, above all, never offend.

laudent@hotmail.com