Stand Up For Your Sisters: That’s What SHE Said

Toronto’s hilarious all-female stand-up troupe stages their third annual fundraiser to benefit Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto

Group shot of SUFYS on a fire escape by Roman Sekyrka. Layout: Screen Images.

When it comes to comedy, Toronto is a hotbed of humour. And now more than ever, female comics are claiming a significant part of the spotlight. “The time has finally come for women to stand out in comedy,” says Daniela Saioni, comedian, producer and organizer of the all-female stand-up troupe the StandUp Sisters. “It’s in the Zeitgeist. I sincerely believe that Toronto is undergoing a comedy renaissance, and this time, it wears a dress.”

After two sold-out successes, the StandUp Sisters (including Saioni, Marilla Wex, Rhiannon Archer, Becky Bays, Shelley Kidwell, Lianne Mauladin and Muniza Rauf) return this month with That’s What SHE Said, their third annual fundraiser to benefit Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto, which takes place on Monday, January 24, at Hugh’s Room. Saioni launched the event three years ago and so far they have raised over $17,000 for Gilda’s Club.

This year’s show features Canadian comedy stars Laurie Elliott, Nikki Payne, and Sandra Shamas. “In the past three years, word of mouth has grown about this show and we sell out earlier and earlier,” Saioni says.

Saioni started the StandUp Sisters with some of her classmates from The Second City Training Centre in 2008. Most of them had only been doing stand-up for six months when they built their first show in 2009. “Looking back I think we were nuts,” she says. “We had lawyers, doctors and Bay Street people coming to the show. Who did we think we were?” And they were shocked when the event sold out. “We thought, oh my God, now we have to be good!”

The idea for the Gilda’s Club show was born out of a need for more stage time. “When I was starting out, there were an equal number of men and women in comedy,” Saioni says. “And yet when I did shows I noticed that if there were 10 comics on the bill, at least eight of them were guys.” By creating venues that promote women, Saioni is reversing this trend. She also runs a monthly all-female stand-up room called West End Girls at Poor John’s Café (1610 Queen Street West).

Daniela Saioni. Photo by Ian Brown.

At the heart of the StandUp Sisters’ success is veteran comedian and teacher Dawn Whitwell (who will perform as a special guest at That’s What SHE Said). She mentored Saioni and the others in the troupe when they trained at The Second City. “I love these girls,” she says. “And I’m so proud of them. I’m also grateful to them for helping to create the momentum of women in comedy.”

Whitwell considers the group’s  influence “pivotal” to the Comedy Girl classes she teaches at The Comedy Bar. She started the classes after serving as a juror for the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award. “I thought for sure I would nominate a woman,” Whitwell says, “but it seemed like there wasn’t enough new female talent out there. Then it gradually came to me that I should try only teaching women to increase the presence of women on the Toronto stand-up scene.”

And Whitwell isn’t the only seasoned female comedian to support the StandUp Sisters. Elvira Kurt hosted their first show in 2009, and Jo-Anna Downey (who hosts the two biggest open mikes in the city at Spirits Bar & Grill and Eton House on the Danforth) headlined at the last show, The C Word, in January 2010.

“They see the value in what we’re doing,” Saioni says. Last year Sandra Shamas called and she nearly dropped the phone. “She had never seen a bill of all women like that and asked if I could squeeze her on,” Saioni says. “I nearly died.”

As a monologuist, Shamas isn’t accustomed to performing five-minute comedy routines (her highly anticipated new show Love Life opens on February 16, 2011). “I’m not a stand-up,” Shamas explains. “But I needed to be there. And I got to see all of these amazing women who I didn’t know existed. I laughed so hard. Nothing is more charming to me than women standing on stage holding forth. It’s my people. I had been craving community and I sort of found them all at once.”

The StandUp Sisters aren’t just standing up for laughs, they’re also doing it for a very good cause. All proceeds from the silent auction and ticket sales will go to Gilda’s Club. As a cancer survivor herself (she found a tumor in her arm while organizing last year’s charity show), Saioni became a member of the organization and knows first-hand how great it is. And what better way to raise money for cancer care than through comedy.  Gilda Radner would be proud.

When: That’s What SHE Said: January 24, 2011, dinner and silent auction at 6:30 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m.

Where: Hugh’s Room, 2261 Dundas St. West (a half-block south of Bloor).

Tickets are available by calling 416-531-6604 or visiting hughsroom.com, or contact Bonnie Dean at 647-377-4317 or media@standupforyoursisters.com.

Read the follow-up post about this show here.

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