No abreevs for the Mayor of Comedy

1 Nov 2022.

A few years ago, I almost died after surgery. When I was resuscitated, I ‘saw the light’, as they say. I was in a huge white space, and there were cherubs flying around my head. One cherub flew nearby and told me that it was all going to be okay. That cherub had the face of Sandra Battaglini.

If you’re a fan of Toronto-based stand-up comedians, you know Sandra. She’s also an actress who jokes that she’s played more Italian widows than anybody. Most importantly, Sandra co-founded The Canadian Association of Stand-up, Sketch and Improv Comedians. The association lobbies for comedians' rights, and she spearheaded a grassroots movement to have stand-up comedy recognized as an art form by all levels of government. For a country that takes pride in all the famous comedians that it has produced, you’d think they’d treat them better. Her tireless efforts were documented in a feature film called The Mayor of Comedy. 

“The Canadian Council for the Arts now encourages comedians to apply, and they just funded a comedy symposium,” she told me over a smart lunch. “Eventually, they [the federal government] will accept comedy. We commissioned an economic study to reveal the various revenue streams available to comedians, like live shows, festivals, TV and satellite radio. The department of finance needed to know how much money comedy contributes to the economy.” 

Now, Sandra is about to release a new hour-long show called Take It Ease. The title may seem weird unless you know Sandra’s most famous shtick. An Italian from Sudbury, her family speaks in Italian accents, and one of the traits of that accent is a propensity to drop the final syllable of many words. Her previous show, for instance, was called Baby Jeez and Other Abreevs. She can’t help it. Recently, when listening to a CBC information report about the Queen’s death, she tweeted, “They really did a great excavaysh on genocide informaysh.”

Take It Ease is a most enjoyable hour with a terrific comedian. I hate to quote stand-up, because context is everything. Suffice to say I loved the jokes about the girl who won’t fuck a flat-earther, or how rubbing lotion on her mother’s buttocks felt like she was cleaning a countertop, or her screaming match with a rude driver, or the bougie rat who ate all her good Arborio rice. It’s a lot of fun.

So getting back to Sandra’s face on a cherub - why her? Well, I had just bumped into her a few weeks earlier on the street . Wow, the world of stand-up comedy is huge. But no matter how big it gets, Sandra Battaglini will always be Canada’s Mayor of Comedy, and that’s something you just can’t abreev.