Comedy troupe takes on Canada and US
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Kalle Benallie
ICT
The “Red, White and You!” comedy troupe, four of which are Indigenous, have known each other for years and are embarking on a sketch and stand-up comedy show for the first time across Canada and the U.S. So far it’s been a hit.
On their first tech run for their show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the tech guy said he’s seen a lot of shows at the theater where the audience will tune out after an hour, but for “Red, White & You!” the audience and staff were engaged through the entire hour and a half show.
“That’s something the audiences can look forward to, is a show they can’t peel their eyes away from,” Ryan Moccasin, one of the Indigenous comedians on tour, said.
Moccasin, Saulteaux of Saulteaux First Nation, describes the show as having absurdist themes rather than heavy themes. He said every single person in the show brings a unique perspective on comedy from the communities they grew up in.
Dakota Ray Herbert, Dene of English River First Nation and Dylan Jay Williamson, the only non-Indigenous person in the troupe, originated the title of the tour back in 2017 with just them in mind. The tour never happened. Then in 2023, it was decided that some of the members of APTN’s The Feather News — Moccasin, Danny Knight, Cree of Muskoday First Nation and Shawn Cuthand, Cree of Little Pine First Nation — to join the couple and tour.
“I think having Indigenous voices collectively, you can make something greater than the sum of our parts. We also have our diversity hire in our group, the White guy to even things out. If we get pulled over he’s one to talk to the cops for us, right. He gets us out of jabs,” Moccasin said.
Williamson said he has learned a lot about Indigenous humor working with these Indigenous comics, and that Indigenous people are great laughers.
“If they find something funny they will let you know. They’re very down to earth and love to laugh at themselves and have a lot of inside jokes that I’m only starting to learn about,” he said.
Knight said their audiences thus far have been diverse. He said someone commented that the show is so funny and inoffensive since they do make jokes about identity, racial issues and mascots.
Knight said one of the challenges but one of his favorite parts of being an Indigenous comedian today is that growing up he would hear Indigenous jokes that were racist and derogatory, but today’s social climate has reduced that and given Indigenous comedians like Knight to tell their own stories and make fun of both their people and non-Indigenous people.
“I’m not playing up stereotypes, you know what I mean? I kind of talk about the racial differences between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people. It’s kind of fun to see non-Indigenous people squirm and laugh at the same time,” he said. “It’s a nice space for us and I think it’s really beautiful that we’re here to tell those stories and our jokes.”
Herbert said it’s been exciting and motivating to see the surge of work for her Indigenous peers.
“I love seeing all the success exploding across my social medias. It feels encouraging, and makes everything in the industry feel closer and more attainable,” she said.
How they started their comedy journey
Cuthand said he started his journey through sobriety. He started doing stand-up comedy with Knight who then he met Moccasin and they joined APTN's The Feather News, gaining experience in writing skits and show making.
“We also started running our own open mic show in Saskatoon just to get more stage time and practice because there’s not a lot of stage time in Saskatoon. Sometimes we only get to practice twice a month,” Cuthand said.
He and Knight have been co-producing a fringe show called “Full Metal Comedy” at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival. They won best local show in 2023 and will be back again for the fourth year.
Moccasin said he started in the Saskatoon area by going to an open mic in late 2017. He considers himself a writer first and a performer second. He has a background in writing from freelance journalism to creative writing. He started APTN’s The Feather News that parodies media and government from an Indigenous perspective.
“That’s how I got into it, just writing and having that creative expression. Stand-up was a big part of that that kind of took everything to the stratosphere. Seven years later — still doing it and will probably do it till I can’t do it any more,” he said.
Herbert began her journey in children’s theater, where she met Knight. She would go to open mics in the evening after rehearsing and performing during the day.
“This allowed me to rapidly develop my sets and stage presence and comedic voice, and foster new friendships and work connections. Touring is an important part of growing your voice and network, and I was able to do so while touring in theater,” she said.
Knight has always been around the stage due to his dad, Chester Knight, being a Juno award winning singer-songwriter. He toured around Canada and the U.S. playing music and still plays. Then he got into acting.
“One day I saw Dakota do stand-up and I was just amazed at how well she did, how funny she was. She inspired me like ‘wow man I actually would love to do that too.’ I always loved watching comedians growing up,” he said.
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Knight then linked up with Cuthand to try their hand at it. Knight said he loved when he told his first joke and people laughed. He said the comedy tour has been special to him because he gets to utilize his theater background in sketches, be a comedian during stand-up and play some music.
“It’s such a wonderful experience getting to tour with my friends, my colleagues and yeah I’m so excited for this whole thing,” he said.
Although Williamson has lived in the two biggest comedy cities in Canada, Toronto and Vancouver, he said he always gravitates back to the prairies.
“My years of experience in stand-up has eased my transition into the sketch elements of this tour. I have really been enjoying the new challenges that this tour has brought over a traditional stand-up show. In comedy if you become stale you become unfunny so this has brought a fresh sense of excitement to my comedy,” he said.
American audiences vs Canadian audiences
Knight said he knows that comedy can be regional. As in Canada, there has been a lot of work done in reconciliation and audiences are catching on to what’s happening with Indigenous people in Canada.
Cuthand said he’s excited to see how their comedy travels because in the beginning of his career he experienced the different receptions of jokes depending on location.
“I remember trying to do a joke that revolved around the buffalo like you had to at least know some things about the buffalo to get the joke. I was so used to doing it in Saskatchewan and people just (laughing) but in the states people were looking at me. I was like ‘oh, you guys don’t know much about the buffalo here do you? I mean I was like why would they they’re in Chicago,” Cuthand recalled.
Moccasin also kept his jokes inline with colonialism and reconciliation but tweaked them a bit for the audiences to be more accessible when he first performed in the U.S. in California.
“If you can front load your jokes with context I think that saves you a lot. The more information you give the audience the better. It’s not like you’re there to just educate them but if you add context to your jokes then get into it,” he said.
The format for “Red, White, and You!” is each comedian gets 10 minutes per sketch and 10 minutes per stand-up. There is audience participation in the show as well.
Their last stops will be in Boston on April 9 and New York City on April 13.
Advice for aspiring Indigenous comedians
“Don’t. Leave all the money for us please,” Knight joked. “If you think you can do it just start doing it. If it sucks, it sucks, but eventually you get good so don’t stop.”
Cuthand said if you’re in Saskatchewan you have to go to one of their open mics.
“Lately it’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been actually having a lot of people from the reserves come to the city to just do open mic and they’ve been killing it,” Cuthand said. “You’ve just got to go for it and try it. Once you’ll try it, you know. You’ll know.”
Moccasin said to not do it and go to law school or med school instead. But really he advises to get on stage, start writing, support local comedy, get out there and see what happens.
“We all have voices. We all have that central narrative. We’re kind of living in a cool time right now where people are understanding the history and the collective history that we all share in America and Canada, our relationship with Indigenous people. We’re at a cool time where we can just have fun with that and we can poke fun at colonization, reconciliation and all that,” Moccasin said.
Herbert said it’s been a great time for Indigenous artists. They are becoming more and more visible with opportunities coming quickly their way. While they still face racism from audience members and peers in the industry, she said it’s not to the extent that it was even 10 years ago.
“There are more of us booking shows, running productions, consulting for companies, and having deepened roots in comedy these days, and we all know there is strength in numbers. We aren’t afraid to speak up and out when there is injustice and racism because we feel secure in the industry,” Herbert said.
Ultimately, Herbert envisions the troupe having their own sketch comedy show. She sees how much talent there is in Saskatchewan that she hopes to develop Saskatoon’s comedy, TV and film industry to ensure work there. She said once they’ve increased their following and release more sketches, she plans to approach producers and networks with a pitch.
“We have such a strong Indigenous comedy scene, and many of us have our foot in the door of tv and film, it would be a shame if we had to move,” Herbert said. “I’ve got a vision for our troupe including guest stars, writers, directors, etc, all of whom would be the ‘You!’ in our troupe!”
Herbert sees how this tour has given them a chance to win over some fans in larger cities and provide the opportunity to shoot and launch their live sketches for online consumption, resulting in the deepening of their roots and grasp in the industry.
“Business matters aside, it’s just simply important for me to see our Indig-majority troupe performing to help be a part of the visibility boost we are witnessing. We are proudly Indigenous, and proudly hilarious, and we’ve got a quality production that can be enjoyed by all!” she said.
Dakota Ray Herbert and Dylan Jay Williamson’s interviews were received through email.
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