Emergency five turns into regular gig

Kaitlynn Brightnose’s first foray into standup comedy was what many people would categorize as a waking nightmare.

She and her brother were checking out an Indigenous open-mic night when host Paul Rabliauskas approached looking stressed.

“We got there and half the people who signed up didn’t show,” Brightnose, 35, says. “He asked my brother. My brother said no. Then he came up to me and said, ‘You have five minutes.’”

Brightnose agreed and tried to play it cool, but inside she was panicking. She asked her brother for advice.

“He told me to just tell my funny stories like I’m trying to make my mom laugh,” she recalls.

And that’s exactly what she’s continued trying to do for the last three years. Brightnose has become a regular at local open-mic nights and at the Bannock Bums showcases at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

Friday, she will perform on her biggest stage yet during the Indigenous Comedy Showcase ahead of Jim Gaffigan’s headlining set at the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival. The event is a new partnership between the national festival and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.

“Laughter is medicine. … It’s how we celebrate together, support one another through hardship, and find joy in everyday life,” Grand Chief Gerry Daniels said in a statement.

Brightnose, who grew up in northern Manitoba near Pukatawagan, is excited to share the spotlight with friends and fellow up-and-comers Jeff Gobeil (who is also presenting The Crown Witness Is a Stand-Up Comedian? at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival at the West End Cultural Centre) and Noah Robinson.

“All three of us started on the exact same day at the exact same show. I call them my comedy brothers,” she says.

Audiences can expect Brightnose’s set to include plenty of silly and embarrassing personal stories.

“Other people have described the way I do comedy as having tea with your auntie. I try to make it so the people in the audience feel like they already know me,” she says.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com