Comedian Martha Chaves finds funny in being an outsider

If Martha Chaves' comedy career were a child, she says it would be old enough to have been kicked out of the house already.

The Nicaragua-born Canadian comedian has been honing her craft for more than 20 years, and it all started with a class.

"I took a [comedy] course because I had studied translation and I wanted to be able to have self confidence when I talked out loud," Chaves told the Calgary Eyeopener.

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Graduation day for the comedy class meant a stage performance. That's when, Chaves said, she was hooked. 

"They say comedy is a calling, and I felt the calling," she said.

The self-professed comedy nerd said in those early days, she didn't have internet or cable, so her access to other comedy sources was limited. But living in Montreal, Chaves said she got her fill every year by attending the Just for Laughs comedy festival. 

She performed in her first Just for Laughs gala in 1998.

'Rage and depression'

"My humour comes from things that make me mad. I operate in two feelings — rage and depression," she said.

Chaves said much of her comedy is based on her observations as an outsider that give her fresh perspectives on Canadian life.

"Although I am Canadian, I didn't grow from the ground here in Canada, so there are things for me as an outsider that would always be funny," she said.

Her act has taken on everything over the years from Rob Ford to the very Canadian custom of indoor shoes. 

"Then I write about my shortcomings, which are a lot," she said.

"They say that people have to speak truths to power, well I'm bullied by everything — I'm fat, I'm short, I am gay, I am older than the established age that people should be in show business and I speak truths to power all day just to defend myself."

Chaves will be one of five comedians performing at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Saturday night as part of the CBC Radio Laugh Out Loud program's 10-year anniversary celebration.

She will be joined on stage by Laugh Out Loud host Ali Hassan and comedians Derek Seguin, Tim Nutt, Dave Hemstad and Big Daddy Tazz.

For more info and tickets visit the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity website. 

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener​