Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall is a local Montreal Comedian, who describes his comedic style as somewhat of a mess! He shares that he doesn’t follow a concrete style, often questioning if he is truly being funny. Catch him in Montreal or on his ‘Two in the Think Tank’ podcast!
How would you describe your comedy style?
A real mess. No consistency of style. Often not funny. I’m not 100% sure it even is comedy.
Who are some of your influences?
Just the usual: videos of people jump-scaring each other, dogs making babies laugh, kids saying the darndest things. I also really love Maria Bamford and JB Smoove.
Who was your favourite comedian growing up?
The reigning monarch of comedy, for me, will always be Mitch Hedberg. He was so good he didn’t have to have traditional joke structure, relatability or even confidence. A real maverick.
Who is your favourite comedian now?
In my mind, I’ve built my own favourite comedian from the parts of comics I adore. I take the hard punchlines of mid-2000s ‘Jesus is Magic’ era of Sarah Silverman, the energy and movement of JB Smoove, the riff-abilities of my friends Matt Stewart and Andy Matthews, and the body of a horse.
What is your pre-show ritual?
I have no idea what I’m doing. I just have some bits that have worked in the past and I try to know which one of those I’m gonna perform on stage before I go up.
What is your favourite place you have performed? Why?
Really, I just enjoy any place with hot welcoming ears to speak to. (I’m sorry about how disgusting that sentence was)
What is your favourite bit you have written and why were you proud of it?
I currently have a bit about Baboon Asses that almost works. And the theoretical future version of that bit, the one that does work, that’s my favourite bit.
What is your favourite medium for listening or finding new comics/comedians?
Hard to beat being in a lineup with someone to discover how good they are. But I guess YouTube is really where it’s all happening now, everybody is releasing their specials there for free. Reels too. But gigging with people is the best way
Tell us a joke about your city.
At the exit of the metro in Montreal, I love having to heave on those unbelievably heavy doors while the door calls me a ‘poussez’.
Do you have anything to promote right now?
I must always promote my life’s work, the ‘Two in the Think Tank’ podcast. Me and Andy Matthews come up with sketch ideas on it. Here’s a 20-hour video of our 400th episode where we come up with 400 sketch ideas.
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: Who is another local comic/comedian we should know about?
Since I arrived in Montreal last year I have been very generously allowed into many corners of the scenes here, both English and French. There are endless good people and so many places to get up on stage here. I’m forgetting heaps of people but in the English scene, I’m thankful to the 3rd Floor Comedy Club guys, everyone from The Comedy Nest, the PolyMic and MTL Comedy Club. In the French scene, Le Bordel and Le Gong Show guys, Le Terminal and Balthazar and all the rooms he runs and the opportunities he’s given me.
Also, I’d love to mention, there’s a thing that I’ve heard for years about French/francophone comedy, mostly from Americans, that it was ‘years behind’ English standup and they mostly just made fart sounds and funny faces, and while I don’t know what things were like before I moved back to Montreal last year, but as someone who’s doing both, the french scene right now is full of incredible comics, at the same level as the comics I’ve seen in any English speaking scene, full of hard-hitting punchlines and stories and well-structured sets and everything. They may even be too good to be honest.
