Zillah Ferguson on comedy, roast battles and Toronto’s unique scene

As a newbie to Toronto’s comedy scene, Zillah Ferguson makes it easy to want to jump in.

Also a writer, critic and occasional judge — she was one of our roast battle judges at The Green Line’s Action Journey event about the city’s comedy scene — Zillah is a ball of light. Her love of comedy is infectious, and I hope this chat helps you get a little more insight on Toronto’s comedy community.

You’re a writer by trade and have now recently made your way into stand-up. What has that experience been like?

Well, I’ve always loved comedy for me. It’s always been an escape from so many things, so I’ve always had a love for it. And now, being a comedian, it kind of fused with my love of writing.

Two years ago, I started professionally writing for Parton & Pearl doing comedy album reviews and that has been a dream. I’ve always loved writing, and to be able to do it professionally is really nice and has been such a dream; so that kind of transitioned me into, also around that time, judging roast battles.

Now, I’ve actually started doing stand-up myself and I’m still very new in it, but it’s been fun to have the pressure shift to a different facet. So instead of being on stage for the majority of time, [doing stand-up is] just maybe five minutes that you have to hit. So the way in which you’re organizing what you’re presenting is different, and it’s not as impromptu as it would be with the roast. Because even though I will write jokes for the roast and prepare in advance, a lot of the things are impromptu because I don’t know what jokes the people that are facing each other are going to tell, so that always adds that element of surprise.

Even though [stand-up and roast battles] are in the same vein, they’re different energies. It’s all performing and going on stage; what really changes your perspective is how you approach them. When I’m doing the roast battles, I’m a part of the team, but when I’m doing a show for stand-up, it’s akin to being in a play, but then having your own role where it’s just you on stage for that one monologue.

Ariel Kagan and Brandon Sobel run the Backroom Comedy Club in the Christie Pits Pub’s basement, where they have a show every single night from Wednesday to Sunday. It’s nuts, but they truly love comedy.

So they do shows where you could go up and do a musical number, but then you could also do stand-up, and then you could do something a little bit more scripted or whatnot. They have all different types of shows that are themed.

I like that because it’s not just one set form of comedy that people are used to. Some people may be turned off by old formats, or it doesn’t appeal to them necessarily. But it’s good to have the wide variety and breadth of shows so that you could find something that works for you.

What’s an issue in the comedy scene that you feel isn’t spotlighted enough?

There are a lot of really funny comics who aren’t able-bodied like us, and maybe they rely on some type of assistive technology, and they just can’t get into the actual physical space of where a show is.

I know for a lot of the venues, they’re old; we have a lot of old buildings. But for a lot of the new ones that are coming up, that’s something to keep in mind. Comedy Bar [Danforth], that’s an accessibility friendly location where people who do need wheelchairs to get around or other types of assistive [technology] can actually get into the show, and that makes such a difference. A lot of those comics are getting booked on shows that they can’t actually go to, and that’s so unfair because then they’re not getting the exposure that they need. That’s just a disservice to everybody, you know? Because you could be experiencing somebody so funny, but you really can’t just because they’re not there.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.