Andrea Peek
Fresh to B.C., wise beyond his years, and no longer living with his mom and big sister, Canadian comic, Mayce Galoni, 22, has arrived on the west coast.
The Canadian funnyman opened to a near sold-out crowd for Gerry Dee at the McPherson Playhouse on May 16.
Self-described as “the little spoon while spooning” or “the side chick to a lesbian,” Galoni's wit has been winning over audiences on his Canadian Tour with Mr. Dee, whom he met at Just For Laughs in Montreal. On Dee, “He is exactly who he is on stage as he is on the show. Exactly. He does crowd work so well.... something will happen to him the day of, that he’ll walk on stage and just start talking (about something that)... occurred to him five minutes before the show which blows me away and (Gerry) does it so naturally... Not only crowd work but whole bits he is doing off the top of his head”.
Galoni moved up through the bar circuit in Ontario where he had his start in the “seedy” world of magic. One of his first shows in a biker bar, “probably because the owner had a crush on (his) mom,” he joked. “You would think bikers wouldn’t like magic…. And you would be right.”
However, writing jokes for his magic shows resulted in notebook after notebook of material and at the age of 15, he starting thinking about giving stand-up a try.
Growing up in Binbrook, Ontario — two hours south of Hamilton — Galoni joined a Hamilton comedy community. He gives props to fellow comic Manolis Zontanos who mentored him and helped navigate the comedy industry.
But the call of love took Galoni to Vancouver, BC, to join his girlfriend, Sophie Buddle, where he will be testing out his trademark nerd style in clubs throughout the Lower Mainland and the Island. Galoni compares his process to his girlfriend's: “(Buddle)... is also a comedian and can come up with jokes on the spot and make a little note and remember it later. I go and do something and later sit down and collect my thoughts and come up with stuff". His future plans involve making a “good” comedy album, he’s made one before but you probably can’t find it. He can tell you it’s called PRAYING TO SEE BOOBS — another self-deprecating joke. Could this kid be more Canadian?
If you like to see a neighbourhood “nerd” with high energy talk about his self-deprecating struggles then Galoni should be your new favourite comedian.
Here are his thoughts on writing comedy plus bonus tips.
1— Write as much as you can, even if it’s shitty.
2— Say yes to any show, whether big or small or far drive or in an alley or behind a head shop or whatever. Say yes to everything. Then learn to adapt your act to that.
3— Do a lot of stuff with family and friends. Comedy isn’t everything. You need a perspective. It’s important to make that a value.
4— For guys who wanna save a buck in the shower… use palmolive. He recommends the original scent.
5— If you want to know who drew multiple “peni” on the Yuk Yuk’s room in Victoria he may have a lead for you.
If all else fails he’s always having a good “eyelash day”.
Twitter: @maycegaloni
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maycegalonicomedy/