Sex, booze, Hollywood and rehab – words one might not expect to hear in the routine of a young comedian who got her start in Ottawa’s Yuk Yuk’s clubs.
But for Tracey MacDonald, who returned to play Ottawa last weekend for the first time in nearly three years, her new turn in tumultuous Tinseltown seems the perfect fodder for jokes.
“I noticed that I wanted extra soy milk in my coffee on the plane on the way here,” she says with a signature snigger. “But being back here I have a lot of good memories. I guess I feel like I’m a lot happier now, but people in L.A. get a lot of therapy so that could be it, a lot of sunshine and therapy.”
Now 33, MacDonald’s first introduction to stand-up came when a friend dared her to compete in a campus comedy competition at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Soon afterward, the young comic set her sights on Ottawa’s up-and-coming comedy scene where for six years she solidified herself as a natural performer and as an audience favourite.
“Comedy has recently gone away from the content of the material to the detriment of the audience, it’s more about flash over substance,” says long-time Ottawa Yuk Yuk’s manager Howard Wagman, who arranged MacDonald’s very first amateur night appearance ten years ago. “But with Tracey it’s always been about well-crafted, well-written jokes.”
MacDonald credits these jokes with winning her the grand championship on the short-lived CBS remake of Star Search in 2003.
After winning four challenges in a row she competed in the finalist round, walking away with a cash prize of $200, 000 which she used to relocate to Los Angeles.
“Obviously that experience helped my career,” says MacDonald.” But in many ways it put more pressure on me to ask myself what I could possibly do after that.”
Now a sought-after comedic writer as well as a frequent face at comedy hot spots such as Harrah’s Improv in Las Vegas, MacDonald says that returning to her Ottawa jumping-point is a rare pleasure, but that performing is no less nerve-wracking than when she first started.
“Comedy is always bigger than you are, no matter where you are,” she says.
“Whatever level of success any comedian is at, when they get into any comedy club whether it be in Seattle, Los Angeles or in Ottawa, it all depends on how the crowd is feeling.”
For the sold-out crowd who turned out to the new Yuk Yuk’s venue on Elgin Street April 2, MacDonald’s brash one-liners and self-deprecating attitude seemed the perfect fit.
“She did well the whole time and right when they started losing a bit of energy she pulled them back in,” says local comic Alex Wood, who was one of four opening acts for MacDonald on Thursday. “She’s a very consistent headliner from what I’ve seen”.
“Yuk Yuk’s has always been so good to me,” says MacDonald. “For me, getting to live in L.A. and be around writers and actors and performers all the time…it’s like I get to live my dream. But the fact that I can still come back to Canada once in a while makes it all the more perfect.”