The Community EditionA WALK ON HEALTH VALLEY TRAIL WITH SARAH THOMPSON
When pandemic restrictions began to lift, Sarah Thompson, founder and host of Lavender Fizz Comedy, realized her world had gotten too small and took action to create new experiences for herself.
“I made the conscious choice to meet more people and get myself out there,” Thompson said. “So, I just started taking classes in anything I was interested in.”
The decision to try new things led Thompson to the Pinch Cabaret, a local monthly variety show, after a friend gave her tickets. That decision profoundly shaped Thompson’s artistic pursuits, introducing her to a community of performers and collaborators and setting her on the path of standup and improv comedy.
“Comedy is the way that I process all of my varied…particularly awkward social interactions,” Thompson said. “I love to make people laugh, and I love making people happy…I am reconnecting with the part of me that is really light and fun and funny.”
It was also during the pandemic that Thompson discovered the Health Valley Trail where we met for our walk. The trail connects North Waterloo to St. Jacobs, and in 2021, with limited options available for activities, Thompson began exploring the space. She was immediately drawn to the trail’s playful elements, such as the carved Wise Old Oak tree, and the potential to see cows and horses.
“Sometimes I need to get out and quite literally touch dirt or touch grass,” Thompson said. “And I think it’s really important to have accessibility to spaces and trails…to inspire art.”
Thompson approaches standup comedy through storytelling and mining the humour from her lived experiences. It was at a comedy show at TWB, also hosted by Pinch Arts, that Thompson first discovered her inner comic when the host invited stories from the audience, and, after watching only men take the mic, she decided to jump in.
“I feel like a lot of what I do is inspired by ‘well, fuck, if men can do it, then…I can probably do it better than they can’,” Thompson said. “[After the story] someone told me that I was really funny…and it was almost like this moment in my head where I [thought], ‘my God, I’m a standup comic!’”
She began performing at mics locally and in Los Angeles while visiting, but struggled to find her people in the existing structures that were dominated by cis-het white male comics. A year after she started performing standup, Thompson created Lavender Fizz Comedy, Kitchener-Waterloo’s first and only open mic for 2SLGBTQIA+, women and non-binary comics. She hosts the monthly pay-what-you-can event that found a home at TWB Brewing in Kitchener, a space that prioritizes community and inclusion.
“[Lavender Fizz] was born out of just wanting to find community, but also offer community and that kind of safe space,” Thompson said. “Success to me is just the laughter in the space, and seeing other people thrive…it’s such a beautiful, vibrant diverse community.”
We passed through farmers’ fields and along well-worn paths under the tree canopy. Stopping on a newly constructed bridge, we peered down at the water before continuing on to a set of gates where horses greeted us in the idyllic trail setting.
Thompson credits her parents with instilling in her a sense of creativity and the importance of community. Growing up, she watched her mother problem-solve and craft, and her father volunteer.
“My dad [would] walk into a space and know everyone [there] through some kind of volunteerism,” Thompson said. “I was like, I want to be like that. I want to know the movers and shakers.”
Not content to maintain the status quo, Thompson has plans for the future of Lavender Fizz. She is looking to move into more booked shows and wants to get a camera to record sets and provide that footage to comics so they can build their careers. And she has found great happiness in her hosting duties.
“I love riffing, and hosting has really brought that quickness to the forefront and put it on display,” Thompson said. “I love setting people up for success and being the kind of host that I wanted [to have].”
Only a year after launching the inclusive open-mic, Thompson was recognized with a nomination for Oktoberfest Woman of the year in the Arts and Culture category. And while getting a chance to perform and make people laugh remains important, Thompson’s love of building community is at the heart of her efforts.
“There’s so much hate in the world and so much anger and so much hurt, and to be able to turn that off for a couple of hours once a month and to have people share their stories and just come together in laughter…is really beautiful,” Thompson said. “I love that people are willing to do that in a space that I created.”
#2SLGBTQIA_ #AWalkInThePark #AmyNeufeld #artsAndCulture #Column #CraigBecker #HealthValleyTrail #lavendarFizzComedy #lavenderFizz #oktoberfestWoman #pinchCaberet #sarahThompson
Al Mayadeen English
The Tico Times
