Lou Currie is a Toronto-based comedian who found her comedic voice through a lifelong love of humour, fueled by a family that embraced laughter as both a bonding tool and a coping mechanism. Starting with a background in musical theatre and sketch comedy, Lou eventually gravitated toward stand-up, honing her craft in Toronto’s vibrant comedy scene.
Known for her quick wit and theatrical delivery, Lou blends storytelling, satire, and music to create a unique brand of comedy that’s both clever and delightfully absurd. She’s performed at renowned venues like Buddies in Bad Times and the El Mocambo, with career highlights including her first professionally filmed set at Gag Reflex. When she’s not on stage, you can find Lou hosting an inclusive open mic in Liberty Village or co-producing Good Boy Comedy, a dog-friendly standup show at Black Lab Brewing.
How would you describe your comedy style?
What if Rosie O’Donnell was a Gen-Z who wrote folk punk songs that were really way less folk punk and way more theatre kid than intended because she couldn’t shake the vibrato she was initially trained with?… That’s not me, but like, what if, y’know
Who was your favourite comedian growing up?
I was big on the cast of SNL I grew up with (which everyone kinda is), but I was truly so obsessed with Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey…fun fact, I was too young to know who Sarah Palin actually was as a kid so I thought Tina Fey actually *was* Sarah Palin and she was just a whacky sketch character…so I went as her for halloween and showed up to Girl Guides in full garb and kept proudly proclaiming “I can see Russia from my backyard”…Insane behaviour in hindsight, but also I was 7, I didn’t know what a republican was. Whoops. Later into my teens I fell in love with John Mulaney, Kurtis Conner (he’s the reason I applied for humber comedy and also I made a massive fool out of myself by doing some hardcore fangirling the first time I met him, thank you for being so cool and kind Kurtis!), and finally Mae Martin, they are currently doing exactly what I wanna do with my career and they continue to be a massive inspiration for me.
Who is your favourite comedian now?
Most of the same ones from my growing up, I still love today-Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Colin Mochrie, but currently I’m obsessed with Caleb Hearon, he’s my #1 standup right now for sure. Saw him at Comedy Bar a couple of years back and genuinely laughed so hard I was near sobbing. Shoutout my friend Liam for buying me that ticket, love you pal. I also adore Cat Cohen, Bowen Yang, Gianmarco Soresi, and Chris Fleming.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Usually I have a lil panic-y moment before I leave the house, where my wonderful boyfriend Daniel will calm me down as I speedrun and yell my set throughout the apartment (love you honey!), then i’ll go to the Broadview & Danforth Tim Hortons where I will get a bagel and an iced coffee which will promptly be nervous pooped out 5 minutes before i’m due onstage. Sorry if that’s too vulgar, but I truly would be nowhere without my pre-show poop.
What is your favourite place you have performed? Why?
This one’s hard…I’ve had a lot of great shows in traditionally crappier venues and some absolute bombs in really nice rooms…I gotta go with the El Mocambo though, playing there was really cool. I love performing at a spot with a lot of history, and the Elmo has had so many legends play there.
What is your favourite bit you have written and why were you proud of it?
I wrote a joke about how, as a nonbinary person with two dogs named “Orbie” and “Socks”, straight people often think my dogs are my other they/them friends because of their names…I then go on to list a really ridiculous scenario where my dogs have patchwork tattoos and own an art gallery together. It makes no sense and is honestly just an excuse for me to talk about my dogs, who are little monsters whom I love.
What is your favourite medium for listening or finding new comics/comedians?
Open mics, honestly! I run an open mic in Liberty Village at Ontask Studio, and it’s my favourite way of meeting new comics and creatives. I try to keep it a really safe and inclusive room, so people tend to get more vulnerable and try new stuff, and it makes me really really happy.
Tell us a joke about your city.
I have a whole song about my rocky relationship with Toronto, but don’t worry, I’m not gonna copy and paste the lyrics. But when I perform it live, I do an intro bit where I talk about how I grew up living in Oshawa and Peterborough, and Peterborough is basically just Oshawa with horses. A deeply silly bit, but also really accurate for anyone who has also lived in either place.
Do you have anything to promote right now?
My aforementioned open mic (come hang out!!!) and also my dog-friendly standup show that I co-produce with Melanie Dahling at Black Lab Brewing, it’s called Good Boy Comedy, and we run it every month, so you should check it out!
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: Who is another local comic/comedian we should know about?
My previously mentioned co-producer, Melanie Dahling.
