Ardell



	Ardell Fitzpatrick
		Ardell is one of the few female comics who admit to being over 50. She is wild, risqué and funny. At four feet ten and a half inches, she's the tallest member of the Little People’s Club of North America. Her redneck brassy style will leave you wondering “Did she really say that”? She has headlined on WTN’s TV show “She’s So Funny”, toured throughout Western Canada and the United States and appeared at the Edmonton Comedy Arts Festival, the Seattle Comedy Festival, as well as numerous appearances at the Vancouver International Comedy Festival. She is the founder of the Laff Riot Girls.	Selected Credits: Vancouver International Comedy Festival - 2001, 2004 Calgary Funnyfest Comedy Festival - 2005 Edmonton Performance Arts Comedy Festival- 2003 Outrageous Women Cabaret - Shadbolt Centre - 2002 Material Girls - Comedy Underground, Seattle - 2003 Seattle Comedy Festival WTN's "She's So Funny" - Headliner
	"Seriously funny girl"	Photo by Jon Murray: The Province
	Vancouver Province Jan30/06 ARDELL FITZPATRICK Stand-up comedian and founder, Laff Riot Girls Laff Riot Girls: who are they? "I founded the Laff Riot Girls in 1997, to provide stage time to aspiring female comics. We draw from a roster of about 12 comics, and work with dozens of other new ones. People leave and come back. The only requirement is to be funny." Women comics: need a network? "In the '90s women really needed a place to perform. Comedy clubs would have one, maybe two spots but never more for female performers." Raising the Roof: What's that about? "It's a show Tuesday, February 7 -- Tuque Tuesday -- at LafLines Comedy Club in New Westminster. It's part of a national series of comedy events to help fight homelessness." Laff Riot Girls: social conscience? "Over the years we've helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for charities such as the Christmas Bureau, Big Sisters, food banks, breast cancer, St. James Women and Children's Shelter, the Cinderella Project, and local amateur sports teams." Benefits: win-win? "We had to create a market for comedy. The charities got much-needed funds and the comics got much-needed stage time, while we expanded the market for comedy. It helped us create a weekly room for comedy at various locations in the Lower Mainland. We've had weekly rooms at LaffLines, The Comedy Store, the Jupiter Room, and now at Zesty's on Commercial." Women comics: hard to find? "We have a Search for the Funniest New Female Comic competition. We usually have more than 40 comics competing. This year it starts February 4 at Zesty's, with the finals on March 9 at LaffLines." Audiences: changing? "You can't get away with the standard 'my wife is so stupid' jokes when 70 per cent of the audience is female. Women are out there more and more, even at corporate events that used to be all-male. So the audiences are changing, and so is a lot of comedy." Getting older: great or gruesome? "It's empowering. I may at one time have been too embarrassed to say I'm no longer a size 8. Now I don't care. If you're able to laugh at yourself it's easier for the audience to laugh along." Always funny? "I was the class clown, but I have a very serious day job as a union representative. Some people from that world are shocked to hear I do comedy, and some comedians are shocked to hear I negotiate contracts and handle grievances. I think it's a balance thing. Some of the best comics I know are also the most serious people I know offstage." by Jeani Read © The Vancouver Province 2006





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