Clay Nikiforuk

'Mental illness presents endless double-binds: On one hand, friends and family don’t know quite what to say about your most recent panic attack at the pool or 6–month break with reality – and so don’t say anything at all. On the other, shame and self-blame lead to dangerous isolation. In this manic mash-up of stand-up comedy and storytelling, I’m out to smash shame, court the surreal, and satirize the very things that might be keeping us sick and separated.

Crafting misguided mental health greeting cards and spinning stories of awkward hope in dark places, this show will be equal parts confession, critique, and manifesto. It’s a comedic journey with a Canadian-born fish-out-of-water as your guide, exploring how humour could help regain a sense of normalcy in the abnormal, and ulitimately help us all stick together – even when one or more parties have lost their ever-loving minds. Rants, Meandering digressions, one liners, and impressions all frame a subtle central narrative: An alternative vision for mental health that is so crazy, it just might work.'