Lost bet opens comedy doors

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinetal.ca

Not very many people can look back and say they are happy about losing a bet, but for Côte St. Luc native Joey Elias, it was a lost pool game 16 years ago that started his successful comedy career.

“My buddy knew I was interested in doing comedy and we were in the pool hall. I lost a game and he basically said this is your chance,” Elias remembered.

Since that open-mike night in 1992, Elias has made 11 appearances at Montreal’s International Comedy Festival, including three Just for Laughs galas. He has made a number of television appearances and was even in the movie The Day After Tomorrow with Dennis Quaid, among others.

Elias will be hosting the fifth annual Media Celebrity Hockey Marathon in support of the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation this Saturday and said he is looking forward to getting a few laughs from both the crowd and the marathon players.

“I’d rather just sit there and make fun of people and hopefully be funny,” Elias said of his job. “It’ll be fun, as long as they know it’s all in jest.”

As Elias’ popularity on stage has grown over the past 16 years, so has the pressure to perform.

“When I first started, it was ‘I hope this guy’s funny.’ Now that there are people who know me, all of a sudden it becomes, ‘this guy better be funny.’ You don’t want to disappoint,” said the comedian who gets his inspiration from “day-to-day life” and things that rub him the wrong way. “That’s the beauty of it. If something irritates me, I can talk about it and maybe get a joke out of it that people will laugh at. It’s the cheapest form of therapy.”

Along with delighting crowds at the Just for Laughs Festival at home, one of Elias’ best memories took place half a world away.

“The ultimate highlight was playing for the troops in Afghanistan,” he said. In 2004 and 2007, Elias performed for Canadian soldiers stationed in Kandahar and Kabul.

Elias said he decided to take part in this Saturday’s Media Celebrity Hockey Marathon, because healthcare is a serious issue everyone should be concerned about.

“Marty (Lamarre) asked me, and I said yes,” he said. “We need more space. We need cleaner facilities. We need better treatment. When you can raise money that will eventually lead to the betterment of treatment and care, how could you say no?”