Bitch Salad: Tossed, Dressed, and Served

Chatting with Andrew Johnston: stand-up comedian, TV host, and salad expert.

Courtesy of Andrew Johnston

Andrew Johnston, of all the comedians in Toronto, seems to be the most comfortable in his own skin. His blunt, raw attitude can be found on Much Music’s Love Court as well as on stage with his local comedy show: Bitch Salad, bringing a new confidence and sly imperialism to the gay community. Chatting with him over coffee, we learned more about his experiences as a comedian, and how his personal stories have affected those around him.

Pony: When did you first come out to your parents?

Andrew: I’ve never really had to “come out” per say, I think my family’s always known. My mother’s brothers are gay so it wasn’t a frontier we had to come across, and from being a comedian, a lot of my stories have ended up public anyway; so if anything they’ve had to adjust to that. I once told a man to sit on my face during the filming of Love Court, which they aired, so I’ve lost any sort of mystique on that front. I’m far past the whole ‘parents knowing’ thing.

Pony: Have you ever received negative responses to your routine?

Andrew: Oh ya all the time! It’s really interesting when you assess the things you put yourself through – the highs and lows of being a stand-up. There is a sort of armor you have to have when you’re on stage, and you need that in order to stay in the right mode.

Pony: When did you start doing stand-up?

Andrew: I started in 2002 while still in school (at Queens University) and made my way around various mic nights; building up my name from there. There are quite a few of them in Toronto. The wealth of stage time to be had here is something that I think differentiates us from other cities.

Pony: How did you then become involved in the gay community? Describe Bitch Salad to us.

Andrew: It’s a semi-monthly showcase of female comedians for a predominately gay male audience. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do because there’s a huge market for it – Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Debra DiGiovanni, for whatever reason they have a huge gay following. But my cast don’t fall into that generic self-loathing, female-comedian stereotype where most of the jokes are all about “laugh at me, laugh at my misfortunes”. Like Katherine Ryan for example, when I saw her on stage, she had this imperialistic attitude; which is patently not done – my gay friends with me just were in stitches that night and I thought: “I want to take that, and put it in front of that.” So, Bitch Salad has now become that outlet for female comedians to do their bit like rock-stars without any compromise or having to cater to a particular style.

Pony: Does your style as a stand-up ever change based on your location?

Andrew: Yes, most definitely. There have been a few small towns where the audience has been as dumb as a box of hair. Last winter, I made a joke about the Chris Brown and Rihanna issue – and no one in the crowd knew what I was talking about. That’s where you have to bring out the bodily function jokes as your backup.

Pony: How would you say Bitch Salad has evolved since you started?

Andrew: We’ve done 16 shows since July 2007, and since then, there have definitely been more themes. Our posters are quite unique, we use a different style to the generic headshot you see in comedy clubs next to a picture of a microphone and a list of names. We have this tabloid-esque feel to us that’s pretty cool. With Tuesday’s show, the biggest challenge will be bringing the Christmas theme forward when there’s been no snow yet this year. But it should be great, we’re bringing back some of the favourite comedians of past shows as sort of a year-end celebration.

Courtesy of Andrew Johnston

Pony: Do you ever get stage fright? Or TV fright with Love Court?

Andrew: I’m over the TV thing. I used to get really nervous and bomb a bottle of wine before watching myself on TV. Now, I really don’t care what I look like or how I sound. If I was still a teenager and someone like me was on television saying the things that I say, it would be uproarious. I get no consequence for these jokes, and I’ll be talking about bringing men home with me, and what I do with them – it’s so strange. But maybe because of my bluntness and confidence, somewhere in the world a little gay boy has put down the gun (faseciously speaking of course). Really, the things I say that get on TV just speak to where we are as a society – this thirteen year-old girl added me to Facebook the other day and I was like: “you’re too young to be watching me!” Where were we? Stage fright. Right. Well I’m Irish so I don’t mind having a drink to calm my nerves before a big show.

Pony: If you could meet any comedian in the world, who would it be and where would you go together?

Andrew: I’d love to work with Maya Rudolph. She’s my favourite and I’d love to do drinks with her. But I hear she just had her second kid so it’ll have to wait I guess haha.

Pony: Where would you ideally like to take Bitch Salad?

Andrew: I’d love to take it to talk television – have it become the next Chelsea Lately, but right now I’m just having fun with it. I’m patient and I like having complete control over a well-branded project. We promote mainly by word of mouth so either you know about it or you don’t.

Pony: And the people in the gay community relate to this style of humour in particular?

Andrew: Some get it and others (specifically older) don’t. There’s a comfort level amongst gay people in terms of what gets talked about and what should remain hush-hush. I’ve seen men start clutching their pearls when I talk about anal penetration and it’s like “uhhh… what would you like to hear about instead? Fluffy kittens?”