By Valerie Posthumus
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE—Get ready because on Saturday, November 5, 2022 Hamilton’s own Eric Johnston is bringing his UntouchaBull comedy show to the Dunnville Legion.
Johnston is an award-winning comedian, actor, and emcee that delivers a one-of-a-kind high-energy comedy experience.
For this tour, Johnston “took out a map and drew a circle of a 100km radius” from home and decided he was going to perform in towns where he had never performed before. He jokingly added, “It’s easy to sell out when you’re the only thing happening in town.”
He ended up booking a show in Dunnville and was then thrilled to learn that he “knows a ton of people in Dunnville or from the area that are so excited that I’m coming to their town!”
Johnston’s comedic career began 12 years ago in a basement bar in Vancouver at a comedy show called “Comedy at the Kingston” and he said, “I haven’t stopped since.”
“I’m addicted to people, and I love their stories … and I get to tell them mine. It’s truly beautiful. I’ve collected so many people in 12 years on the road,” he added on his continued love of the profession. He travels around North America meeting people of every type.
Johnston gives three reasons as to why he chose comedy as a career: “My father, my neighbourhood, and television.”
He praises his father, who was a professional wrestler, as “one of the funniest people anyone had ever met” and who could have had a great career as a stand-up comedian. He added, “He was so quick, so witty, he could level a room with a look. I idolized that.”
As for his neighbourhood and television, Johnston grew up in a “largely immigrant-driven community with immigrants of all types who have been through hardship and language/life barriers.”
Those traumas, he said, “Create strong people but it creates hilarious people.”
Johnston’s father appeared on the TV show Bizarre in the 70s and in the 90s. When The Comedy Network came out and aired old episodes of the show, Johnston said, “I became obsessed with comedy, stand up, Just for Laughs, roasts, etc. When I started doing stand up myself … it was like second nature to me.”
Of course, comedy can be a challenging career in and of itself, but throw in a global pandemic and you must think outside the box. Johnston kept busy doing Zoom comedy, a “backyard tour” in 50 backyards, a brewery tour, and he “even sold 150 tickets to an apple orchard.” Johnston said, “I did whatever it took to keep working. Because this is my job; I don’t have a plan B.”
Johnston performs about 200 shows a year. With that experience, his advice to those interested in working in comedy is: “Don’t write what you think the audience will think is funny. Because that’s impossible to do. The audience is different every night. Write what you think is funny. Your story. Your family. Your relationships. Your truth. You’ll be fine.”
UntouchaBULL, featuring special guests, will be at the Dunnville Legion, 305 Queen Street, on Saturday, November 5. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available online, at the Legion in advance, and as available at the door.
