Feature Columns
New Orleans has a vibe that transcends tragedy
By Dan St. Yves
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

When you mention New Orleans, most people think immediately of Mardi Gras, Dixieland jazz and Creole cuisine. I wondered, what about comedy clubs?
During a recent visit to New Orleans, I had a chance to see just how much of the city is still struggling to recover, but I also viewed areas like Bourbon Street that weren‘t really affected by the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.
If you‘ve never been to Bourbon Street, you‘ll recognize the infamous Mardi Gras balconies immediately. However, it may take you a while to find some “authentic” blues and jazz.
Wandering the street my first night in town, I discovered in the local watering holes an apparent great affection for Journey cover bands.
My trip down Bourbon Street was necessary, though, to locate a comedy club I had researched beforehand, which has dealt with life pre- and post-Katrina. The National Comedy Company (www.nationalcomedycompany.com) is an improv group that has been performing in New Orleans for about four years. Members have shared stages with Ben Stein, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie, to name just a handful. If the House Of Blues or Hard Rock Café needs an opening act, these are the folks that get a phone call. I met up with co-founder and troupe member Lynae LeBlanc, whose official title is “Chick N‘ Charge.” Visit the website, and you‘ll discover the connection.
My goal was to see how humour has helped, if at all, in the healing process in this beautiful city. There is an enduring rule in comedy that a respectful amount of time must pass before you can joke about something as catastrophic as a Category 5 hurricane flooding pretty much your entire city. Lynae shared with me that early on in performances afterwards, as audiences were asked for suggestions to improvise on, invariably items like FEMA trailers and Katrina came up. There would be an immediate and audible silence among tourists in attendance, before the skit would proceed and hilarity ensued. Laughter goes on.
Hurricane Katrina actually played a role in the NCC ending up in the Bourbon Street location they now reside in, upstairs of Yo Mama‘s restaurant (a great place to grab a hamburger, for the record). Before Katrina, the group performed in a suburb of the city, which was flooded.
Troop members were forced to evacuate, with Lynae ending up in Memphis and Orlando for a while, performing in both cities. Once the members began to return, they found their new home in the French Quarter, through a connection with opening act Smart-Ass Nick. They‘ve been performing in their new home for two years now.
They promote the show with someone in a chicken suit handing out flyers on the street. Bear in mind, the temperature in June was over 90°F, and the humidity is 100 per cent. Throw in a few secret herbs and spices, and that chicken is pretty much basting a-la-Colonel Sanders on any given day.
As huge a loss as the flooding after Katrina was to New Orleans, the city has a vibe that transcends tragedy. The show is packed when it runs, typically half tourists, half locals. The staple highlight of the evening is participatory: The Game Of Laugh. Audience members are separated into red and blue teams, which alternate rolling a giant set of dice, which happens to have been purchased in Canada. Adding yet another dimension of local culture, the showroom is haunted. The former owner apparently accidentally hung himself while hanging Halloween decorations, on Halloween day.
You just can‘t make that stuff up.
- Dan St. Yves is a humour columnist. Check out Dan’’s website at www.nonsenseandstuff.com or contact him at ThatDanGuy@shaw.ca.