Andrew Searles will be stepping up to the mic tonight in his new show, to share his observations on fatherhood. But not from direct experience, it’s from his view on the sidelines, watching his friend’s lives change as they became fathers. “Guys that used to be out until 3 am are now going to bed at 8” he says.
“Seeing how quickly your friends change and how quickly the world changes once the baby comes into the picture”
Andrew Searles may be better known across Canada as one of the young black comdians who’ve crossed the country with their “Underground Railway Comedy Show” during February. Black History Month in Canada and the United States is in February and the Underground Railaway once joined the two countries as the route escaped, or freed slaves would take, to get out of the United States.
ListenThe railway show has grown in popularity and will celebrate its fifth anniversary in 2016. One element of those shows, is the difference in the black experience in Canada. There are few places where the “hood” experience resonates here. “As a person born in Montreal, and living in the West Island, I look at that and I don’t get it. I’m from Pierrefond, I don’t know what the “hood” is!” Searles says, “Instead of the typical black comedy here from the States, this is what life is like growing up here.”
When asked about the racial conflicts in Ferguson and other places in the United States, Searles doesn’t hesitate, “It’s been scary!” It has altered his plans for the future. Most Canadian comics head to New York City or Los Angeles eventually, but Andrew Searles is thinking it over. “I would have loved to go the States because there’s just more work there, but every couple of months something happens… and I look at myself and a lot of friends look at me and they go, ‘You sure you still want to go there?”
He’s optimistic, however, that things are improving slowly south of the border. About the racism here, he says “it’s still in Canada but definitely not as bad and definitely not as out there as in the States.”
In the meantime he continues to write and perform and do his best to entertain having a great time sharing his views from the stage.
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