Martha Chaves
Born
Nicaragua
NationalityCanadian, Nicaraguan
Alma materConcordia University
Occupation(s)Comedian, actress, playwright
Years active1995–present[1]

Martha Chaves is a Nicaraguan-Canadian comedian, actress, activist and playwright. She performs standup in English, Spanish, French and Italian.[2] She is a regular in the comedy circuits in Canada, the United States and Latin America, at Just for Laughs and other major festivals, and on CBC Radio.

Since coming out around 2009, Chaves has spoken out for the LGBT community and has become known for her comedic take on being a homosexual person of colour in Canada.[3] She has also written and performed in a series of one-woman plays. Chaves won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Standup Comic of 2017, after being nominated several times in the previous decade.[4]

Early life and education

Chaves was born in Nicaragua where she grew up under the Somoza dictatorship. Her parents were lawyers.[5] Chaves's family home was destroyed in the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake.[6] At 17, she was sent to Canada[5] to study at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.[7]

Her family fled from the Contra War, fearing that her younger brothers would be forced to fight in the army.[8] Her parents and three younger siblings became refugees in Guatemala where her father died two years later.[5] Chaves was unable to return to Nicaragua or reunite with her family in Guatemala, and so became a stateless refugee in Canada when her student visa expired.[6] She initially found work serving Spanish-language customers in a Montreal clothing store.[5]

Chaves had studied languages and translation at Concordia but was nervous about her accent. To build her self-confidence for public speaking she took a comedy course[1] with Andy Nulman of Just for Laughs.[7] Chaves performed on stage at the conclusion of the course, which inspired her to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.[1]

Career

Chaves has been performing stand-up comedy for 23 years (as of 2018).[1] She has toured the comedy-club circuits in Canada, the United States and Latin America, and performs in English, Spanish, French and Italian.[2] Chaves first performed at the Just for Laughs gala in 1998[1][2] and has been a regular at that Montreal festival[9] and other major comedy festivals including those in Halifax,[7] Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, Boston, and in Bogota, Colombia.[10]

Chaves has also performed for the Canadian Armed Forces at CFS Alert and in Egypt, Israel and Afghanistan,[11] and for the 2012 Nobel Women's Initiative delegation to Central America.[12] She warmed up an audience of 43,000 before the 2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony and hosted the 2016 ACTRA Awards.[11]

She has had two nationally televised stand-up comedy specials: Comics! on CBC and There's Something About Martha on CTV and The Comedy Network.[10] She frequently performs on CBC Radio's The Debaters, Because News[2] and Laugh Out Loud; she was one of the latter show's five most-requested performers who appeared at their 10th anniversary gala.[13][1] Chaves performed at a comedy show for the BBC World Service when it recorded an episode of The Arts Hour in Montreal.[14]

Chaves came out publicly around 2009 and began working her experience as a homosexual person of colour into her material.[9] At about this time she began writing and performing in a series of one-woman shows. Her semi-autobiographical play In Times of Trouble, about a lesbian woman returning to Guatemala to care for her dying born-again Christian mother,[5][15] premiered at the Soulo festival in 2014 and opened the Caminos Pan-American arts festival in 2015.[8]

While continuing to perform mainstream shows, Chaves performs many gay, Latin or ethnic events.[7] She headlined in Canada's first LGBTQ+ comedy tour, Queer and Present Danger,[16] which performed in more than 25 cities.[3] She also headlined in The Ethnic Rainbow, Canada's first comedy show featuring LGBTQ comedians of colour.[17] Chaves performed in multiple showcases at Toronto Pride.[18]

Chaves was nominated for the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Female Standup every year from 2001 to 2006. She won the award for Best Standup Comic of 2017.[4]

Activism

Chaves has performed at fundraisers including Stand Up for Nicaragua[9] and Gags for Rags,[19] and has been a keynote speaker for numerous charity events.[12][10]

Chaves has spoken at many high schools as part of an anti-bullying campaign,[10] and spoke at an annual 4/20 rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.[20] She took part in a comedy marathon for the Canadian Association of Stand Up Comedians (CASC) which sought to have stand-up comedy recognized as an art form, eligible for federal arts grants and aid with visa issues.[21]

Chaves lives in Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood and supported Olivia Chow in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election.[9]

Works

One-person shows

  • Staying Alive (2010)[10]
  • Fragile (2012)[10]
  • In Times of Trouble (2014)[15]
  • Rebel Without a Pause (2017)[6]

Film and television

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Comedian Martha Chaves finds funny in being an outsider". CBC News. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Robert, Sarah (4 January 2018). "12 up-and-coming Canadian comedians who will be everywhere in 2018". CBC Comedy. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 Sadewo, Bambang (16 April 2018). "The Headliners, a touring LGBTQ+ comedy show, to debut at The Rivoli". Toronto.com. Toronto. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Nominations & Awards Archives". Canadian Comedy Awards. 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Ascah, Adrienne (25 May 2016). "Martha Chaves brings trouble to Ottawa". Xtra. Toronto: Pink Triangle Press. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Martha Chaves & Sage Tyrtle - Double Bill | SoulOTheatre". SoulOTheatre. Toronto: Soulo theatre. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Dingwell, Rebecca (26 April 2018). "Laugh with Martha Chaves". The Coast. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 Davidson, Sonya (2 November 2015). "Latin-Canadian Comedian Martha Chaves at CAMINOS Festival". Toronto Guardian. Toronto. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Ascah, Adrienne (23 October 2014). "Martha Chaves eases in". Xtra. Toronto: Pink Triangle Press. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Martha Chaves". SheDot Festival. Toronto. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Martha Chaves – Funny Business". Toronto: Funny Business, Inc. 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Martha Chaves". The Kirsch Speakers' Bureau. The Philippe Kirsch Institute. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "Laugh Out Loud Live 10th Anniversary Celebration". CBC News. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  14. ↑ "BBC in Montreal to record The Arts Hour". CBC News. Montreal: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  15. 1 2 Willard, Jeremy (2 November 2015). "Martha Chaves comes out in Times of Trouble". Xtra. Toronto: Pink Triangle Press. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  16. ↑ Willard, Jeremy (19 April 2018). "Out in Toronto: April 19–25, 2018 | Xtra". Xtra. Toronto: Pink Triangle Press. The Canadian Press Quebecor Media. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  17. ↑ McGinn, Dave (21 February 2018). "Toronto's LGBT comedians of colour carve out space with The Ethnic Rainbow". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: The Globe and Mail Inc. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  18. ↑ Sumi, Glenn; Ritchie, Kevin (12 June 2018). "10 essential Pride Toronto parties and events for 2018". NOW Magazine. Toronto: NOW Communications Inc. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Gags For Rags: Comedy Fundraiser To End Period Poverty". NOW Magazine. Toronto: NOW Communications Inc. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Patel, Raisa (20 April 2018). "Why a 14-year-old will lead the charge at 420 on the Hill". CBC News. Ottawa: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  21. ↑ Tiffin, Pat (13 June 2018). "Elevating stand-up comedy to a recognized art form in Canada". Stratford Festival Reviews. Stratford Festival. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  22. ↑ "Brenda – Strong Medicine | TVmaze". TVmaze.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  23. ↑ Zacharek, Stephanie (2 November 2015). "Down to Earth". Salon.com. United States: Salon Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  24. ↑ "Get Rich or Die Tryin' Cast and Crew". TV Guide.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
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