Allie Pearse from Letterkenny and Shoresy on flipping men like haunted houses
Canada’s breakout comedy hit Letterkenny just wrapped its 12th and final season. The hilarious adventures of 5000 people and their daily problems went out on a high note with six excellent episodes. The season opener “Live at MoDean’s” ran with a premise that had felt like an easy slam-dunk, hinted at from as early as the first season: What if everyone in this city participated in an evening of standup comedy?
Co-starring and co-written by newcomer Allie Pearse—who performs as a stand-up professionally—the episode will remain an easy Top 5 ep from the entire show’s run; in part from the clever extrapolation of each character into a delightful pastiche of the performance style they would be naturally drawn toward.
Pearse, who has been featured at Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the Letterkenny spin-off show Shoresy, is coming to Kansas City as part of a Letterkenny standup tour—also featuring Mark Forward (“Coach”) and Jeff McEnery (“Alexander”). They’re hitting The Folly on March 12 with tickets available here.
We sat down with Pearse to discuss works in process, the call of comedy in times of turmoil, and flipping men like haunted houses.
View this post on Instagram
The Pitch: Are you up in Canada currently?
Allie Pearse: Yeah, I’m in Toronto.
Have you already been out on tour with with Mark?
We did two weeks together as kind of like a trial run for the tour. I mean, this whole thing is like kind of a dream come true.
When did you get started in stand-up?
I got started in 2017 or so.
What’s the most embarrassing bit from your past that you’re glad isn’t on video? The thing you’re thankful isn’t immortalized on the internet?
There were too many times where I thought “Oh, this is so funny!” Then I’d take it up in front of an audience and they’d like me know, “No, no it isn’t.” And I’d be like, “Okay, you’re right. See you later!” I don’t hammer things home when I know they aren’t worth it. I’ve got a bit I’m working on right now that I’m still figuring out. It’s based on how the men I date are like old houses I’ve flipped—they’ve got potential and I’ve invested a lot in them. But then I find out they’re haunted. My dating life as flipping men like haunted houses. Currently, half of it works and I can tell half of it has the audience confused. Probably shouldn’t have spoiled this bit. 
So why do stand-up? Why pick a career in doing this, like, horrible thing to yourself every night and letting audiences of strangers control your thoughts and emotions?
I spent a lot of time when I was younger in the world of theater, but I wouldn’t say that acting is my strength. But I loved spending time on stage, and I knew I wanted to chase that. As an adult, I went through a pretty significant breakup and it flipped my life upside down. I thought that was the perfect time to try stand-up, of course. I remember connecting with it more than acting because I got to be myself on stage. Then, I didn’t do comedy again for seven years. I didn’t explore it for a long time, but then I went through another break-up… with the same person. So that’s how I respond to that, apparently.
What sort of material are you prepping for you U.S. tour?
I’m doing a 15 minute set each night, and I watch the rest of the show from the wings because the comics I’m touring with are so funny. For my set, I’m fascinated by relationships and love and how people interact. I talk about a lot of my personal experiences, and things that have happened to my friends even though they wish I wouldn’t share those stories. I just talk honestly.
You’ve done two weeks on the tour with Mark, and he talked to us a bit about how uncomfortable America can be for him when strangers quote the show back to him. Will you be acting as his bodyguard here in the states?
Yes. It’s actually my contract. Okay, yeah. Because I’m not as recognizable as Mark. Yeah, it was sort of like it was like, you can go on this tour. But you do have to take a bullet for him. So yeah, we’re pretty connected right now.
What advice do you have for somebody getting started in in stand up?
A few things really helped me when I got started. Write every single day, all of the time. Just make some time to write every day. I think the practice of sitting in front of a notebook or a computer, with all the distractions turned off, is just a good way to connect to yourself and your thought and where you actually are. I sometimes just set an alarm for chunks of three minutes at a time, something as small as that, and just make sure I step away and give myself a little space to put ideas on the page.
Also just go to comedy shows. You don’t have to just grind at open mics, any place where you can see good comedy is a place where you can learn and grow in this career. There are no bad shows. There are shows that are bad, sure, but for a comic any show can be an opportunity for you to get better, and in that way its hard to fully waste your time on any gig.
Finally, just know that your first time doing comedy is probably going to go really well. People will love that you’re up there, and it’s gonna feel special. It’s your next show that’ll probably go awful, so just be prepared for that.
What’s the strangest place you’ve done stand up comedy?
I did stand-up at a sex club. There were… things happening there. Things were in full swing, literally. They did pause so we could do the show, even though there was a woman on a leash. It’s hard to focus when there’s a woman on a leash in your line of sight, because you can’t talk about it. It’s kink shaming and you don’t want to do that. Other than that, a lot of interesting decor!
I feel like people sometimes think that comedy is good in all environments. It is not. One of my worst shows was a corporate gig. I talk a lot about relationships and dating and sex. It was a corporate gig with like 80 people who worked in education, at like the elementary school level. They had never met before this day. Now it would be okay if maybe they knew each other and they were colleagues hanging out, but when you’re alien to each other any laugh is gonna alienate others. So there were absolute crickets in that room, and I understand why.
Is there a killer bit from your comedy set that you have to leave in Canada because it just wouldn’t translate to America? Something that culturally we just don’t get?
I try to write as universally as possible, with the caveat that I suppose I mean “Mostly North American.” I don’t know how this would hit elsewhere, but I look forward to finding out someday. I worried that it might be brand names but I rarely even mention one. The only one I’ve really clocked is that in Canada we don’t have Venmo. I have a joke about transferring money using e-transfers and no one in America knew what I was talking about, and it was very confusing.
Allie Pearse is coming to Kansas City as part of a Letterkenny standup tour—also featuring Mark Forward (“Coach”) and Jeff McEnery (“Alexander”). They’re hitting The Folly on March 12 with tickets available here.
