Adopt This! Wins Best Comedy Award

Posted Dan on 03/08/2011 at 1:38 am in Blog

My greatest fears have come true: When you quit drinking booze for six months, you will acquire super powers.

On January first of this year (I spilled coffee on my laptop keyboard and can no longer type the number one or exclamation points) I landed in Los Angeles California. Here I would spend the next 30 days living with Barry, my biological father and his girlfriend April. I took the month off work and jumped on a plane because I needed to figure out what the next chapter of my life would be. I had been writing articles for a web marketing company for 3 years at this point, and the 40-hour a week creative brain drain was seriously hindering any process in my comedy career. My head was too tired to come up with decent material, and my bills were too paid for me to go out and work harder. Things had to change.

And holy shit did they ever.

While in LA I decided to take the month off drinking. By day 9 I swear I heard my liver whisper “thank you.” At first it was one of those “I got way too hammered over the holidays, I just want to give the body a one month detox” type of things. But by week 2 something strange started to happen. I started to feel amazing.

Since I was no longer cramming endless booze into my face I was waking up early every morning, and I started to develop a pretty sweet daily routine consisting of learning to play guitar, writing, exercising and trying to tan my pasty Canadian body. But most importantly, I started to write Adopt This.

Every morning I would go down to my new favorite coffee shops called Gary’s and I would force myself to write for at least 2-3 hours. This may not sound like a lot, but when you’re in sunny Southern California and you’re on vacation, it feels like an eternity.

garys Gary’s: Where it all started

By the end of the month I had reached a new decision. If Adopt This was going to get the chance it deserved, telling the story properly would require my full capacities. After one month without alcohol I felt so amazing physically and mentally that I figured hey, why not give up drinking between now and the first show in June. Six months with a clear head and all my wits and energies about me, what’s the worst that could happen?

Well, I’ll tell you what happened.

I not only lost fourteen lbs, saved hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, learned how to play 5 songs on the guitar (from not knowing how to play the guitar at all), gained a super positive outlook on life and the brightness of the future, but I finished writing, rehearsing and promoting Adopt This on time for the opening night at the Montreal Fringe Fest.

By closing night I had performed to nearly 6 sell out audiences; picked up a 5-star review in the Charlevoix Post; stood awkwardly and overwhelmed in front of full house standing ovations; received nominations for the Chapter’s Best Script Award, the Centaur Theater Best English Production Award, and the Just for Laughs Best English Comedy Award. And during my last show, Barry, who had flown in from LA, not only got to participate in the final standing ovation, but he was at the award ceremony when I won the JFL Best Comedy Award. Oh, and did I mention it was father’s day?

barry21 Barry @ Gary’s: First night I tried any adoption stuff in front of an audience

It feels a little weird to receive an award when there are people without whom you could have never delivered the final product. A little weird, but mostly amazing.

So that’s six months without drinking. Let’s see what going another six can do.

frankie