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The immigration experience may not seem like comedy gold 鈥� unless, perhaps, you鈥檙e an immigrant and you happen to be a comedian.

Integrating into a new society can be a real struggle. Having to navigate a culture that may be very different from one鈥檚 home country, perhaps communicating in a second, third, or fourth language, puts people in a vulnerable鈥� yet potentially hilarious鈥� position that is not only relatable to immigrants but anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water.

鈥淲ith the storytelling, we can connect more, we know ourselves more,鈥� Carol Zoccoli told an audience while hosting her immigrant comedy show in Toronto called Comedy as a Second Language. 鈥淲e are here to build this culture together鈥攔ight? And make fun of white people, of course.鈥�

Zoccoli, who moved to Toronto from S茫o Paulo, Brazil, saw the need for an immigrant-specific show shortly after hopping the Equator for Canada.

鈥淚 noticed that a lot of immigrants鈥� they don鈥檛 have any cultural stuff to do but restaurants,鈥� Zoccoli told 色狐入口, 鈥淭he entertainment they watch is their own TV [programs] in their own language.鈥�

She wanted to create a show that would help newcomers integrate and feel like they are a part of the culture of the city.

鈥淏ecause if you don鈥檛 feel like you are a part of the culture, you won鈥檛 feel like you are a part of the city,鈥� she said.

So in 2017, she created Comedy as a Second Language, a show that features the talents of first and second-generation immigrant comedians and is now a regular feature at the John Candy Box Theatre.

The show features a selection of professional comedians, and every once in awhile a big-name headliner like Martha Chaves.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to give a platform to comedians who don鈥檛 get it somewhere else and to make them grow,鈥� Chaves told 色狐入口.

Chaves, who started her comedy career in Montreal in the mid-1990s, says she 鈥済rew in the wild鈥� where she was one of the only comedians who had an accent.

Much like Zoccoli, Chaves also practised stand-up comedy to improve her English. Both of them also found that their accents turned out to be their strengths on stage, not weaknesses.

鈥淧eople told me it was going to hinder me, that it would be a huge obstacle in my career,鈥� Chaves said. 鈥淎s it turns out, it has been a blessing.鈥�

Salma Hindy has also made repeat appearances at Comedy as a Second Language.

Hindy, who wears a hijab, is known for recounting the hilarious anecdotes from her everyday life. Much of the time her jokes challenge the absurdity of stereotypes and are free of profanity and obscenities.

鈥淚 feel like my life is a joke. It is so easy to turn into material,鈥� Hindy told 色狐入口. 鈥淢y first ever set I was talking about my parents and how we had a strict upbringing.鈥�

Hindy鈥檚 parents are immigrants from Egypt who were so scared that their children would lose their culture that they refused to celebrate Halloween.

She recalled how they barricaded the house while children dressed in costume went out trick-or-treating.

鈥淸My father] would rather fake our own deaths than make people think we鈥檙e celebrating their satanic holiday,鈥� Hindy said with a laugh.

Though she started off her comedy career thinking she was making jokes for non-Muslims, Hindy eventually found it was the opposite. She was telling her jokes, sharing her stories, for other Muslim women so they would not feel alone in their struggles.

鈥淚 want you to know you鈥檙e not the only one,鈥� Hindy said. 鈥淓specially because dating and things are so taboo in the Muslim community, so everyone thinks they鈥檙e the only one going through it 鈥�Comedy is a gigantic stage of information sharing.鈥�

Chaves found that telling jokes as a lesbian woman of colour put her in a position to represent the intersections of race and homosexuality.

鈥淢y main mission is to be funny,鈥� Chaves said. 鈥淏ut unfortunately, or fortunately, I haven鈥檛 been able to be funny like Jerry Seinfeld. I have been given a platform and I represent. I represent women, gays, and ethnic people.鈥�

She said she has been called an 鈥渋nspiration鈥� by audience members. She has also had bigots claim that she 鈥渢ransformed鈥� them and offer her non-complements like 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like women comedians, I didn鈥檛 like Spanish people, but since I heard you I changed my mind.鈥�

Inadvertently, her humour provides a pathway to connecting people who might otherwise have never crossed paths.

Canadians who haven鈥檛 experienced life as an immigrant also find humour in her experiences.

鈥淧eople love fish out of water,鈥� Chaves said. 鈥淧eople love to hear a 鈥榖ack in my country鈥� or 鈥榤y parents talk like this.鈥欌��

Zoccoli added that the enjoyment Canadians get out of immigrant humour comes from seeing their own country鈥檚 quirks from an outsider鈥檚 perspective.

鈥淚 believe with funny stories we can celebrate the joy of being an immigrant,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 am happy a lot of Canadians come to watch the show. They don鈥檛 have any immigration-related experience 鈥� and they want to hear our stories鈥� and that is really great.鈥�

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