Sophie Buddle is a trailblazer in the world of comedy. She released her first album in 2019, “Lil Bit Of Buddle,” which won the 2020 Juno Award for Best Comedy Album of the Year, making her the first female comic to win the award, and her podcast “Obsessed with Sophie Buddle”, which tackles people’s obsessions – from Beyoncé to American politics is currently available on Apple Podcasts. Sophie has been seen on CBC’s “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” as a correspondent and staff writer, and featured on CTV’s “Roast Battle”, JFL All Access, Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, and at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and the Halifax Comedy Festival. She was a featured performer at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and in 2022 had the esteemed privilege of delivering the Canadian Keynote Address on Comedy. Last, but not least, she recently made her late-night stand-up debut on “The Late Late Show with James Corden”.
Sophie, thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. How did you get into comedy?
I started stand up when I was 15 in Ottawa.13 years ago now, yikes! My mom and I were going to a local club, Absolute Comedy, every week as a little date night for us and I fell in love with comedy. My first exposure to it was seeing it live so it was less intimidating than if I had only watched HBO specials. I frequently saw people bomb and it was not a big deal so I thought to myself, “I could bomb like that too!”
There is no training for comedy, you can sort of do it however you want, once you figure out the basics. Everything you learn is from watching comics you love and just getting on stage. That’s one thing I love about it… anybody can do it! It’s a very low-maintenance art form, you don’t need to buy anything, you just show up with stupid terrible ideas and see if people think you’re funny.
Who are your biggest industry influences, and why?
Unfortunately, some of my biggest influences are canceled now, but of my non-problematic heroes are (as of today’s date – they might get canceled tomorrow): Nikki Glaser, Nate Bargatze, Moshe and Natasha, Dylan Moran, Reggie Watts, Patrice Oneal. Just extremely creative and hilarious people with things to say.
Your first album in 2019, “Lil Bit Of Buddle,” won the 2020 Juno Award for Best Comedy Album of the Year. You were the first female comic to win the award. Firstly, how much of an impact and opening did the award have on your career?
It was very significant for me. For one thing, it allowed me to successfully get my work papers to America. It’s also very nice to get a trophy for comedy. Most of us do not have very much athletic success, so to be able to give my mom something to put on her mantle finally feels nice.
Most industries have a history of sexism. Do you feel the comedy circuit has a level playing field?
I think the question sort of says it all – there is sexism everywhere and comedy as a male-dominated field is no different. At this point, I do feel I have surrounded myself with very positive and supportive people of all genders. The best thing to help, as a woman, is just supporting other talented female comics and encouraging the men around me to do the same.
You’ve featured on CTV’s “Roast Battle”, JFL All Access, Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, and performed at several comedy festivals. To date, what has been your most memorable performance, and why?
The summer the JFL All Access taping happened was the most memorable because that was when my American agents and manager decided to sign me. It’s always been a dream of mine to do comedy in more places than just Canada (no shade). This year I’ve been touring all over the states and it’s been very fun learning the American’s comedy sensibilities (FYI: They don’t like jokes about 9/11).
Have you experienced an unresponsive audience and, if so, what did you do to resolve the situation?
Yes, no more 9/11 jokes (For now).
Please tell us about your brand new half-hour comedy special premiering on Crave.
This is the first filmed comedy special I’ll be putting out (beyond shorter tapes sets and galas). We filmed it last year during Just For Laughs, right as restrictions for Covid were starting to ease. I was feeling quite rusty when they first asked me to do it as I was still in my lockdown Animal Crossing haze, but I am so happy with how it turned out and very excited and honored to be featured on Crave. I talk about a lot of serious subjects (not 9/11 don’t worry) which can be off-putting to some viewers, but the way I see it is that this is my platform and the only way for me to talk about serious subjects that I’m passionate about is to write jokes about them. I hope comedy fans check it out and laugh so hard they piss all over their homes.
What other projects are you currently working on?
I have my podcast Obsessed with Sophie Buddle, I’m touring all over Canada and America, I am working on a new hour and new podcast, and I am doing a lot of writing for TV projects as well. But mostly I am shitposting on Twitter wasting everyone’s time, especially my own.
Where can our readers find out more about you and your projects?
You can follow me on IG @sophbuds or on Twitter @sophiebuddle.
Image credit: courtesy of Crave.
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