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| Jessica Holmes |
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| Toronto |
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| AFTER CHS |
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After high school, I travelled to Europe, went to Ryerson
for Radio &
Television, travelled to Venezuela for two years to do missionary work,
then returned to Ryerson to finish my degree in Radio & Television Arts.
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| CREATING
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After Ryerson, I decided to go into acting and more specifically,
comedy.
I began writing & performing stand-up, monologues, and scenes. Went
to
work for Second City.
Name them.
Comedy Now Special: Holmes Alone
Salter Street Series: The Itch |
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| PERFORMING |
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| Various Second City Touring Company plays.
99 - 00
Television: The Itch (Salter Street Comedy)
Holmes Alone (Comedy Now Special) Both Summer
of 00'
A 99' nominee for the Tim Simms Encouragement Fund and
a few
appearances on Open Mike with Mike Bullard in
00'.
Nominated for a Gemini in 2001. |
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| WHERE |
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| Second City, Tim Simms Playhouse, The Rivoli |
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| WITH |
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| In many sketch shows, Dave Tomlinson has been my amazing partner
in crime. |
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| PRODUCED |
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Best of the Very Last (a mock talent
contest featuring Dave Tomlinson
and me, in ‘99 and ‘00 - performed at the Tim Simms
Playhouse in
Toronto). |
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| OFF THE JOB |
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| I live with my wonderful partner and our cat. I take trips
to Ottawa every few months to visit my family. |
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| SOCIAL ACTIVISM |
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| I strongly support Amnesty International and Greenpeace in
spirit, in cash, and in letter writing. |
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| FAVOURITE BOFA MEMORY |
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| Rehearsing for the Improv Games was always a treat for me,
and remains the high point of my high school career. I enjoyed meeting and
working with every member of the improv team - and that group of people
remains one of the nicest I've ever met. I remain best friends with Genna
du Plessis, who was a fellow team member. |
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| FAVOURITE THING |
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| Having my hair and make-up done before a show is, in my opinion,
the most luxurious experience. I'll never complain that it takes too much
time. |
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| ENJOYED THE MOST |
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| It's always been important for me to work with positive, open-minded
people. The projects I've enjoyed the most have been ones where I get to
work with friends. |
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| OTHER RECOGNITION |
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| I was nominated for the Tim Simms Award in 99', and for three
Canadian Comedy Awards in ‘00. I never win anything, but it's the
party that's the most fun anyhow. (Such a loser's attitude) |
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| MOST PROUD OF |
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My proudest moment so far was my Comedy Now! Special:
Holmes Alone; which I wrote and starred in. It was an amazing
time where I worked really hard, and used every second of training that
life, Canterbury, university etc.
has offered me. |
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| MOST DIFFICULT/HATED DOING |
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| I hate sitting in smoky work environments, waiting for my
lungs to turn black. The acting (and especially comedy) industries don't
always respect "no smoking in the workplace" rules - which is
ironic because most performers work out and eat healthy so that their bodies
don't fail them in the long run. For the smokers out there - don't be bums...go
outside. |
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| EXPERIENCES AFTER CHS |
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The Just for Laughs experience I had in ‘99
was disappointing because I lost my voice. The stand-up felt weak because
of it, and I had no confidence left for the improv championships. The rules
of the improv were contrary to
everything I've ever learned. We were encouraged to talk over each other,
to yell and to mug to the audience. It was a pretty bad night for all of
us. |
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| Re: television writing |
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I did get to write for The Itch (along
with four other people). I worked really hard because there were no other
female writers and I knew I wanted to get a lot of strong women's scenes
in. I brought my notebook with ideas
I've had for years but never used. I was able to get some good scenes from
that. I did a lot of monologues as well, based on characters or impressions
I've always wanted to do. I started those by writing a description of the
character I was playing in the first person. A lot of jokes came out of
that. Most of my scene ideas came out of my own opinions on Hollywood or
the ethics of being a role model. |
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