Tillsonburg native wins Juno for comedy album

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Tillsonburg resident Debra DiGiovanni has a new piece of hardware for her mantle, if she had a mantle that is.

DiGiovanni’s album Honourable Intentions won Comedy Album of the Year at the Junos, which were held in Vancouver on March 30. DiGiovanni wasn’t in Vancouver but was streaming the awards show.

“I saw my name be announced,” she said, adding she was excited to hear her name.

She hasn’t received the award yet but expects it to arrive any day.

“If I had a mantle, I would put it on a mantle,” she said. “I’ll find somewhere to put it.”

She believes the producer of Honourable Intentions, Toronto-based Courterfeit Pics, submitted the nomination.

Asked if she was surprised to hear she was a finalist, DiGiovanni answered, “In Canada, we don’t have a ton of comics. I knew I was one of the people who put an album out last year. There’s a pool of about 30 - not a ton of people I go up against in comedy. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t lessen it all, I am still thrilled.”

In fact, the pool of comedians is small enough that DiGiovanni knew all the other nominees.

DiGiovanni’s last album, Lady Jazz, was nominated for a Juno but didn’t win. She previously won Canadian Comedy Awards and a Gemini in 2008-2009.

“This is pretty up there,” she said. “When I talk to American people, I say it’s like the Canadian Grammy. It’s a big honour.”

Honourable Intentions is her fourth comedy album in the last 15 years. Growing up in Tillsonburg, DiGiovanni moved to Toronto for post-secondary education in another subject and discovered comedy was her thing. She now lives in Los Angeles, and the album was recorded live in L.A.

The move to release albums is a a change from how things were when DiGiovanni started in comedy professionally.

“In the beginning of my career, there was this thing ‘don’t burn your material’. Now it’s the opposite, get the most stuff out there you can,” she said.

Albums are now a tool for comedians to promote themselves.

“Comedy albums are essential, just to remind people we are out there and put our jokes out in the world,” she said, adding albums assist in garnering new fans. “People spend a lot of time in their cars. If you can listen to comedy in the car, that’s great.”

DiGiovanni said while album sales were once a thing, now everything is streamed. Still, there is some revenue generation, with Sirius XM and CBC Radio paying royalties while Spotify does not. It’s her goal to release an album every three or four years. Albums also proomote tours.

Like musicians, the album will include a tour. Part of that tour will stop in six Ontario venues: London, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Guelph, Barrie, and Toronto. While the American dates are often in comedy clubs, the Canadian ones are in smaller theatres and similar venues.

“It’s always nice because people are there just to see you,” she said. “Comedy clubs aren’t always that way. People just walk in, and who is on stage, they don’t care.”

In London, DiGiovanni’s appearance will be at Aeolian Hall on June 20. She is in Hamilton the night before, on the 19th, at the Levity Club. St. Catharines rounds out this part of the Ontario tour. Other to-be-set dates will follow later in the year. Tickets are available at https://www.debradigiovanni.com, on her Instagram channel, or through the venue’s website.