Chanty Marostica of Winnipeg won the SiriusXM Top Comic competition to become Canada’s funniest person. (HANDOUT)
Canada’s funniest person is… Winnipegger Chanty Marostica.
The transgender comedian won $25,000 and the top prize in the ninth annual SiriusXM Top Comic competition Thursday night.
“Thank you so so so much to the judges and to Canada for voting!” said Marostica. “Every single one of my competitors crushed it. This is a huge day for trans visibility and I’m honoured to be SiriusXM’s Top Comic.”
Marostica’s win comes with guaranteed performances at four Just For Laughs Festivals: Just For Laughs Sydney (Australia), JFL42 (Toronto), JFL NorthWest (Vancouver), and Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival; as well as a spot in a Just For Laughs television special to air on a Bell Media property in the 2019/2020 broadcast season.
The competition saw hundreds of comics register from across Canada in the spring, where only 60 were selected to compete at the Calgary and Toronto auditions over six nights in May. Eighteen semi-finalists were chosen to participate in a Canada-wide online vote, with eight moving forward to last night’s finale.
Marostica is the creator and producer of Canada’s Touring LGBTQ Comedy Showcase(s) “Queer and Present Danger,” the first-ever LGBTQ weekly mic “QAPD Collective” and Toronto’s longest-running LGBTQ+ Showcase, “Church Street Comedy.” Marostica was also nominated for “Best Stand Up” at the 2015 Winnipeg Comedy Festival.
Runner-ups Sophie Buddle and Nick Reynoldson each took home $2,500 in cash.
