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Battle Scar

Sandra Carusi
Sep 17, 2015
2 min read

I love being around artists. There is so much to learn . Comedy is an art, regardless of how people might perceive it. The same elements that go in to being a musician, singer, actor or painter, are the same elements that go into being a comic. Those elements were investigated during my podcast The Art of Comedy, that took place out of Peach Radio. Peach Radio , is located in the Peach Gallery on College St where you can find some incredible artwork from some highly renowned artists.

The other night, I attended the showing of the work of Terry Watkinson, former keyboardist of Max Webster at the Peach Gallery. What an incredible artist. I was fortunate that this legend performed at my fundraiser in June, and he donated one of his incredible pieces for the auction. His work that was displayed last night was simply awesome. It was eclectic and ranged from landscape scenes to a naked self-portrait! There were various bandmates there including Mike Tilka and his beautiful wife Susy, and my former colleague from Corus , Kim Mitchell. And other iconic Canadian musicians including Ron Sexsmith and Frank Soda.

A few of us got together for dinner and I enjoyed the banter amongst musicians. These guys formed a music culture in this country that will be remembered for generations. All of us recall a time of our lives when we first heard a Max Webster tune, Kim Mitchell, or watching Frank Soda blow stuff off his head! Listening to them discuss music and some of their adventures spoke to my soul as an artist. They asked about my comedy and shared with them how its been healing for me battling the big C. I told them how I started comedy in my 20s but put it on the backburner because I wanted to eventually start a family.The lifestyle didn't lend itself to what I ultimately wanted and they all understood that well.I told them by supressing my creativity, I believe it contributed to my overall lack of wellbeing. Did it cause disease? Maybe not completely, but I'm sure if I practiced comedy more often, it would have given me the outlet to deal with stress. They all agreed-- just like that. They agree, as artists, that one must express their creativity or you feel it somehow throughout your body. Coming from this group, it gave me so much validation and comfort knowing that this is true. And that now, that I'm more involved with comedy, I'm actually soothing the unwellness that was part of my body. Sometimes inner peace comes from different sources, and this day it came from Canada's biggest rock musicians. I think I really healed my Battle Scar.