Life & Limb - A monthly podcast about Living Well with Limb Loss

[00:00:03] Jeff Tiessen: Welcome to Life and Limb, a podcast from Thrive magazine, all about living well with limb loss and limb difference. I'm Jeff Tiessen, a publisher of Thrive magazine and your podcast host. My guest this episode is an award-winning standup comedian, television writer and finalist on Canada's Got Talent. She's Courtney Gilmour, one of Canada's most unique voices and sought after comedy talents. Courtney took top honors at the 2017 Just For Laughs homegrown competition, a first by a female comic in the 19 year history of the event. Her first album, Let Me Hold Your Baby, was Juno nominated. And she's just released her new Wonder Woman album, which is a really funny take on life as a triple amputee, especially when it comes to public perceptions that come with her unique disability. Courtney Gilmour, welcome. How are you and what's going on in your world?

[00:01:00] Courtney Gilmour: Hi. Thank you. Thanks for having me. You gave me the full bio treatment. You really combed through my highlights. So thank you.

[00:01:09] Jeff Tiessen: Well, you're welcome. It was a pleasure interviewing you for the cover story of Thrive a few issues back. So, yeah, I kind of know you.

[00:01:18] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, things are good. I released, as you just said, my second album and things have been going well since then. And yeah, I've just sort of been working on my touring and, you know, doing a lot of promo for this album. So that's been a lot of fun and just kind of seeing how it's being received as, you know, there's so much work that you put into, making it and then performing it and everything. And now I'm just letting it breathe, see how people are enjoying it.

[00:01:52] Jeff Tiessen: And you lead me nicely into the first question I wanted to ask you about the Wonder Woman album. And I kind of chuckle at the name of your first album. Let Me Hold Your Baby and we'll talk more about your limb difference. But you are without hands, as am I. So I find that ironically funny in that title. How would you describe this new one, Wonder Woman? How's it different from the first album?

[00:02:18] Courtney Gilmour: Well, I think the first album, my debut album, was more of a compilation of all the jokes I've ever written since the beginning of my career. You know, like, I had a very polished 45 minutes that was introductory.

It was a glimpse, a first glimpse into my life as a congenital amputee. And so, it was basically just like, here's everything I thought of in my however many years up until that point. And you know, they were jokes. I was proud of a lot of it. A lot of them about just encounters I have with cab drivers and my father, my family and stuff like that. And while I love all of those jokes, Wonder Woman is different in the sense that it was a more intentionally cohesive album and it was more of a personal theme that I wanted to put together.

And so rather than just like, you know, burning all the material I've ever written up until that point.

I had an idea in back in February of 2024. It all came together very quickly, very quickly for this album. And I just sort of thought there are some other things I want to say and more nuanced thoughts about my perspective regarding disability. It's like I don't even really know where I stand, just kind of conflicted thoughts. You know, just things that I have been chewing on and it all sort of tied together in this theme of my abilities, my capabilities versus other people's expectations of me. And you know, it's called Wonder Woman. But as you heard and you were there, you know, the material is about me doing very mundane tasks and people thinking of me as a superhero for doing stuff like that.

So yeah, it's more personal to me this album. I feel it has more intention behind it because it was sort of a spontaneous light bulb moment that I put together. And then after I had that idea, it all just came together very, very quickly. Like I said, February 2024 is when I had the idea and we filmed and recorded it in August. So, it's a short turnaround time. We released it in October. So that's all very fast. But you know, it was an inspired idea and I just felt like I might as well run with it now instead of waiting. So yeah, that's what I did.

[00:05:03] Jeff Tiessen: Well, as you mentioned, I was part of the live audience for one of the recording nights at the Comedy Bar in Toronto. I think for someone without two hands like you, I could just relate to so much of your content and the way you presented that content and everyday awkward encounters like you talked about. It was so funny and the two-handed audience found it hilarious too. I don't know if it's a formula or how you do it, and of course your style and talent, but how do you make amputee humour so comfortably funny for people without disabilities.

[00:05:46] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, that's a good question because I mean, first of all, it was really cool to see you and a few other amputees that night as well, both nights that we recorded. But I'm noticing that more and more at my live shows that more amputees are coming, which is really cool because it's telling me that my message is getting out there to people who are like me, which is the point, you know. Yeah, I want to reach able bodied people, but that's a given So for one thing it was great to have people who are in the audience and directly get it. But in terms of like, you know, making it relatable to people who don't get it, personally, I think it's more like the other side of the coin that they see. It's like they've seen disability out in the public sphere, they come across it, they know of it, but it's like a little inside scoop of what really goes on in someone's mind. Someone who they may have not talked to before or someone who they may have spoken to. And the joke that I'm telling is about something that they have said or like a variation of something maybe kind of embarrassing or ignorant that they have said. And so they can see themselves in that joke and they can think to themselves, oh shoot, like I've definitely asked a dumb question like that to a disabled person before, but she's making a joke about it, highlighting how kind of dumb it is, but in a way that's good natured and light hearted. And so I think that's where the relatability comes in.

People seeing themselves on the other side of the interaction that I'm making fun of. And also, you know, a lot of the material that I have that's not about awkward comments or ignorant comments, but more about the things that I do around my own house that because I'm lazy, you know, I have a joke about. Like leaving things in the microwave and then pressing the 10 second button again just so that I can get the bowl to rotate closer to me. I'm just doing that because I'm lazy. And that's like, it's a relatable thing. And I think that it's especially cool when able bodied people can see that we have more alike. More in common than we have, you know, differences.

And that someone like me is not like a magical unicorn who just lives in this disabled universe. I have everyday experiences like everyone else, and I list them. So, yeah, it's a little bit of a mix of that, but it's very heartwarming when I do see people in the audience who do resonate with the material on a very directly personal level. That's like an extra layer of appreciation for me.

[00:08:37] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah. And the way I started that question with your jokes. Resonating. Resonating with me for obvious reasons. And as you explain it, they resonate with them too, because they've experienced this. What do I do? Fear factor. How does she do that? What did I just say? Right?

[00:08:53] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:08:56] Jeff Tiessen: What compels someone to stand up on stage, and try and make complete strangers laugh? I mean, that's so vulnerable, isn't it? Why do you do this?

[00:09:11] Courtney Gilmour: Well, you know what? It's really funny. So I'm gonna paraphrase something I heard. I don't know who I should be giving credit to because I don't remember who said this to me, but I will say that it's not coming from my own mind. People will say, you know, public speaking is people's number one, you know, fear in life. And so, like, what compels you to do it? But it just feels like something I should do because I know I can. Like people who regularly do extremist sports. Like bungee jumping or hang gliding. I'm like, what compels you to do that? You know, and it's like, because they have fun doing it. It doesn't feel like a compulsion. It feels like it's a thrill, and, yeah, there's some adrenaline to it, but it just feels like something I'm supposed to do because I'm drawn to it. And I feel the same way about standup. I get what people mean when they're like, oh, it's so vulnerable. It's so exposing. How do you do it? But it's like I feel drawn to do it because it feels like I'm supposed to. Or it feels like I have a natural skill to do it. So yeah, it can be scary, but I guess it doesn't feel as scary to me as it does to other people. In the same way, whereas people who go bungee jumping, something's making them do it. And to me, someone who would probably never do that, I just kind of stay on the sidelines and be like, God bless. I don't know how you do that, but they're like, oh, it's fun. So yeah, we all have our compulsions and gravitational pulls towards things that seem very exciting but scary.

[00:11:11] Jeff Tiessen: I remember the first time I asked you that question. It was for the magazine article and you.

[00:11:15] Courtney Gilmour: What did I say the first time? Was it different?

[00:11:17] Jeff Tiessen: Well, no, it started differently. You were, you were quick to make a joke about it and say something along the lines that, yeah, comedians, we're all generally unwell.

[00:11:29] Courtney Gilmour: That is true. That's a good little asterisk. Yeah. We're mentally unwell. Yes. I think there's a bit of that too. I feel like it's an outlet to get out things that make you a little bit, I don't know, depressed or angry or whatever. I'm not going to go so far as to call it therapy, but it is a good outlet to express yourself. And yeah, it just so happens a lot of people on the stage are, you know, dealing with some stuff.

[00:11:59] Jeff Tiessen: Let's go back to your start in stand up comedy. Now you live in Toronto now, but you grew up in Sarnia, right?

[00:12:08] Courtney Gilmour: No, no, I didn't, but I was born there but my parents moved immediately after. So, it's really funny that that's always in my bio. I have no recollection of Sarnia whatsoever. I'm sure it's great. But my parents lived in Sarnia when they had me and then they moved to Kitchener Waterloo and that's where I grew up. Both. Yeah, Kitchener first, then Waterloo, then I moved to Toronto in my early 20s.

[00:12:31] Jeff Tiessen: Okay, got it. Sorry about that. But a stop in Windsor at the University of Windsor?

[00:12:36] Courtney Gilmour: Yes. Yeah, so that's the thing. I've lived too many different places and yeah, it gets confusing. But yeah, so I lived in Windsor when I went to school there. For a long time, about eight years.

[00:12:47] Jeff Tiessen: And that's where you got your first stab at comedy on stage. It was a fundraising event, if I remember right.

[00:12:55] Courtney Gilmour: And yes, stumbled into it by accident. The group I was a part of had hired this comedian to come in from LA and be the entertainment for our event. And me being the main coordinator for it, didn't know how comedy worked. I didn't know that she was supposed to have an opener. I know this now, but usually when a headliner comes to town, you find out if they don't have their own opener, and you find a local comedian to open for them. I didn't know anything like that. So she asked me if I would do it. I had never done comedy before. I was intrigued by the idea. She's like, just do five minutes. And I did. Yeah, it was just sort of all untangled in this weird way, but it was really fun. And that was my first. My first show.

[00:13:48] Jeff Tiessen: Okay. So you grew up in Kitchener Waterloo, and you were born with limb difference. You mentioned that already. And this question might sound a bit strange. And I've asked you before, too, if you had, and I put this in air quotes, a normal childhood. I say normal. I mean, better said typical. Was it a typical upbringing like Girl Guides or baseball or soccer, ballet? No institutions? Tell us about your childhood.

[00:14:25] Courtney Gilmour: Oh, my God. Tell you about my childhood? Okay, we're deviating here. We're going deep. My disability was not expected as I say this on the album. It was a complete surprise to my family in the sense that they didn't detect it on the ultra ultrasound or sonogram, or is that the same thing? I don't know what the distinction is.

[00:14:55] Jeff Tiessen: I am not, not medically qualified to say, but I've always heard it as ultrasound, I think everybody knows what that is.

[00:15:03] Courtney Gilmour: I don't know. But, yeah, so they didn't know when my mom was pregnant with me that I was going to be born without limbs. I’m missing my right leg as well. And, yeah, so we kind of were all just winging it out there, you know. They were there to support me whenever I needed it. It was just kind of tell us what you need. We'll try to figure it out. We were involved with the War Amps organization and all the seminars that they put on, which were hugely helpful for me. Meeting other people, other kids like myself was. That was a large part of my formative self-concept. It was just like being able to once or twice a year interact with these other kids who also didn't have limbs.

And yeah, I was in skating and ballet. I skied for a long time. I basically would just sign up for anything just to see how I liked it, like track and field and just all kinds of things. I would try just to be involved with something, just to have activities in my life. I really liked dancing for a while, although I took ballet while wearing prosthetic hands and I don't recommend that because well, you know, I don't know what the technology is now for children, for children with prosthetic hands, but when I was growing up they were quite cumbersome and quite heavy. And ballet is not a dance for heavy machinery to be flopping around your body. It's like light and graceful and poised and I just felt very weighed down by electric hands.

But, but yeah, I have a younger brother. We fought, we got along, we fought again, and we just had yeah, a typical childhood and I had a good group of friends.

[00:17:10] Jeff Tiessen: You're not an everyday prosthetic wearer now right?

[00:17:14] Courtney Gilmour: Only leg. I wear my leg, but no, I don’t wear prosthetic hands. We had like sort of a deal where because I was heavily encouraged to wear them for the first part of my life just so that I would know how they operated, so that I could make a choice for myself which is better. So, when I was about 14 or 15, I was like, I'm done. I can't do it. It's just a personal preference. I know a lot of single arm amputees like the balance of having another one and some double arm amputees like both. And I just happen to not like either. And yeah. So ever since then I've just been flying solo.

[00:17:58] Jeff Tiessen: Were you a funny kid?

[00:18:01] Courtney Gilmour: It kind of depends who you ask. I think I was a funny kid. I think I was. I think I've always been funny and it's interesting you ask that because sometimes I'll get messages from people who grew up with me and they say, like, I would have always assumed that no one thought I was. Not that no one thought I was funny, but I always assumed that it's a surprise for people in my childhood to find out that I'm a comedian because I was very shy and very quiet. I wasn't the life of the party or I wasn't this gregarious, charismatic personality by any means. And so, I sometimes get messages from people in my high school, or from even further back and they'll say that they're not surprised. I have always had a pretty healthy sense of humour and I would make jokes, but it was more like, I don't know how to describe it, but just jokes to your friends, like a more subdued humour. I don't know, I think people I was close to in an inner circle, think I was funny for sure, but I wasn't loud and I wasn't outgoing. So, you know, I never knew that I had any kind of performative quality to myself until much later in life.

[00:19:27] Jeff Tiessen: I was going to say that's a bit of a departure from being that more subdued, subtle humour to laying it all out there.

I was going to ask you, and this maybe has a little bit to do with how thick skinned you are as a comedian. Like I said earlier, to me, it's a very vulnerable profession to be in. And there is a sort of societal sensitivity to humour about disability. You know, we shouldn't joke. And I mean, that's a whole other conversation. But that's sometimes in the disability community itself. So, in this age of unfiltered social media feedback, do you get pushback to your humour or not?

[00:20:13] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, occasionally I do. I find the most pushback comes from, I mean, surprise, surprise, online, you know, tik tok and stuff. Nothing outrageous though. I don't think I've had any joke that got an overwhelmingly negative response. And if it did, I think that would be, as a comedian, my responsibility to gauge the feedback that I'm getting and kind of, you know, step back and say, okay, what? How are people responding to this across the board? And so if I had a joke that was getting overwhelmingly negative feedback, I would take that as a cue to tighten it up, rewrite it, or chuck it But there's also the thing of like, you can't please everybody. And there are some people even within the disability community that have some problems with joking about certain aspects of it. And I will hear them out but sometimes I'll disagree, you know, and that's fine. But nothing, I don't think, I've said or put out anything that has really garnered a lot of criticism. But you know, especially as I get more exposed to larger audiences, you start to narrow your parameters with your fan base. And so, I'm not for everyone. If an 85-year-old man doesn't like what I'm doing, I'm not going to take that as a marker to change what I'm doing. I'm like, you're probably not in my demographic. I talk about stuff that's relevant to me in my life and people who are sort of within the same proximity to it and my experiences. And so yeah, you can't please everybody.

[00:22:05] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah, yeah, you sure can't, that's for sure. Your career, it extends beyond the comedy stage. You've been a writer for This Hour has 22 Minutes among other shows. And when you talk about your audience, you may have a couple of them because what we see for the most part is a very polished. You have a not necessarily G-Rated side of your comedy as you described as the other side, that dark and dirty dank basement not for prime time. And that's got to be a bit of a different audience?

[00:22:43] Courtney Gilmour: Yes, that's true. That's a good point. They are different. And you know what? I'm okay with appealing to both as long as you know that, sometimes someone follows me from CBC or 22 minutes. I'm on CBC a lot. You know, CBC Debaters, I'm on there a lot or just CBC tapings and that's all clean comedy and stuff and that's great just for laughs and everything. But yeah, coming to see me live is probably going to be a different experience depending on the show. And if it's an 11pm show on a Saturday night it might get a little darker and dirtier and you there are people from that fan base that appreciate both sides of the coin there. And yeah, it just kind of comes down to taste.

I like being able to be versatile in my comedy. As long as I don't feel like I'm betraying myself or betraying my own interests. And I'm happy to do a lot of clean comedy and I have a lot of not clean comedy. I contain multitudes. We all do. And I think that's a really cool thing. And also, as a person with a disability, I especially find it important to show the many sides that we have because people tend to think, you know, disabled people are one note. Especially when it comes to maybe darker content or more sexually explicit content for an after hours show. It's important that you know that there are sides of us that can speak to those experiences because those are the reasons why we're so misunderstood, judged and misconceived, because, you know, people tend to not include us in the full range of human experiences. And we're definitely in there. So I think it's good to be able to represent those parts of our lives as well.

[00:24:42] Jeff Tiessen: Yes. Which actually leads me to my next question about your identity, your brand. And you have said that you wrestle a lot about maybe cutting out hand jokes from your performances. I don't know if you're still wrestling with that, but what gets you thinking that way?

[00:25:03] Courtney Gilmour: It’s interesting because I've thought about that a lot and it was something I was actually thinking about before I came up with the idea for Wonder Woman. I was sort of toying with the idea of a second album a little bit later, like sometime in the next year or so is when I was originally planning on putting out a second album. And I was really grappling with this conflict, so to speak, of okay, but what am I supposed to say for a second album? Because I did all my hand jokes the first time and maybe people want to hear something different from me, but I don't know if I have enough, enough different jokes to put on a full album. But at the same time, like I mentioned, I did have some other ideas and other unfinished thoughts about disability that hadn't made the first album. And I wanted to say them, I wanted to record them, I wanted to talk about them still. And so, after a certain point of just kind of like ho hum, humming and hawing about what I should do to appease other people, I just was like, you know what? Screw it. I'm just gonna do another full album back to back. Disability jokes all over again. Because I friggin want to. I just want to. And I have them and I know they're good. I also know that I have plenty of other material, but I've got my whole career ahead of me.

I don't feel imprisoned by my disability material, but I do feel like I have time. I'm sort of buying my own freedom with the beginnings of this career and talking about my disability. The more I get exposed to larger audiences and more opportunities based on the amputee jokes, that's giving me time down the road to cultivate an audience and then have them come to see me because they know me and then expand my material. You know, there's going to be time for that. I'm not going to be trapped by this, you know, for my whole career again. I don't feel trapped by it. But of course, yeah, there are times where you feel conflicted because you feel like that's what you're known for. But I just made a decision. I was like, I'm just going to decide to not feel that way anymore and just say what I want to say and, you know, if people don't like it, that's fine. I got a very warm reception to Wonder Woman and it felt very authentic to me. I said everything I wanted to say on that second album and it all happened to be about my disability again. Oh, well, it's my life experience, you know. I make jokes about that on the album too. There are tons of comedians making albums and specials all about dating or all about the same things. That's fine. That's what they're known for too. And yeah, so I feel like the bigger my career gets, the more I'm buying time down the road to do other material. Once I have people following me and trusting in my voice and my humour and coming to see me, as long as they like my sense of humour, I'll be able to tell other jokes about other things as well. I do talk about other stuff in my sets at live shows. So, yeah, it's been a bit of a journey with that. Probably even since the last time we spoke, I'm pretty sure I've shifted a little bit of my ideas about that. But yeah, once I put out Wonder Woman, I just stopped caring about that and instead I just doubled down and I was just like, no, we're doing it again all over again, and it's going to be good the second time because it was good the first time, so whatever.

[00:29:02] Jeff Tiessen: Yeah, that's interesting. I mean, I hear you. You're talking about growth as a performing artist for sure, and using what you know best and has worked for you to pave that pathway or open new doors in bigger audiences, like you said. Good plan.

A couple more questions for you, Courtney. One, I'm really interested to know what's a bad day at the office look like for you for as a comedian?

[00:29:29] Courtney Gilmour: Bad day? Yeah. You mean like on stage?

[00:29:32] Jeff Tiessen: On stage, yeah.

[00:29:35] Courtney Gilmour: Well, I mean, a classic bad day would just be a bad set, which would probably just look like, I don't know, just not hitting it off with the audience. Those times happen. You're just not hitting it. Especially if it's one thing, if you're trying new material and that's not working, that's not a great feeling. But what's worse is doing old material that you know works and tonight it's not working. And that makes you feel like absolute dog crap because you're like, okay, I know these jokes work, so why are they not working with you? You start second guessing everything. It's just sometimes you're just not having chemistry with the audience or whatever, whatever reasons. And, yeah, you feel a little bit dejected. I tend to try my best to walk into my sets ready for anything, preparing for it to go well and anticipating it go well, but if it doesn't, absolutely not needing all of my validation to come from that one set because that's putting a lot of pressure on yourself and your worth.

If you're constantly thinking, I'm only as good as my next set, you're really gonna struggle. You have to have some sort of inner peace, however you can rummage it. Sometimes you really gotta try for it. But it's like, if you can maintain a consistent state of well-being as much as you can, that's really helpful because then sometimes a bomb doesn't feel as bad as it could.

[00:31:27] Jeff Tiessen: I'm thinking self talk would be an important tool in your toolbox in the dressing room.

[00:31:32] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, it definitely is. I mean, a lot of comedians myself Included. Like, this has been my thing. I used to go out on stage and just assume that everyone doesn't like me. Before I'm even out there. And I didn't even really know I was doing that. I just felt it, and it just felt like, oh, I guess I'm just going to feel like you have to win people over. And, you know, I've come a long way from that. I still sometimes struggle with that. But if you can intentionally change that mindset just a little bit so that you can say, I'm going out there. There's 50, 60, 70, 80 people out there and I'm pretty likable. I hope they like me. I think they'll like me. Just little tweaks to how you frame your expectations. It can really pay off so that you don't feel so dejected because, yeah, it's like self abuse to go out on stage and just assume that a room full of people don't like you. That's psychotic, actually. But we do it all the time, so just little shifts like that in your mind can really help.

[00:32:40] Jeff Tiessen: What an interesting profession. I'm sticking with that. You create great comedy about your everyday encounters with strangers, and we've talked a little bit about that, but I would think there's still some everyday stuff with strangers that isn't really that funny to you still after all these years. Like, what bugs you?

[00:33:05] Courtney Gilmour: What bugs me. Right. I would say the stuff that I don't find so funny is, well, as much material as I have on Uber drivers, and I have a lot, and that's just because that's how I get around most of the time, and there are some funny encounters with that, but also not so funny. Typically when I get picked up, I'm always, always preparing for when I open the door and the driver sees me. There's this thing that happens in their brains where they suddenly fly into panic mode because it's so strange. So, they'll pull up to my building and suddenly they see me, a girl with no hands on the sidewalk. But instead of thinking she's the one who called this Uber and she's the one who stands here as a human being before me. She must have existed before I pulled up to the sidewalk, right? But now what they're doing is: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Flying to open the door. Flying over to my side, opening the door, helping. Trying to help me, help buckle me in, like, infantilizing me essentially, just like, freaking out, thinking that I can't open the door, that I can't get in the car. But they do it in such a frantic way that it causes their anxiety. Causes me anxiety. And so I have to usually mindfully temper it. I'll open the door, and as soon as I see their eyes go wide, I will literally look directly at them and be like, stop.

No, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm gonna get into the car. Stay right where you are. You don't need to move. You don't need to get out. It's okay. And then you can kind of see them visibly relax a little bit. And then I get into the car and I put my seat belt on. But if I don't do that, though, they will just fly into this fight or flight weird frenzy. That is so annoying. It’s like, Oh, let me help you. Let me help you. Let me help you. And it's so disorienting. And it happens every day. It happens literally every day. And so I find that, I can write a joke about that. There is almost nothing I can't find funny from a certain angle. But in the moment, it's very frustrating. I don't like being infantilized. I don't like it when people will jump to my rescue without being asked. And that's just a big example of that.

And it's fascinating because it's like, how do you think that I am alive? How do you think that I got here? You know what I mean? It's perplexing to think about. I know people will be like, well, they're just trying to help you.

[00:36:29] Jeff Tiessen: Well, it kind of stems from assumptions, right? And I've heard you talk seriously about assumptions about you. Like, what, you drive? You live alone and not with your parents? Assuming it takes you a long time to get dressed. And these are things that you have communicated before. So, along the same lines I would think… assumptions about your abilities right?

[00:36:56] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah. I mean usually what I get most annoyed by is assumptions in the moment. So, you know, if I'm at a restaurant or something or the movie theater where you have self-serve soda and stuff like that, and people will kind of grab things for you in front of you without asking. That's the kind of stuff that annoys me in the moment. But I always forget that a lot of people assume that I don't live by myself or they assume like, very basic things. And it's just fascinating to me because I would never guess that someone thinks that, that I live with my parents. Why I would never even think that. But yeah, when I hear on occasion what people think or like, oh, when I first met you and you told me that you live apartment like I was so surprised. I'm just as surprised to find out that they thought that as they are to find out that it's not true, you know.

[00:38:04] Jeff Tiessen: Last one for you. You work with humour professionally, but how about some advice to us amputees with respect to the importance of humour in our daily lives? Again, situations that we can all relate to that you're talking about. I mean, do you use humour personally to make your way through some of these frustrating encounters?

[00:38:33] Courtney Gilmour: I mean, I guess I do. I don't know that it’s ever got to a point where I was having a day where I felt like I needed to use humour. That's usually my telltale sign that I do not because I don't think it should ever feel forced. I just have a natural sense of levity about me, probably even more so now because I'm a comedian. That's not to say that no for someone else. There's lots of people's dispositions that are naturally humorous and they find humour in things. But I find it's more important to be very authentic about how you actually feel. You're not required to find things funny if they don't feel funny to you, if they feel traumatic or if they feel annoying or angering, you're allowed to feel that too.

And so, I would be really hesitant to encourage people to see the humour in things when they don't genuinely feel it. You can see the humor in it later if you feel like that's an important thing to do. But I mean, I think having a healthy concept of yourself and who you are is just generally helpful for moving around the world, no matter who you are, able-bodied or not. I think that just being able to like make sure that you have a strength in you that you can come back to at the end of the day where you can say, listen, somebody said something really messed up to me today and I'm allowed to feel upset about that, but also I am not going to allow it to dictate the way I live the rest of my life. And that's going to look different in different people. But yeah, I mean, I think that if you have a sense of humour about things, it can definitely make things easier. You know, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt where possible. Like I said, the thing about the cab driver, it's like, yeah, it is a very annoying thing. But there is something I can do about that in that moment. What? I'm not trying to be rude to them by correcting them. I'm correcting them so that for the next amputee that they ever have in their cab, they don't do that too. So, now I'm just saying, listen, I know that you have been conditioned by society to think that people like me are helpless, but I'm just letting you know you need to cut that out right now and move on your merry way and let me move on my merry way and then I don't have to think about that for the rest of the day.

You know, deal with things in the moment in the healthiest way you can and don't suppress your feelings. But yeah, you can allow yourself to be light-hearted about things too and just, you know, everything is a story at some point, I guess.

[00:41:27] Jeff Tiessen: Definitely for you. Yes. In what you do now, that's really great advice because some friends with disabilities, they'll often just turn to humour to lessen tension, sometimes in awkward situations. I really like what you said that you don't have too. Just be authentic and respect your own feelings that you're having at that time. So totally great advice. Listen, I want to advise folks on how to find your work, your albums. Comedy Records is the publisher right?

[00:42:04] Courtney Gilmour: Yeah, Comedy Records is my record label and both of my albums are available on all streaming platforms. Spotify, Apple Music, everywhere that you listen to things, it's on there. And I also have a website, CourtneyGilmore.com. It's got the albums and also all my other stuff and my tour dates. And I'm very active on Instagram and Tik Tok and my handle is Courtney J. Gilmore on both of those.

[00:42:30] Jeff Tiessen: All right, great. Yeah, lots at your website. And you can be found in clubs and bars and dank basements sometimes if that's what people are looking for too. So that's terrific, Courtney. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate you making time and I know you have a busy writing and performing schedule. It's great to have you on.

[00:43:00] Courtney Gilmour: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Great talking with you.

[00:43:03] Jeff Tiessen: You too. And with that, this has been Life and Limb. Thanks for listening. You can read about others who are thriving with limb loss or limb difference and plenty more at Thrivemag.ca. And you'll find our previous podcast episodes there too. Until next time, Live Well.