Packing a stand up punch

[attach]721[/attach]Sure making people laugh is a definite perk when it comes to stand up comedy.

But for Toronto comedy heavyweight, Gilson Lubin, it all has to do with the fact he gets to live out his lifelong dream of storytelling.
That, says the 34-year-old, definitely gets his blood pumping.

Lubin attributes his St. Lucian heritage of storytelling to his enjoyment of getting up on stage and making people laugh about instance in his life or stories about his family and friends.

And audiences have liked what they hear.

In Lubin’s storied 10-year career, the midtown resident has made waves in Toronto’s comedy scene.

Lubin, who worked odd jobs including attaching tags onto clothes at the Bay and in security before becoming a fulltime stand up comic says he couldn’t see himself doing anything else.

And the comedy scene has been good to him.

Along with appeared in such shows as Comedy Now and Comedy Inc., the former MTV VJ has extensively toured Canada with his no-holds-barred routine. Lubin has appeared in such galas as the Halifax Comedy Festival and the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

His biggest break came a few years back when he opened for his comic idol, Dave Chappelle.

This month, Lubin who took the last two years off from comedy to try his hand at acting before realizing standup was for him, will guest on “EduMacate This”, the third installment of the N.B.A. Comics series at The Second City on Sept. 25.

Lubin who has known N.B.A. founder and fellow comic David Andrew Brent, since Brent was a DJ, wanted to be part of the fledgling comedy series because he believes in helping emerging comics.

Founded this past January, the group’s first showcase was held at Second City in March. Brent wanted to create a series that represented what people saw in comedy clubs, not on TV showcases.

“I want to show the edgier side to comedy,” Brent said earlier this year. “The stuff you see on TV (on comedy programs) is watered down, milky white.

“They’re young, talented performers, and they’re going to make me work that night,” Lubin, who won the 2003 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Newcomer, says a few weeks before the show.

“I’m the veteran in the group, so I need to prove myself.”

As for his own career, despite his two-year stint in acting Lubin foresees himself staying in comedy.

After all, he has the stories.