To celebrate her cross-Canada tour, The Late Bloomer Tour, we caught up with comedian Debra DiGiovanni to discuss where she gets her material, what she's working on these days, and how her first time onstage went (hint: it involved spitballs).

Tell us about your first time onstage.
It was a fabulous open mic in Toronto called Spirits Bar and Grill Open Mic. It was just glorious. I didn’t have a bad time onstage until probably the 20th time. There’s always one night. Mine was in Hamilton. God bless you, Hamilton. We’ve made friends since. Guys literally shot spitballs at me with straws from the crowd. It was awful.

Where do you get your material?
One of my dearest friends who’s a fantastic comic said he doesn’t understand how people can’t write new material. He says, “You want new material? Go outside.” Life’s weirdos will offer you new material every minute of the day. But it’s really who I am, what I look like, and how I make it through the world. Pain and awkwardness are funny. The pain that has brought me to this place is working in my favour. Did I just say that pain inspires me? I guess I did. But when you write something honest, doesn’t it just feel better?

What are you working on right now?
I moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of this year, so I’m back and forth. I have to learn to act; it’s not just lying, like I thought. Also this lovely neighbour, Dan Magro, and I do this webisode called Cute Boy of the Week. We pit two boys against each other and choose our favourite. I’m trying to break into Hollywood; unfortunately, it’s inevitable as a Canadian comedian. I love Canada, but I’ve taken the plunge. It’s humbling but good for me and scary.

How did you get into comedy?
One day, my roommates, just by fluke, said, “You should phone Citytv.” I did and asked, “Are you looking for a receptionist or someone to answer the phone?” The woman said, “I just had a girl quit, can you start tomorrow?” So I did. They didn’t let you just sit in your job. If you wanted to learn something, be an editor, on air, that was part of the plan. If Jennifer Peck of Breakfast Television was sick, I would fill in. I worked with Sook-Yin Lee on MuchMusic. I was in the newsroom in 1999 when they got a press release about the Humber comedy program, and everyone said, “This is it, do it.”

Toronto comedian Debra DiGiovanni is at the Winter Garden Theatre on Jan. 24 as part of her Late Bloomer Tour.