Andre Bouchard is the creator of the Indigenous Peoples Production (IPP), a booking and production agency which continuously strives to bring voice to Native American artists through various expressions of creativity, including music, dance, art and, now, comedy. As a creative through his own work in independent production and performing arts, he saw an opportunity to expand this idea of exposing specifically Native American artists to the broader society in 2016 after he realized that there were no prominent groups helping to emphasize Native American voices in the media. Bouchard elaborated, stating, “There were no agents out there, meaning people who would book tours for Native and Indigenous artists, that really understood anything about their culture, or understood anything that would explain their work, or how to frame their work in sort of the intercultural world we live in,” also adding that, “There’s been a dearth of stuff by and for Natives out there in the world, but there’s also been a dearth of content that people who are not Native can use to understand our culture.” Bouchard emphasized the importance of having spaces specifically for often undermined voices in the world, as well as those not from or a part of those communities who want to enjoy and indulge in this content learning to do so in a respectful and appropriate way. The importance of this organization’s specification on Indigenous voices not only falls on the lack of media attention and proper exposure, but a longer battle with systemic racism and erasure as well. Misconceptions of Indigenous artistic expressions are often stereotyped to being just “pow wow drumming and dancing,” but Bouchard sees this as a reason to further his project of authentic Indigenous storytelling, saying that “I view these as opportunities to educate people, to set them on a path to spark their curiosity, to help them find a way to understand this better, and thereby make this world a better place for the people I am fighting for…my job is to shine a light on the genius in my community.’’ Wherever his production has been set and what expressive art form is presented, Bouchard aims to connect with other surrounding Native communities as well, further commenting, “We are speaking to our own communities and intertribal communities, wherever we go. There are tribal communities, and intertribal, and urban native communities everywhere I send these productions.” Bouchard elaborates on the aspect of accurate storytelling, saying that accurate representation is the goal, as well as bringing awareness to each Indigenous person’s story; “Culture is the lens; if you really want to respect someone, if you really want to get into these things, you take them as an individual, you take their story, you listen to their story.” His commitment to shedding light on the richness of Native American creativity grew in 2019 when making this creative project into an official organization, and with that began his partnership with Jillian Barnes, the co-producer for the Washington Center for Performing Arts (WCPA) in Olympia, Washington.
The WCPA, first built in 1924, has been a community pillar since 1985 with their continuous mission to “bring artists and community members together to enjoy live events,” as Jill Barnes put it. They have been the home of several productions, such as the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, Olympia Junior programs, Ballet Northwest, and more. Through their multi-year partnership with the IPP, the power of Bouchard’s continuous commitment to shed light on the richness of Native American artists, and Barnes’ abilities to help amplify these voices by offering the stage to do so, a growing amount of creative projects have gone from a dream to a reality. One such project is the newest installment of the Some Stars of Native Comedy show. Using comedy as a way to share this facet of Native American art, Bouchard aims to highlight the very distinctive taste of Native American humor. As an ally to the community, Barnes heavily recognizes the importance of the IPP project being a form of representation, as well as a way to bring exposure for Native American artists to the local community. Barnes feels that the mixture of comedy, an enjoyment for all, and Native American arts being shown to the community is a great opportunity for laughter and awareness, saying that “It does it in such a way that it is insightful and respectful.” In partnership, Bouchard and Barnes brought together the collaborative project of Some Stars of Native American Comedy this past weekend in a newly improved Washington Center for Performing Arts that has just recently reopened as a place to indulge in local and nationwide creatives.
Some Stars of Native American Comedy presented comedians Jim Ruel of the Ojibwe tribe, Tai Leclaire, who is Kanien’kehá:ka & Mi’kmaq, Sheila Chalakee, a citizen of Muscogee-Creek Nation, and Gilbert Brown, member of the Modoc, Klamath, Paiute and Warm Springs tribes. All comedians showcased their infectious humor, successfully keeping the crowd in a roar of incessant laughter, while highlighting a multitude of important topics, such as common stereotypes about the Native American communities and reparations through stealing back their historically appropriated culture (both metaphorically and literally). They also shared stories from the rez that range from accidentally going out with your aunt after chatting online for an odd but humorous amount of time, to the overall seemingly constant chaos surrounding the common possibility of accidentally dating your cousin, to the humorous calamity that goes on in a marriage of over 10 years, to the oddities of dating a self-proclaimed alien, and more. Jim Ruel, a comedian whose work has been featured on FX, opened the show with his take on the common mishaps of dating within the Native American community. Next came actor, writer, and comedian Tai Leclare, whose sense of humor came tumbling forward to the crowd with witty commentary on a few modern day topics, such as the overly appropriated culture of spirituality amongst the white community, his hilarious recollection of the seemingly ceremonial ritual performed by white people when Billy Joel’s Piano Man came on during a wedding reception, and modern day obsession over shamanism amongst the white community. While some topics felt more like a playful call-out towards the majorly white audience, it was nonetheless a wonderful experience. Afterwards, Sheila Chalakee came onto the stage to showcase her style of humor, which was riddled with cynical jokes about her own life, as well everyday situations that make her life seem like a never ending comedic drama; she touched on the topics of modern day dating, how the misconception of Native Americans all being “nature lovers” could not apply to her given her strange distaste for butterflies (going as far as to getting her butterfly tattoo laser removed), her unsuccessful marrying and then successful divorcing of a Republican being one her greater achievements in life (which caused a very supportive reaction of cheering and heavy-handed clapping from the Olympian crowd), and her witty and surefire method of always winning an argument. Finally, Gilbert Brown came on as the show’s final act, and did not fail to leave the crowd needy for more with his fantastic delivery of jokes and little humorous subtleties in the middle of it all; he ranged from self-deprecating jokes to somehow being mistaken for a myriad of ethnicities, finishing the show off with the story of how he lost his middle finger to a horse, and his seemingly endless—both in content and vulgarity—dating horror stories. Some Stars of Native American Comedy shone their lights bright upon my heart, and considering the reaction from the crowd, everyone else that night felt it too, making it a magnificent night for the community who joined together, the Native comedians who took the time to share their art with us, a visually new and improved, but same all welcoming morale of the Washington Center for Performing Arts, and another successful installment of exposure for the Indigenous Peoples Production company.
