WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE?
What’s Your Favourite...?
Comedian and CAA Member Carolyn Taylor on great figure skaters and the pleasure of an analog summer.
By Nicole Keen
AFTER FIVE SEASONS OF HILARITY on Baroness Von Sketch Show, Carolyn Taylor headed in an unexpected direction. She set out to choreograph a pairs figure skating routine to Whitney Houston’s hit song “I Have Nothing.” The resulting 2023 docuseries, I Have Nothing, is bursting with humour and heart. Not content to rest on her laurels, Taylor promptly headed into the studio to record a vinyl album — The Untitled Carolyn Taylor Project: The No of Us Is Yes Tonight. It’s a full-length experimental art-pop album that features fellow queer artists and comes from a place of “pure joy.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CAROLYN TAYLOR
You worked with some incredible figure skaters on I Have Nothing, but prior to the series, did you have a favourite figure skater?
Katarina Witt, of course. I fell in love with her during the 1988 Olympics. For pairs, it would have to be Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov from Russia. They won the gold in ’88.
As far as your musical tastes, who are some big influences?
I’m a big Yoko Ono fan. I like early Pink Floyd. I was also influenced by Lauryn Hill. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the greatest albums of all time.
Who is another comedian you admire?
Right now, I’m really loving the work of Elvira Kurt. She’s been on the scene for a long time in Canada, but she’s really breaking ground with her improvisational work. She and I have done some work together onstage, and I always marvel at her ability to read a situation and create work from the ether.
What does your ideal day off in Prince Edward County look like?
I like to get together with my artist friends and do crafts and make music. I love going down to the water and swimming. I enjoy going for a coffee at Citizen Frances in Bloomfield. It’s a big favourite.
What are you most looking forward to this summer?
Being analog is kind of my dream for a good summer. Up at the cottage, we have a VHS machine, and we play lots of vinyl. I love floating in the lake and having that real chill time with books and magazines and friends. CAA