When Kyle Brownrigg graduated from St. Peter in 2007, he had no idea the course his life would take over the next 11 years. He definitely had no he would end up becoming one of Canada’s top stand up comedians and receive the award for Comedy Album of the Year at this year’s Juno Awards.

After graduating from high school, Brownrigg studied Visual Arts at Sheridan College and became a graphic illustrator working for newspapers like the Globe & Mail and the National Post.

His life would change forever when a friend signed him up for an open mic night at the Absolute Comedy Club on Preston Street in 2013.

“To be honest, I don’t remember anything about it. I was so nervous I just blacked out from the adrenaline,” recalls Brownrigg. “I saw a video of it afterwards and it looked okay.”

He did well enough to be invited back several times. In the summer of 2013, he took part in a competition with other more experienced local comics at the club and made it to the finals.

“That as like my lightbulb moment when I realized this shoe fits perfectly. I went from being a guy no one really knew to getting work at other clubs in small towns and Legion Halls across Ontario, mostly because they need someone to open and because I had a car. Most comics don’t own a car.”

Another watershed moment for Brownrigg came in 2015, when he won the Absolute competition and was signed to perform at Yuk Yuk’s. From ther,e he ended opening for such stand-up giants as Mike MacDonald, Tom Green and Gilbert Gottfried.

In 2016, he opened for Gerry Dee at TD Place in front of thousands of people. He continued to juggle his work as a graphic illustrator with his stand-up gigs until 2017 when he decided to move to Toronto and pursue comedy full-time.

“Ottawa is a great place to start, but eventually as a plant you outgrow your pot and you need to move to a bigger one,” says Brownrigg.

After moving to Toronto, Brownrigg was signed to the Yuk Yuk’s roster and began working at Yuk Yuk’s clubs throughout the country. He also started performing on SiriusXM radio’s comedy channel and in 2019, he was named Best Breakout Artist at the Canadian Comedy Awards.

Everything was going marvelously until March 2020, when it all came to an abrupt halt thanks to the COVID pandemic.

“That was the worst. My career was just taking off and then everything was closed. I didn’t do any live performances for over a year and a half,” says Brownrigg, who depended on CERB payments and residuals from Sirius XM to help pay the bills.

Thankfully, when the clubs finally did reopen, Brownrigg’s phone started ringing again and he’s been touring and performing ever since.

He recorded his current album A Lylebility in September. It was released in October and submitted to the Junos in the hope that it would at least get a nomination.

At the same time, Brownrigg was contemplating moving on from stand up comedy and pursuing another career. He was growing tired of the constant grind of touring and playing in small town clubs across Canada.

Needless to say, winning the Juno has catapulted his career to another level and it’s given him a new lease on life.

“I’m getting a lot more bookings now in bigger clubs. Things are really taking off,” says Brownrigg, who is hoping the award will help open doors south of the border as well.”That’s the plan.”