Culture Days 2021 – Introduction to Comedy Writing

Joleen Ballendine is a mainstage cast member of Rapid Fire Theatre, Canada’s third oldest improv company. She is also the co-director of the Sphinxes Outreach Program which aims to empower and employ female, trans, and non-binary improvisors by giving them the tools to teach improv and then deliver the workshops to other marginalized voices.  Joleen performs weekly in Theatresports, Maestro, and other long-form shows. Notable shows include Improvised Dungeons and Dragons directed by Edmonton’s Mark Meer, Colin Mochrie and friends in the Edmonton Fringe Festival.  She’s an original cast member of the hit show Off Book the Improvised Musical. Teaching and performing improv has taken Joleen all over Canada, the US, and Europe. She tours regularly with comedy partner Amy Shostak in their high energy, risk-taking improv duo Rä Power.  Improv isn’t Joleen’s only passion, she also writes and acts. She is a two-time Canadian Screen Awards nominee for both her performance and writing in the Canadian sketch comedy show Caution: May Contain Nuts on APTN. Alongside writing partners Gordie and Joey Lucius, Joleen was selected for the NSI Totally Television program in 2020 for their half-hour comedy, Lupita. The series is in development and hopefully will be available to a wide audience soon. The team of three is also working on a new half-hour sketch comedy show called thirtyONE which is also in development. She has written plays, musicals, sketch comedy, web series, and sitcoms. She thrives at telling stories whether it’s on the stage, on television, or verbally to anyone who will listen. Joleen is a proud Edmonton-based artist juggling life in the gig economy with a five-month old baby in tow.