The Candy Palmater Show

Yas Kween! Making ethnic women visible on the comedy stage

Comic Ify Chiwetelu talks misogyny and ghostbusting in comedy.
Nigerian-Canadian comic Ify Chiwetelu hosts a monthly event in Toronto called Yas Kween, which puts female comics of colour centre stage. (Supplied)
Toronto comic Ify Chiwetelu. (Supplied)

It took a dare, and rent money on the line, to get Ify Chiwetelu to try standup for the first time.

That's because she really loved standup; it helped her feel like she belonged. And growing up as a Nigerian-Canadian kid in Calgary, Ify didn't always feel like she belonged.

Today, she produces a comedy night in Toronto called Yas Kween, and it's all about getting more women of colour on the comedy stage. And the backlash to the Ghostbusters all-female cast has only reinforced Ify's belief that events like Yas Kween are needed.