Robin Duke says she considers Martin Short the funniest person of all time.
photo by raymond andrew de souza

Member of Canada’s Walk of Fame performs at Winter Garden Theatre

Karolina Walczak
Entertainment Reporter

Comedy professor Robin Duke puts her life on stage in the show Women Fully Clothed.
“It’s all based on our personal experiences.  It’s all our lives up there. How we think, what we feel, and what affects us,” she said.
Duke appears in the show at the Winter Garden Theatre with  Jayne Eastwood, Kathryn Greenwood, Debra McGrath and Teresa Pavlinek until Dec. 8.
She said women will be able to relate to the show, but everyone will find it funny. “Our theme is universal. Not just at the identification or relating to something but there is a lot of comedy out there.”
Duke began her career at Second City and then moved on to work on the comedy series Second City Television (SCTV) in 1980.
The SCTV troupe was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2002.
Duke also spent three years on Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1981 to 1984, where she and the other writers received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program in 1984.
Women Fully Clothed started off as a fundraiser show in 2003.  “It started with us doing Second City archival sketches,” Duke said.
“I just called on these women that I had never worked with but they had all been at Second City and they all inspired me.”
After performing at the fundraiser the women knew they wanted to continue to team up.  
Duke said they worked well together because they were all at different stages of their lives.
After collaborating for nine months and meeting up once a week, they were ready for their first original performance.
“We almost sold out the theatre that night. We were all crying at the end. It was like giving birth,” Duke said.
“We had such a great time and had such a great chemistry. We were full of ideas. We knew we had something special after that first performance.
“What I am doing right now is certainly my favourite thing of all the things I’ve done,” she said.
Pavlinek said although the women are at different stages of their lives they still have some things in common.
“We share a sensibility and a sense of humour,” she said, adding she did not know Duke personally before Women Fully Clothed, but she was a big fan and grew up watching her on SCTV and  SNL.
“I often have moments when I am standing in awe of her on the stage. I still can’t believe I am performing with her,” Pavlinek said. “She is such a phenomenal comedic talent.”
Duke started teaching at Humber for a short time in 2004, for a summer comedy workshop.  
“I really enjoyed it.  I really enjoyed teaching so I mentioned that to the dean so that if anything ever came up I’d be happy to maybe do this.”
She had originally planned to become a teacher when she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1974. Instead she was drawn to the comedy scene while watching her high school friend, Catherine O’Hara perform at Second City.  
Duke said she is happy she got her English degree because it allowed her to teach.
Shauna Wilde, who is in her second year of the comedy writing and performance program, said Duke helps her students understand the audience.
“She knows how to get a laugh out of an audience that is any age.  She helps us see what the audience would appreciate,” Wilde said.