Pic River comic takes Thunder Bay Idol

Thunder Bay’s Comic Idol was an award Todd Genno didn’t expect to win.
The 27-year-old Pic River First Nation member had not even planned on entering the contest until a few days before the show. Genno jokes that he was “too cheap to pay for a ticket,” so entering the contest allowed him to get into the show and watch his friend Ron Kanutski perform for free.
By the end of the night on April 27, Todd’s frugal act of saving himself the $20 ticket fee earned him a cool $750.
Thunder Bay Comic Idol is an annual event where amateur comedians compete with clever, often adult-orientated jokes to take home the top prize as well as the honor of being Thunder Bay’s Comic Idol.
After watching a video of his performance on YouTube, Genno’s Comic Idol victory is no surprise. His six-minute act included awkward moments “like when your colour-blind friend thinks he finished a Rubix cube,” and how his wife hates the amount of time he spends on Facebook, to which he tells her that without Facebook they would never have met. He tells the crowd (who awaited the punch-line with audible giggles) that his marriage-proposal on his wife’s Facebook wall received “17 likes.”
From the way Genno carries himself and how he interacts with other people, it is really no surprise that he would win a comedy competition.
When questioned about how he is often making jokes in his everyday life, he explains that he has always enjoyed laughter and he likes to make people laugh. Genno says that “Native people are gifted with laughter” and they “don’t just laugh from the belly, but they laugh from the heart.”
Genno learned from Anishinabe Elders that there are times when one must be serious but it is important to remember to have fun and laugh, too.
He explains that he grew up in foster care and that in a few of the homes that he lived, laughter wasn’t allowed because the homes were too strict.
He says that he and his siblings were often moved from place to place, but his Pic River reservation was still very accepting of them.
“My reserve believes that it takes a whole community to raise a child,” Genno says, and he agrees with the belief because he has seen it first-hand.
Genno has not let his sometimes negative experience in foster care affect him negatively – in fact it has helped him make decisions in his own life to be alcohol and drug free. He has not touched a drop of alcohol or used any illegal drug his whole life, a decision he made because he knew he was placed in foster care as a result of alcoholism.
Genno has been living in Thunder Bay for the last five years with his wife April and their four children: Aiden, Serenity, and twins Ryan and Eryn. He has no current plans on moving back to his reservation because his children love living in Thunder Bay, but he says if the Creator guides him back home, he won’t have any problem with it. Todd feels that it is hard to find spirituality in the city, though.
He maintains his own spirituality by being a drum-keeper. He says that a drum-keeper “keeps the drum… treats the drum like it’s a grandfather.” He says that drum-keepers know all of the songs that go with the drum, and that drum-keepers are chosen by an Elder or through a vision or dream.
Genno shares his songs at least once a week in Thunder Bay at Anishnawbe Mushkiki on Tuesdays or Aboriginal Headstart on Wednesdays. He was also asked by the Biwaase’aa program to MC their Shkoday Abinojiiwak Obimiwedoon powwow that was held this past April
Shkoday Abinojiiwak Obimiwedoon means “children fire keepers of the future” and the powwow was to honor the children, a subject that he keeps close to his heart.
Genno is enrolled in Confederation College’s Native Child and Family Services program and feels that it is his calling to help the children who are in the same situation now that he once was in as a child himself. He hopes to use his experience growing up in foster care paired with his knowledge of his own Anishinabe culture to help the children.
Genno credits an Elder named Lambert Nabigon, who recently passed away, for showing him just how delicate and easily lost the Anishinabe culture and language is. Todd explains that Lambert was a great man and was well-respected in Pic River.
Genno’s desire to speak Ojibwa and keep the language and culture alive was strengthened after Lambert passed away. He aims to make a difference in young lives the same way many Elders made a difference in his.
Now that he owns the title of Thunder Bay’s 2012 Comic Idol, Genno says that he has received some offers to do more stand-up performances and thinks that he will give it a shot, though he doesn’t expect to make a career out of comedy.
Genno wants to keep making Anishinabe people laugh, and sees himself using his gift of humour at fundraisers and possibly open-mic comedy events. He says of his experience at Comic Idol that “you never know unless you try. Be confident in yourself… try new things.”
Genno would like to thank the Fort City Kinsmen Club of Thunder Bay for hosting the competition, his wife April for listening to his jokes to let him know if they were funny enough first, Ron Kanutski for inspiration, and comedy-veterans Chris Holland and Moccasin Joe for their advice.
When asked what he spent his Comic Idol winnings on, Todd replied, “my kids.”