China Doll, Lauren Lane, Dillon Orr

This is the beat of Ottawa’s nightlife. 

On the official City of Ottawa Nightlife Office podcast, Ottawa At Night, get to know the stories of the people working on stage, behind the bar, in the kitchen, at the studio and into the night, bringing our city to life from sunset to sunrise.   

In the second episode of the Ottawa At Night podcast, we chat with the Ottawa institution of drag, China Doll, side-splitting standup comedian Lauren Lane, and larger-than-life Franco-Ontarian actor and theatre producer, Dillon Orr.  

Filmed and recorded at Centretown hi-fi listening lounge, FONO, hear what our guests have to say about pursuing the spotlight in the Nation’s Capital.  

Theme music by The Lionyls - “Can’t Get Enough”  

Produced in collaboration with Baldwin Studios  

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Voici le rythme de la vie nocturne d’Ottawa. 

Dans le podcast officiel du Bureau de la vie nocturne de la Ville d’Ottawa, Ottawa la nuit, découvrez les histoires de celles et ceux qui travaillent sur scène, derrière le bar, en cuisine, en studio et après la tombée de la nuit—donnant vie à notre ville du coucher au lever du soleil.  

Dans le deuxième épisode du podcast Ottawa la nuit, nous discutons avec l’icône du drag d’Ottawa, China Doll, l’humoriste hilarante Lauren Lane, ainsi que l’acteur et producteur de théâtre franco-ontarien plus grand que nature, Dillon Orr. 

Tourné et enregistré au salon d’écoute hi-fi du centre-ville, FONO, découvrez ce que nos invité.e.s ont à dire sur la poursuite de la scène dans la capitale nationale. 

Musique par The Lionyls - « Can’t Get Enough » 

Produit en collaboration avec Baldwin Studios  

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Keep up with the night owls making our city buzz from sunset to sunrise. Glass of the podcast official de la ville d'Attawa. Presenté par le Bureau de la Ville Nature. For this episode, I'm joined by three performers who are experts in reading the room, working the crowd, and making people laugh and just being over the top. I'm Zoe Ardrappos Hunter, and tonight I'm joined first up by Lauren Lane, our resident comedian, Dylan Orr, an acteur et mettant Saint-Franco-Antarienne, and an institution of drag and main character energy China doll.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Hello, my little fortune cookies.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Lauren, be honest. Are Ottawa crowds ready to laugh? Or have you had to They're ready to laugh. You heard it here first. Where are you finding these crowds?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Um, you know what? I think that like people love to hate on Ottawa. I was talking about somebody about this beforehand, but so comedy needs a few different ingredients, right? Because comedy is tragedy plus time. And winter is tragedy, isn't it? And also we're just like, we got some dark times where we want to be inside for uh a specific amount of time, maybe 90 minutes. Maybe we know the babysitter is gonna be done, when you know, like the show's gonna be done at 10 p.m. So there's a bit of that part of it, but also, and I I think that people are going to hate me saying this because again, people love hating the city, but it's a smart, it's a smart city. So you can make jokes and they'll they get them in a way that other crowds don't. And I only know this because another comedian who was passing through told me that about Ottawa. That um we actually have really great crowds and they're really awesome audiences.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

What about you, Chinadal? When you step on stage, are you reading the room or telling the room what it's gonna be?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Well, first of all, humor heals, right? Always. And when I go on stage, I always put my feelers out so you get to know the crowd. Like it's not about me. Like I already have my superpowers, but it's the attention that I give to the people that I'm entertaining to make them feel special. That's what I do. That's my secret. Now I have to kill you Hey Dylan.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Um, what is difficult?

SPEAKER_03 2:11

It's a public ultra intelligent, but it's a pet public in the sense that it's kind of a big village, Ottawa. To the one, don't reag to our voice. We reag too. Don't know that our public are tranquill. But it will not be like they're not intelligent, they're intelligent. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Smart but calm. Yeah. Well, thank you three for being here. You're joining me tonight on Ottawa at night here in the heart of Centertown at Phono. And it's getting kind of late here on set, so I'm gonna wake us up with a round of this or that. This is a group round, there's no overthinking. Feel free to jump in, debate. You can cut each other off, you can fight if you want to. We're just gonna get right into it. So to start things off, le mère moment d'une soirée et quand tu montes sur scène ou quand les rideaux femmes. And for our non-French speakers, the best part of the night, is it when you step on stage or when the curtains close?

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Gotta be the curtain. I don't know. Maybe because I work in theater where everything is so rehearsed. But it when I and I don't perform a lot, but when I do, when I start, I honestly just re I visualize myself at the end. It's c'est trop long, c'est trop long. So at the end, and then I can just, you know, have a great a great life after.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

I I say just let people have fun, forget all the troubles. We live in such an upside-down world. So just let your hair down, have some fun, have a drink or two, and that's it. Easy peasy.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Um, I I'm going to go be annoying and not answer your question and say that it's when I get like a big laugh and when like I feel like a connection with the audience is the best moment. Um, but as far as if we're gonna make me choose between the beginning or the end, it would depend on how the crowd were. Because if they hated me, then the end would be like probably for the best. You know, because we're leaving. But if they love me, the end is fun too. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Okay, well, on this note of crowds, what's tougher? A silent crowd or an overly chatty one?

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Is there chatty crowds? You get chatty crowds?

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Oh, yeah, we get heckly crowd, right? Like, kind of, yeah, you get crowds. But the thing is, is I like, I mean, like it can be a little bit uh throwing off, but I find a lot of the time when crowds are chatty, it's because they're into it, right? Like because I used to be that person in the audience that was like, you know what I mean? Just a little too into it and trying and not realizing what it does to the performer. But I prefer a chatty crowd. I mean, it's either way, it's a little disruptive, but at least a chatty crowd are into it.

SPEAKER_03 4:39

It's different.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

So, what counts more for you? Perfection or a spontaneous moment that'll sit with your audience forever?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

For me, it's expect the unexpected. That's the only way to do it.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

Moving on to the next question, and I think you three are really going to resonate with this one. My favorite performance space is a hole in the wall or world class venue.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

It has to be the hole in the wall. I love a hole in the wall venue. And I love seeing a show with 20 people on the hall. So it's where you have the magic that will be.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, he's so right. Like these if you're gonna connect with the audience, a smaller venue, you actually can kind of you get to know some people's names and you can kind of you can tailor everything for them. Whereas in a bigger venue, obviously it's awesome and so exciting. But that's why you have people who the crowd already knows them because like a lot of work has already been laid so that they can kind of connect with you without having to do that work, whereas you're really doing like the artsy part when you really when you have a small venue.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

So let's turn things up and move now next into a little bit more of a competitive zone with the night quiz.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

This is the buzzers?

SPEAKER_02 5:57

This is the buzzers. Okay. Question number one: as documented by the City of Ottawa archives exhibit Ottawa Rocks, musical legends Jimi Hendrix and Joni Mitchell once crossed paths at this former Ottawa venue. Was it A, the Super X at Lansdown, B, the Rainbow, or C, Le Ibou?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Facts.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Close but no cigar.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

I'm gonna, this is just a guess, but I'm The Rainbow. That's an institution. I would have said the rainbow too. All three of us were wrong.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

No, it was Le Ibou. And the story goes that Jimi Hendrix did a little bit more with Joni Mitchell than just watch her set. Um, but you'll have to go and and read his diary entry from that night to get the full uh details. Question number two The Rito Street McDonald's previously at 99 Rideau Street made international headlines in 2013 for a viral video that featured, and let me say that easy.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Let's take it together.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Okay. Yes, raccooning. Did you learn about it through seeing it on the internet, or did any of you live through the experience?

SPEAKER_03 7:03

I think it was the internet, but now there's the new McDonald's and there's a tiny little sticker of a new ra of a raccoon. And I love that it's there. It's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Yeah, but who could afford the meals there now?

unknown 7:13

Great point.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Great point. Question numero 3. Maintenant conservé exclusivement dans nos souvenirs, Club X était un joyeux à hall. Est-ce que c'était A Club Silver, B Club Zinc, ou C Club Copper? The Vault.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

It was just a joke.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

The vault?

SPEAKER_01 7:33

No one remembers the vault?

SPEAKER_03 7:35

I was not born in those years. Uh do you? What year were you born? I don't remember. I was born in 2001. That's a joke. It's a joke.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Wait, really? Oh, I have one more.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Zinc.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

It was club zinc. Yeah. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I used to go there. It was in the basement in Hull. Which basement? Where? All of Hall. Besides Che Henri.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Oh, yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Any memorable moments from Club Zinc?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, people have sex in the washroom.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

That's your most memorable light type moment.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Oh, yeah. I was a born-again virgin. I witnessed all that.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Question number four. Ottawa's longest-running theater company, established in 1913, is A, the Great Canadian Theater Company, B, the Ottawa Little Theater.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

Yeah, the Ottawa Little Theater Company. The Ottawa Little Theater.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

It would have been embarrassing if you didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

That would have been embarrassing. That would have been embarrassing.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Who's seen an Agatha Christie at the Ottawa Little Theater?

SPEAKER_03 8:28

No.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Anyone?

unknown 8:29

No.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

You know what? It's hard to go there because they start every show with the O Canada. See, I've really marked it. The first time I was at Ottawa, in this theatre-là, the show commenced with the O Canada. It's not just the show. No.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Well, The Queen, but yes. Oh, in 1913. Oh, okay. I just know Lost Baggage, that's where I go for my Ottawa Little Theater. My mom plays a saxomophone in the orchestra. So I've never heard of the saxomophone. Saxomophone. Also antenna.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

I was in one of the plays uh called Anti-Mame back in the 90s or 80s. I played the house boy. The Japanese houseboy Ito. Yeah, to be Japanese. No. But it was a scene stealer. I only had 16 lines, but it was funny.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Okay, it seems like the three of you really like being in the hot seat. Don't maintenant je vais vous faire battre pour la camera. I've asked three of you to bring in a special memory or history from Ottawa's nightlife that could help us learn a little bit more about you. So, Lauren, why don't we uh get into it with you? We can go backstage, behind the curtain, into your soul. Depends on your vibe. I'm expecting to laugh, so let's let's get on with the video.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Excellent intro. Okay, all right. Well, buckle up. So this is the thing I brought. It's my little yellow stool. Wow. Now, would you like to know why it's funny? You want to talk about nightlife? I was out with my mother and my sister. My sister has two small children. It was Christmas time. I had been out in Ottawa on Nightlife and had a headache at IKEA. And we were hanging out at the little kid place and picking out toy trains, and I saw this sitting there, and I thought, oh, that looks a lot like a comedy stool, but it's a kid's one. That's funny, isn't it? And turns out it isn't, to be honest with you. I can't figure out how to make it work on stage. However, it has been so useful in my day-to-day life. I can't reach anything. I'm only five feet tall. I can get things on the top shelf. And then also in day-to-day life, so I I travel sometimes for comedy and I brought this on a plane. I had to look up whether or not it counted as a personal item. Ever so technically it does not, just so everybody knows. But um, people thought it was an accommodation item.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

So I didn't get both. How is it not a personal item?

SPEAKER_01 10:54

It went, well, it's like it's uh it's like it's not that it's not, but it's too big. So I had to like kick it under the seat. It didn't fit in the overhead bin, it had to go through the little conveyor belt and everything, too. It was quite a riot.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

I'm so honored that it had its comedy debut here on the channel. Um Dylan, qu'est-ce que tu as apporté de ton univers théâtral?

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Okay, but premiering, I'm a person as uh minimalist, c'est-je very choses of me. Uh clown. Don't just define even a buffon, c'est-the-jou enormement of society, I feel satire. Uh and particularly of this scenes. Come to the car.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

I think this is a good metaphor for grand applications as an artist. Well, I'm very marked by that um poignant metaphor. China doll moving over to you. I know that everyone in Ottawa wants to see inside your purse. So what do you have over there? Let's see what's in there.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Nothing. My um story is goes way back to the 70s when I was a pre-teen in Ottawa at the X, which is the where Lansdown Park used to be. We used to have the fair at the end of summer, and it was like magical, but it was there forever. So they used to have grandstand shows. So when I was a pre-teen with my cousins, my brothers and sisters, we I went to my first concert, and it was the singer Olivia Newton John. People know who she is? Of course. Yeah. So so I was there, and this woman, Angel, sang to me, and I said, to my little inside, I said, I'm gonna, I want her to be in my life. I want her to be a role model. So, uh 50 plus years, she's passed away in 2002 at 73 from cancer. But all these years, I've been lucky enough to have met her around the world so many times, concerts, meet and greets. You see that camera? Are these all over your apartment? Are you these just like No, I'm not a stalker.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

Why not? Look at all these. How many do you have?

SPEAKER_02 13:22

You know, they talk about people that follow the Grateful Dead, but I really want to know what it's like to follow Olivia Newton-Johns.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

It's basically her music that has been in my life all these years. And I look at her as a role model, and um she knows who I am. I met her like everywhere from Hong Kong to LA to everywhere in between. And I mean, I've been to a lot of concerts, but Visa loves me too, but you know, I'm still paying that off. But but you know what I mean? So it's good to have someone you look up to, celebrity or not, it doesn't matter. They have a big impact on my life. So that's my show and tell for today. That's wonderful. And I met a lot of other stars over the years at China, Joan Rivers, Donna Summer, Farrah Fawcett, even like so many celebrities. But you know, their shit all smells the same. They're real people, they're normal people.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

We've covered so much ground in the show and tell. We've touched on comedy, drama, heart, which I think is the recipe for the perfect night out. Um, I'd like to pull back the wallpaper a little bit further, though, and move into this next segment. Kiev pour un petit night chat. Night chat. So I want to learn a little bit more about your nightlife origin stories. What was your calling, or rather, what was the light bulb that went off that said I need to be on stage?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

I am not a big stage person. I am a writer. I was an English cast kid. You know, lots of like there's theater kids. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know if you're a theater kid or not, China doll. But anyway, I was an English class kid, so I wasn't big into the stage, and I was looking for a way to write. And what I found like very gradually was that if you want to write comedy, you have to, you have to do stand-up. And I remember sitting in a comedy club called The Laugh Lounge, still there in the market. And there's a um a woman who was doing comedy, and she's got a one-woman show. Her name is um Christina Muebger, and she is so so funny. And she was up there, and there was something about she had long brown hair just like me, and there was something about seeing her do it, like made me see that maybe I could do it. And I just remember watching her do comedy and having this realization come over me, like, oh my god, I want to do that. And I was like, oh no. How will I ever find the bravery to get up there and do it? But I realized I wanted to and had to kind of get over it. And then when I started doing it, I fell in love and never stopped. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

And I love Christina. She's great.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

She's so funny. Oh, she's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

May this be an inspiring story for English class kids everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

English class kids. Yeah, but I'm original of Fain Faint Loin Loin Ontario. Ottawa is a little capital franco-Ontarian official. Like we've got here. I'm originally a village of 600 people who have art and culture. There are companies of theatre who are here during the 70s. It's like I was part of a great like me, and I participated at this cause.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

That's awesome. Yeah, and Ottawa does have the infrastructure for it. We do!

SPEAKER_00 16:42

We have a lot of great things.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

We do.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Yeah. Well, we've had a family restaurant called the Shanghai in Chinatown for now 50 years, but we closed in COVID. But we had karaoke, and we had someone around Halloween that that wanted to have karaoke, so we had it, and then she said that could we have someone from the staff come up and sing? And I said, Well, I had a wig and it was around Halloween, and but I didn't have a stage name. And then my brother said, Well, we'll just go up as Chinadol. So I went up, and then so that was when I was born as Chinadol. And then we've had karaoke shows for 25 years.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Two questions. One, is the wig you're wearing now the OG Chinadol wig? And two, what was that karaoke song that you sang?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Oh, this is one of my famous waves. But no, it's like I have hundreds of wigs. I mean, it's expensive to look cheap. I'm telling you. Do you still have the original China doll wig? Uh, yeah, I do. A lot of pictures, a lot of memories, a lot of uh people singing karaoke. When they're bad, it's good. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Um, speaking on this note of vulnerability or dealing with the antics of nightlife night after night, what keeps you going back to the stage? Because all of you have to deal with bombing sets, difficult crowds, and wondering what what keeps you crawling back or what keeps you coming back for more.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

No, I think crawling back is probably a good way of. We're all crawling a little bit. I think just when it goes well, it's incredible and it feels so good, especially if you've got something to say, you know, like if you've maybe a play that you really like felt something or a song that you really connected with, or a joke that I just really liked. And when people love it, it the bad days are worth it.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Honestly, that's very what it's very, very well said. But the the the opposite is also true, is that I I I I work in schools a lot, I work in all these things, and I'm around people with regular jobs, and I go, I would die. Like I couldn't, I couldn't survive. Like I wouldn't, so I I have to have these irregular, stupid schedules that just make me up all night.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah, you hear that, Ottawa? He would die if he had the job as you.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

We had so many activities going. We had karaoke, bingo, storytelling, weddings, uh, speed dating, everything in between, and and art every month. So we all always gave the local artists in Ottawa a chance to put their art on our wall and not charge them 50%, you know, of their take. So it was always open for everybody and bands and new singers and comedy night. We had comedy night, with we had all walks of life and every subject matter.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

I feel like you've been living and breathing nightlife in the four walls of your restaurant for so long. I mean, you were once the chef, no?

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Was that like the last normal job that you had? Being chef by day into night and then becoming China doll?

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Well, I would cook like for a full house, and then I would have to go, you know, five minutes, put on put on the makeup and all that. And I'd be on stage within five minutes. It was an art form. And sometimes I would have three outfits in the course of the night. But you know, people want it. They want familiarity and they want to meet with other like-minded people in situations in public like that. It's very bonding.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Yeah, absolutely. And this note of, you know, having to flip into character in five minutes makes me think what's the reality of being a nightlife performer in in Ottawa or just in general that you wish that more people knew.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

I wish people do that, especially at the amateur level, we just love that you came. Um, and I that this is one of the things that I tell people, especially when they come to an open mic or something, it's like you have done an act of charity by coming. And I don't mean that in a self-deprecating way. I mean we need an audience, you know what I mean? And I think that people are always looking for ways to give back and they get a little bit overwhelmed. Like, what do I do? And it's like, hey, you know, you don't have to go out there and create your own art and like do this big thing. If you come on a Monday to a show and actually witness our art and you know what I mean? Like laugh along the jokes, clap at the songs, that is amazing for us. And that like we really, really appreciate just like people coming out and being an audience member.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Yeah, and there's there's a lot more shows to see than we think. Do you know how many Instagram accounts exist to show us where we could go all the time? A bajillion. And and I can I I can go and see three or four shows, like theater shows. Yes, some of them will be at the Ottawa Little Theater, that which I love, and they're great. Uh, but some will be student, and then there's professional productions. We we do have a lot of things going on, and I I just maybe that's what I feel like people should know. And people, we can go see two or three things in one night. It's fine.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Yeah, we want you to come see us. That's that's that's we want you to know.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

And Ottawa is compact, so from point A to B, you're always somewhere close. You know what? That's a great thing about it.

SPEAKER_03 21:33

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

We're not a big city, we're a million people, but chances are you know someone six degrees by separation.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

We have a train now, so you can get anywhere you want. Really easy to do. We have a train.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Talk about the train. All my siblings were here. We grew up here, we've seen every facet of the neighborhoods grow so that you know you can't stop progress. And when you see that happening in front of your eyes, you embrace it and then you just go with the flow.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Have you ever felt Like you needed to leave, or has everything you've ever needed always been here?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

No, I love I love it. It's that sense of um togetherness, family, friends, the proximity of everything. It doesn't get boring. There's always pockets of fun everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

If you want a city like New York or Toronto, you're also dealing with the traffic, the cost of living. Like you know what I mean? Like Ottawa has a balance where you're 20 minutes from a ski hill, you're 20 minutes from the beach, you're 20 minutes from camping, you're 20 minutes from downtown to go party, Montreal's right there, Toronto's right there, and we have the prettiest sunsets in the country. Scientifically, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

Well, thank you three so much for being joining me on Ottawa at night. It's safe to say that you've pulled on my heartstrings and my face hurts from laughing so much. Avant Conquit Soir, qu'est-ce qu'on fait après? Not shoot.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

Sortez show. Sortez à l'avoir des shows.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Chanadel, what are you doing after this?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

My father used to say to us because we had a restaurant, and his words of wisdom was the most expensive seat is an empty seat. So fill it up when you can. And live, love and laugh, my little pork dumplings.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

My next stop is Swizzles, of course. That's where we do comedy on Mondays. And my only thing would be yeah, like Elwa has actually an amazingly strong comedy community. You got yuck yucks under Biagio's, you got Laugh Lounge um in the basement of Tucker's Marketplace, and you got Absolute Comedy on Preston and Cultures Comedy Club also in the market, and then a variety of independent shows, mostly at the breweries and also the bars. So come check it out.

SPEAKER_03 23:37

I can get behind swizzles tonight, though. Swizzles is good. Yeah, you want to come? Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

I'll go. Yeah. You wanna come?

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Keep up with the Ottawa Night Life office on our website at OttawaNight.ca and on Instagram at OTTnightNui. Come probably, we utilisons le France and Angle, and it's too lautum ici at Ottawa. And if you're looking for a completely accessible version of this podcast, you can go to the City of Ottawa's YouTube channel. And to learn more about accessibility, visit OttawaNight.ca slash podcast.