Comedian battles past abuse with laughter

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Kathleen McGuire grew up in an orphanage and several foster homes and says the experience hindered her ability to be a child. So now she's making up for lost time with an alter-ego she's developed called Smokey Hontus.

Smokey is an 89-year-old First Nation woman who tells it like it is and makes everybody laugh at life's little truths.

McGuire is Ojibway, Cree and Irish, born in Beardmore, Ont. and now resides in British Columbia. She is well-known in that province for her comedy, and is often asked to perform at conferences, workshops and community gatherings.

Smokey was born out of a comment that a co-worker made over a cup of coffee in Vancouver.

"I remember her telling me 'Kathleen you are so funny' and she started telling me a story that she played a trick on someone as a little old lady and she called herself Pokey Hontas and she asked if I would like to be Smokey Hontas. I said 'Oh gosh no. I'm not an actress,' but she said, 'All you have to be is yourself,' and I said that I did not know how to act and she says, 'I will teach you.' So she did and for a while we were Pokey Hontus and Smokey Hontus until she decided to move on in 1995," she said.

While growing up, McGuire, who is the mother of one daughter and a grandmother to a grandson, believed that everyone was angry.

She blames that on the abuse she suffered in her childhood, and also credits it for eventually providing her a purpose in her life. She says that people often forget how to laugh when they are hurting.

"I was never angry with the Creator. I just could not understand why he allowed these people to hurt me. A lot of people get so wrapped up in all the past pain, like residential school abuses, sexual abuse, loss of family, deaths, foster home traumas, alcohol and drug abuse. We often feel like we are hurting for 24 hours a day. But a person should only hurt for one or two hours a day, then they should get on with their day," she said.

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McGuire claims she was so introverted that it took her five-and-a-half years of therapy to start her talking.

"It just amazes me to this day because I'm basically a very shy person, yet I enjoy people so much. It brings me out when I do this and in bringing me out it brings them out. I find that Smokey brings my inner child out to play," she said.

Most of McGuire's friends are Elders.

"Elders to me are very, very special people. They are there for me when I need direction and help. They just love this little old lady. A lot of them do not know my real name, or they've heard it but everybody just calls me Smokey. When I'm out of character they are always joking with me and they come and tell me stories and jokes. They call me their crazy friend," she said.

"I admire our people because no matter what we've gone through we still stand strong like the mountains. I believe that we will all come together one day and if we made it through this far we are going to make it all the way. I look beyond what is in front of me, and I take a person at face value. Who they are and not what they used to be like or what they are going to be like. It is who they are right now that matters and I work with that and it does not matter what color skin they have either," she said.

Smokey's agent Ada Bell said her client has a refreshing approach to comedy.

"I think that is why people love her for it. She makes a difference in their lives. She gets everyone involved in the audience and by doing that she brings them out of what they are feeling bad about."

McGuire's love for her show keeps her going. At one of her shows she chose the song 'Bad to the Bone' to dance to. When asked why she did this, she said there was a story behind it.

"I love that it touches the people's spirits and it heals them of their hurts and anger and I've been told that it is a gift. It gives me something that I missed in my childhood, the acceptance, the approval and the encouragement that I in turn give to the people, which in turn come back to me. I love our people and I love myself today. When I was a little girl they used to tell me that I was bad. They used to tell me that I was ugly and stupid and that I couldn't do anything right. I never did anything wrong, but I always got heck. But today I now know who I am, so I can now laugh at what they said about me."