Dartmouth’s darling of comedy to return after a five year hiatus

It’s been several years since Dartmouth-raised stand-up comic Tracey MacDonald has been able to perform in her hometown — and it’s only partly because of the global pandemic.

After all, the past two years of contending with various COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions have been hard enough on lining up live performances, but the Los Angeles-based entertainer has also had to struggle with challenges associated with a different C-word — cancer.

“That’s why I haven’t been home in five years,” says MacDonald, admitting her last trip to the province was in 2017. “Normally, no matter what, I always go back to Nova Scotia three or four times a year — anytime I could, (so) not being there has affected my soul.”

Upbeat and resilient, MacDonald has found herself on the other side of a traumatic and demanding handful of years.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2018, MacDonald immediately underwent treatment. Eventually, she would beat the disease before the pandemic hit North America and caused a new set of challenges for the stand-up comic.

Then, doctors told her that cancer appeared to have returned.

“It’s like a part-time job. I have to get blood tests and this and that,” explains MacDonald about her on-again, off-again battle with stage-four cancer. “If you had it once and beat it, anytime it comes back — even if it’s just a tiny bit — it’s called stage-four, (but) there’s a pill where women with stage-four cancer have lived like 20 years.”

MacDonald is happy to report she has recently been given a clean bill of health on her latest bout with the disease, but admits the fight is one that she will be waging likely for the rest of her life.

One of the ways in which the Dartmouth-born entertainer fights that battle is by not shying away from the sensitive topic in her show.

“After I got it the second time, people said 'don’t put this in your act,'” admits MacDonald, who felt there was strength in confronting cancer through comedy. “I do a whole bit about how I gave away all my stuff and did my will, spent my money and maxed my cards, and slept with random dudes — and then (doctors) said, 'it’s gone!'”

MacDonald is looking forward to being able to share many of those humourous stories when she makes her first return engagement to the local comedy stage in five years, with a special presentation at Dartmouth’s The Comedy Cove.

“(Audiences) are certainly not going to see material they saw five years ago,” says MacDonald about her upcoming performances on May 20 and 21, adding she has no fear on stage. “Off stage I feel like a very insecure wreck, and then on stage, it’s the time I feel most secure and confident.”

Having been performing professionally for more than 20 years after becoming the first Canadian comic to win the hit CBS television talent show, Star Search (where she took home the $200,000 grand prize), MacDonald adds her comedy act has matured particularly over the past five years — with her ability to engage with audiences being one of the most noticeable improvements.

“I used to do joke, joke, joke all the time and just do one-liners,” admits MacDonald, crediting one of her sisters for challenging her to just be herself. “I was always scared to talk to the audience but then I just started to talk to them like how I talk to my friends, (so now) a lot of the time I just talk to them and tell them what’s going on, (and) once I did that, it totally changed my act.”

For more information on Tracy MacDonald's upcoming shows at The Comedy Cove, visit the website.