TORONTO – Comedian DJ Demers is willing to joke about just about anything, although it took him a while to feel comfortable making fun of his hearing loss.
“I didn't necessarily want to talk about my hearing aids while standing up,” explained the 37-year-old comedian, who was born in Kitchener, Ont., and was diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss at the age of four.
“I didn’t want it to be a gimmick or a crutch. But then once you're confident in your abilities, you think, “Well, I'll find a way to make this fun, and that's a big part of me.” »»
“So I learned pretty early on that there was a lot of humor in it and that a lot of people could relate to it. I like to think I’ve learned how to make this accessible to people who don’t even have hearing loss.”
It's safe to say that Demers' work resonates; His stand-up career has landed him appearances on “America's Got Talent” and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” And he now has his own sitcom on CBC.
In “One More Time,” which premieres Jan. 9, Demers sometimes makes his disability the focus of his jokes. In this half-hour comedy, written by Demers and Jessie Gabe, the comedian stars as DJ, a hearing-impaired manager of a second-hand sporting goods store.
Along with a motley crew of eccentric employees – including Geri Hall as assistant manager Cynthia and Dan Beirne as sales representative Wayne – DJ overcomes the daily hurdles of running a small business.
“We took big swings and took comedic risks,” said Jessie Gabe, who also produced the series “Workin' Moms” and “Run the Burbs.”
“Our hope was just to have a show that made you feel good, that made you laugh and that made you escape from reality.”
A self-deprecating approach
In the first episode, DJ's hearing aids stop working and he gives bad advice to customers due to his poor lip-reading skills.
Demers is often self-deprecating. A common thread in his humor is that he is “bad at being deaf.”
“I grew up in a hearing family, never learned sign language and was barely aware of my hearing aids when I was young.”
He remembers a solo exhibition at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC – reportedly the only university in the world designed to be accessible to deaf and hard of hearing students – and how he was surprised to learn that the Architecture of the building was adapted.
“I just realized that this is a world that I don’t really belong to,” he said.
“I’m definitely a part of it, but I’m not entirely a part of it. But I don't listen either; I often miss things. So it's funny to be halfway between the two, and there's a lot of jokes in there that I can use.
In one episode, DJ becomes jealous of another character because he is more deaf than him.
“It's like, 'Oh, this person is stealing the show!' “”, he said.
“One More Time” airs Tuesday nights on CBC and the show can be heard online on CBC Gem.