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Autistic Winnipeg comedian creates a stage for neurodivergent performers | CBC News


Autistic Winnipeg comedian creates a stage for neurodivergent performers | CBC News

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Adam Schwartz stands onstage and speaks into the microphone.

“So, I know what you’re thinking. Bald and autistic. He must get so many women,” he says, pausing while the audience bursts into laughter. 

“It’s true. I’m pretty autistic.”

The laughter gets even louder, and Schwartz nods in acknowledgement. He’s right at home, onstage telling jokes, living his neurodiversity out loud.

Schwartz, 40, is the founder and artistic director of Neurohilarity. The Manitoba-based arts organization promotes neurodivergent artists by giving them the skills and the stage they need to share their voice, he says.

Schwartz founded it in 2022 after realizing, as an aspiring comedian, that there weren’t enough options in the existing comedy scene.

A balding man wearing a grey and khaki fleece and pants stands on a stage talking into a microphone.
Adam Schwartz, founder of Neurohilarity, says it’s been ‘amazing’ for the neurodivergent arts community. (Sisler Create)

“I was having a hard time getting enough gigs,” he said. “I was having a hard time fitting in, and so I started producing my own shows.”

Neurohilarity provides a means for Schwartz and other neurodivergent comics to hone their craft in a space they can relate to.

Carole Cunningham is one of those comics. 

“Neurohilarity found me,” the 35-year-old says. “It’s about making neurodivergent performers feel included and feeling they have a stage and feeling that their experiences are valued.”

Onstage, the audience clearly values Cunningham’s experiences, as they burst into laughter when she cracks a joke about her credit card skills. 

Mission accomplished.

A woman with curly blond hair, wearing a black sweater, stands onstage and talks into a microphone
‘I would never have been able to express my ADHD and all the struggles I have onstage without Neurohilarity,’ Carole Cunningham says. (Sisler Create)

“I would never have been able to express my ADHD and all the struggles I have onstage without Neurohilarity,” she says.

Overall, Neurohilarity has “been amazing for the community,” Schwartz says.

Schwartz shared his Neurohilarity “journey” in a short documentary produced by Jolyne Toderian and Katie-Anne Tanasiciuk, who are student filmmakers in Sisler Create’s post-high filmmaking program. 

Meet the filmmakers

Head and shoulders portrait of a young, Caucasian woman with long, curly blond hair. She is wearing a plum-coloured T-shirt.
Jolyne Toderian, a transgender film student living in Winnipeg, has been enraptured by the visual medium of film since childhood. She started making music videos for her father in her youth. She hopes to combine her love for video and storytelling and ultimately become a cinematographer. A fantasy writer and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast on the side, she has a fondness for spending time with friends, and even more time with her gaming PC. (Jurgen Haussler)
Head and shoulders portrait of young woman with short, brown hair. She is wearing a black and grey striped button down shirt with patches on it.
Katie-Anne Tanasiciuk is a passionate young artist, able to recall years of her life by which Halloween costume she made that year. Her mother says she was making art since she could hold a paintbrush. Though her greatest works are in the realm of physical art, she finds great joy in editing, writing, and some animation on the side. In hot pursuit of everything there is to learn, she’s in awe of every facet of filmmaking. (Jurgen Haussler)
Head and shoulders portrait of young Filipino woman with long, blond straight hair. She is wearing a black top with gold ring accents.
Whydah Marley has always loved documenting life’s moments, a passion that naturally led her into filmmaking. She sees film as a way to capture emotions, tell stories and preserve memories. She enjoys getting lost in music and art. Her curiosity and time with loved ones inspire the everyday moments at the heart of her storytelling. (Jurgen Haussler)
Head and shoulders portrait of young woman with long, straight black hair. She has braces on her teeth and is wearing a V-neck T-shirt.
Chantelle Rodriguez is a proud Filipino who graduated from Sisler High School. She has had a long-standing passion for filmmaking since middle school, specifically editing and cinematography. Beyond filmmaking, she also enjoys photography to capture meaningful memories, and scrapbooking to enhance her creativity. (Sisler Create)

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba’s Project POV: Sisler Create is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC Manitoba journalists to produce short docs. You can see past projects here . 

The Winnipeg School Division’s Create program is hosted at Sisler High School and trains post-high students in the creative digital arts. Last fall, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking students and led producing workshops at Sisler.

Create focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.