Elvira Kurt
Elvira Kurt | |
---|---|
![]() Kurt at TIFF in 2009 | |
Born | [1] Toronto, Ontario, Canada | December 9, 1961
Nationality | Canadian |
Notable works and roles | PopCultured |
Website | elvirakurt |
Elvira Kurt (born December 9, 1961) is a Canadian comedian, and was the host of the game show Spin Off.[2] She hosted the entertainment satire/talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt, which began on The Comedy Network in Canada in 2005. That show's style was similar to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was cancelled due to poor ratings in early 2006. She is of Jewish Hungarian descent.
Openly lesbian,[3] she coined the term "fellagirly" to describe herself and other lesbians whose style is a blend of butch and femme, as opposed to strictly one or the other. Her comedic style relies heavily on complaints about celebrity culture, her own appearance, and the effects of aging.
Kurt was the first out LGBT comedian to perform on national Canadian television, with her performance on CBC talk show Friday Night! With Ralph Benmergui in 1993.[4]
She performed at the inaugural We're Funny That Way! comedy festival in 1997, and appeared in the festival's documentary film in 1998.[5] In the same year she was part of the cast of In Thru the Out Door, an LGBT-themed sketch comedy special broadcast by CBC Television.[6]
In 2007, Kurt hosted the second season of the gay wedding series First Comes Love (which originated in Canada under the title My Fabulous Gay Wedding). She is a judge on The Second City's Next Comedy Legend, a frequent guest on the CBC Radio show The Debaters, and a weekly guest on Q where she does a "Cultural Hall of Shame" segment each week, typically on the last half-hour on the Friday morning broadcast.
Kurt was the host of Spin Off, a prime time quiz show on Hamilton-based television station CHCH-DT. Mark Burnett was executive producer and creator of Spin Off,[7][8] which premiered on September 11, 2013.[2]
In 2020 she was the host of CBC Gem's Queer Pride Inside special.[9]
Discography[]
- Kitten with a Wit (1999)
References[]
- ^ Elvira Kurt Biography Archived 2010-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, NME.com; accessed January 21, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Spin Off". CHCH. Archived from the original on 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Polly, John (2007-03-07), "Interview With Elvira Kurt", AfterEllen.com, archived from the original on 2008-01-27, retrieved 2007-10-30
- ^ Glenn Sumi, Daryl Jung. "40 at 40: Stand-up Elvira Kurt on making LGBTQ+ history and staying honest". Now Magazine. Toronto, Canada. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
- ^ "We're Funny that Way". Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ Alan Conter, "Show tackles sex, gender full-tilt: Born at Just for Laughs, CBC's In Thru the Out Door brings gay comedy to the small screen". Montreal Gazette, June 20, 1998.
- ^ Etan Vlessing (2013-04-23). "CHCH buys Mark Burnett game show". PlayBack. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ "Mark Burnett behind Spin Off, new game show to air on CHCH". Toronto Star. Canadian Press. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Peter Knegt, "This Pride, come inside for a digital queer cabaret unlike anything else". CBC Arts, June 22, 2020.
External links[]
- 1961 births
- Living people
- Jewish Canadian comedians
- Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
- Canadian stand-up comedians
- Comedians from Toronto
- Lesbian comedians
- LGBT Jews
- LGBT entertainers from Canada
- Canadian women comedians
- LGBT broadcasters from Canada
- Canadian game show hosts
- Canadian sketch comedians
- Canadian Comedy Award winners