Lou Laurence is a singer, songwriter, playwright, and siren. She left her home at the bottom of the ocean to become part of that world, our world, Montréal and across Canada, where she takes to the stage with her ukulele, spectacular hair and fashion sense. There she combines her musical and lyrical genius, bringing us clever and hilarious songs in her signature soulful voice. Her performances unite music, sketch comedy, and stand-up. In 2024, she produced the live game show Montreal’s Most Delicious Date, and her 60-minute solo show, Love, Sharks & Frenching: a hot date w/ Lou Laurence won Best Solo Show, Best Music Show, and was runner up for Best Show with Improv at Victoria Fringe Festival 2023. It’s a one-of-a-kind date with Lou Laurence that will have you frenching like a Montrealer. And you can see it, imminently at the 2024 Montreal Fringe Fest at Petit Campus June 7-16. We can’t wait! Don’t miss Lou’s show and don’t miss this episode!Lou Laurence’s LinksFollow Lou on Instagram @loulaurencemusic or else here on Facebook.Get yourself a ticket to Love, Sharks & Frenching: a hot date w/ Lou Laurence this June at the Montreal Fringe.Mixing, Ukulele, and Cover Art by Erica J. Schmidt in Montréal, Quebec.If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy Chill Creative Flow With Jeff Gandell, Why We’re Still Single With Mariam Khan or Stealing the Last Laugh With Francesca Esguerra.Follow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.Episode Notes: Singer, Songwriter, Playwright and Siren Lou Laurence on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful LifeDiscover how Lou got that dreamy voice. It turns out, she’s been singing her whole life. Though she longed to accompany her original songs with an instrument, learning a guitar felt overwhelming. “It has six strings and I only have four fingers.” A valid point. But Lou transcended this obstacle when she picked up the joy of life that is the ukulele. Serenading everyone in Parc Lafontaine, she mastered all the chords from House of the Rising Sun, and then some. Now she has her own custom-made acoustic-guitar-turned-baritone ukulele and it’s official—they’re in love! Lou shares some refreshing tips on creativity and how writing out loud comes out better than typing stuff out at a computer. But definitely carry a fancy notebook wherever you go! I was struck by Lou’s free and fluid creation process which sometimes involves singing off-the-cuff improv lyrics onstage. “You just have to trust that it’s in you,” she says. Gosh, if we could all have that trust. Lou also has an aspirational perspective on the small nonsense and surprising challenges of modern dating. Sounds like she’s killing it out there! And what a gift to be able to transform your mishaps in love into a spectacular Fringe Show. For our Listener Question, Lou and Erica console the lovely and earnest, Did I Fail the Kiss Test? And we wrap up with Lou’s morning, creative, and cleaning routines, plus a charming and terrifying improv ukulele segment during which Erica becomes very sweaty and Lou basically rewrites the podcast theme song. Thank you, Lou Laurence, what a blast!Listener Question From Did I Fail the Kiss Test? Dear Erica and Lou,I’m a 37-year-old woman and I’ve been out of the game for a while. Then I met this super hot dude at a show and we just went on a second date. All in all it went well. Except he kissed me towards the end and I was super awkward. I am so out of practice and he is so fucking cute and I did not think he would kiss me so I went into full-on dorky mode. He did everything right on his part. He sent the right signals and built up to it. But I feel like I missed my chance for a sexy and passionate beginning. Is it possible to recover from an awkward first kiss?Love, Did I Fail the Kiss Test? Thank you so much for listening! To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button. Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events, Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment. And infinite thanks to you, my dear listeners! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
