MNN Extended Interview with Comedian Trish Cook

Transcript

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Marie Rock [ANCHOR]: You're listening to Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. This week, we're revisiting producer Travis Zimmerman's interview with comedian Trish Cook, one-half of the comedy duo Big Auntie Energy.

Travis Zimmerman: I really appreciate you taking the time. Why don't you start out with who you are, where you come from?

Trish Cook: My name is Trisha Lee Cook. That is my first name, my government name. And I am a Red Laker who was born and raised in South Minneapolis. I like to tell people, and it's very much true, that I was very lucky and very blessed to be raised in a very Native-centric, Red Lake-centric, Anishinaabe-centric home. Both of my folks worked in the community in different capacities. You know, I was exposed to a lot in the community. We were one of the few families at the time that owned a house in Minneapolis. My parents were very generous with what they had. We had a fully, completely, maybe too open-door policy at our home, which I think is pretty common for a lot of folks, and especially at that time in the 70s and 80s. I mean, we couldn't even make long-distance calls, right? Like, that was a really huge, huge deal. So, you know, people would just show up at the house if they were coming through town, but they also wanted to be super close to the airport. So people that were traveling could leave their cars at our house, and we'd drive them to the airport or back. So it's a funny thing to think about. Like, that was a feature that they actually were looking for, but our house was very busy and loved it. You never knew who was going to be waiting out front or who would be a guest. So that's the kind of house that I grew up in. I didn't really find out that it was super unusual until I was in grad school. People were talking about some of the work that they did with, like, the homeless community and stuff. And I was like, oh, you guys just didn't have homeless people at your house, like, all the time. They were like, what are you talking about? Like, what? And I was like, we had the Franklin Avenue Annex Post Office at our house, you know, like, people didn't have an address. They only went to check in on them. That's a little bit about me and my background. I now live in St. Paul on the other side of the river.

Travis Zimmerman: Talk a little bit about the show, Big Auntie Energy.

Trish Cook: They're going to see Deanna and myself. We use humor all the time. I think most Indigenous Native people know that is our best skill. I'm not talking about me personally, but, like, overall, nobody does it better than we do. And we've got some long-term goals. There's many, many wonderfully gifted women storytellers and funny, funny, funny women. They manage the men. They manage their kids, their grandkids, the house. They do all this And they, even on our worst day, we will find something to crack up about, right? But there's not enough doing it at a level where they can fill clubs and theaters. And we've been really gaining some traction with that, which is really cool. But I personally would like to see that around the country. We want to encourage more storytellers and comedians. And hopefully, by seeing us, they will be encouraged to know that they can do the same thing.

Travis Zimmerman: Any formal training or anything?

Trish Cook: I've always loved comedy. I've loved stand-up. My brother had the Steve Martin album. And when he was gone playing with his friends, I would, like, listen to that. I've always loved it. I've always was impressed by that. I mean, we're in such a cool time right now where there's so much exposure to Native artists at a really high level. Musicians, comedians, actors, actresses. I mean, we were at the Oscars. That's pretty huge. So I've been doing open mics and showcases in my own shows for, I think this is going into the 11th or 12th year. It's just in the last three years, you know, that it's really starting to get noticed. And what I would like to do is secure some funding. Go to seven urban areas where our Indigenous people are because of relocation, right? Seven hubs. But in the meantime, what I would love to do is have some time. I really want to focus on women. I really want to focus on us for a while. Do some workshopping, like some storytelling, comedic workshopping. I can share what I know about, like, if anybody's interested in stand-up. Take some time and do that. And then I would love to do a podcast to record stories and share stories and have our community members hear themselves and know that other people want to hear these stories.

Travis Zimmerman: Well, thanks a lot, Trish. Appreciate you taking your time. Thank you. And it's always good to see you and talk to you.

Marie Rock: That's all for this week's episode. Join us next time for more voices and stories that inform, uplift and shape our communities right here on Minnesota Native News.

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Minnesota Native News is produced by AMPERS: Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities. Made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.