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Sharilyn Johnson is a Toronto-based communications professional, with experience working for media outlets such as CTV, Global TV and Corus Radio, as well as organizations in the non-profit and corporate sectors.
A published entertainment journalist since 1995, Sharilyn began writing about comedy in 1998 and served as the comedy reporter for Winnipeg's Uptown Magazine from 2002-2007. She covered the 2004 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal for the Winnipeg Free Press, which led to her three-year run as host and producer of Laugh Tracks, a weekly radio program about comedy.
Over the years, she's had the pleasure of speaking with a diverse group of performers that includes Andrea Martin, Colin Mochrie, Brent Butt, Rob Corddry, Greg Behrendt, Henry Rollins, Alonzo Bodden, Tommy Tiernan, and Greg Proops.
Among her extensive volunteer work in in the arts, Sharilyn sat on the Board of Winnipeg's West End Cultural Centre for four years, as well as the Board of the Gas Station Theatre/OVCC - the producing body of the CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival.
Considered a comedy expert by those in the local comedy scene, Sharilyn finally gave in to the prodding of local standups and got onstage herself. Those first five minutes infront of a full house at Rumor's Comedy Club were described by headliner John Wessling as "one of the best first times I've ever seen", and she continued hitting open mics while based in Winnipeg.
She began her improv training in 2006 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, where she studied under Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live), Lennon Parham, Porter Mason, and Owen Burke. She has also trained with Steve Sim and Lee White (Crumbs) at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, at the Impatient Theatre Co. in Toronto, and under Sean Browning and Lisa Merchant (Train 48) at Toronto's Bad Dog Theatre Co.
She successfully competed against 130 other writers for a spot in the highly regarded Writing For the Daily Show program, taught by Emmy-winning Daily Show writer J.R. Havlan. She was subsequently among the first group to complete its companion course, Writing For the Colbert Report, taught by Colbert Report Co-Executive Producer Tom Purcell. Both programs were offered through the People's Improv Theatre in New York City.
She has also studied comedy writing under Jack Mosshammer and Scott Montgomery (The Hour) at Second City Toronto, as well as Joe Flaherty (SCTV), Brian Crosby (Air Farce Live), Randy Perlstein (Chappelle's Show), and Ali Farahnakian (Saturday Night Live).
She currently blogs comedy industry news, event reviews, interviews, and opinion-inspired features on her popular blog, Third Beat.
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