ON STAGE
What: Mama鈥檚 Boy
When: Friday March 8 and Saturday March 9, 8 p.m.
Where: Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Ave.
Tickets: $30 (with discounts for students and seniors) by phone from 250-385-6815 or online at
Good drama comes from聽real life. But real comedy comes from intense pain. Mike Delamont, the Victoria actor-writer-comedian known for the hit productions God Is a Scottish Drag Queen and The War of 1812, found the sweet spot between the two in Mama鈥檚 Boy, his autobiographical play about growing up as the child of a single mother with addiction issues.
It鈥檚 funny, but heartbreaking at聽the same time. 鈥淵ou need the juxtaposition,鈥� Delamont said of Mama鈥檚 Boy, which kicks off the Belfry鈥檚 SPARK Festival with performances Friday and Saturday.
鈥淔or people who have a darker past, they find the funny in those darker bits. It鈥檚 easier to access if聽you鈥檝e had that kind of background. To make something that might not particularly be that funny into something funny.鈥�
For a long time, Delamont told few people about his upbringing. His childhood in Cranbook was upended by a pair of life-changing of events in a single year: his father鈥檚 sudden death in a snowmobiling accident, and his mother鈥檚 nascent alcoholism.
Delamont, 34, was seven when he began staying with relatives to聽avoid his mother鈥檚 drinking binges. He shuffled between homes for several years, before he was old enough to deal with his problems on his own. He eventually moved with his mother to Victoria in 1997, when he was 13, yet continued to share little about his personal life. It remained a secret for much of his teens and twenties.
June Delamont died in 2012. Mike was living in Toronto at the time, trying to make a career out of comedy. He moved back to Victoria after she died, and began processing her legacy 鈥� both good and bad. His grief eventually manifested itself in a rough draft of Mama鈥檚 Boy, which premi猫red at the Intrepid Theatre Club in 2015.
鈥淲hen I sat down and wrote it, I actually sat down and wrote the entire show at once,鈥� Delamont said. 鈥淚t was a show that had been rambling around in my head for a聽while. It came out pretty much fully formed.鈥�
The years spent working on the play were instrumental in his recovery, as they allowed Delamont to process key moments in a new light. He loved his mother dearly, and realized the guilt he felt in telling their story was misplaced. By including both her strengths and weaknesses, Delamont was paying tribute to her in his own unique way.
鈥淲hen my mom was still alive, I don鈥檛 think I could have ever told the story. I certainly wouldn鈥檛 have wanted her to be embarrassed or anything like that. That was a big part of why I didn鈥檛 tell anybody 鈥� I didn鈥檛 want to hurt my mom.鈥�
The weekend performances of Mama鈥檚 Boy are rare turns for Delamont, who has only performed Mama鈥檚 Boy for local audiences during two previous instalments (it was last staged in 2017, at the Metro Studio Theatre).
There are several reasons for that, Delamont said. Not only does his career take him away from Victoria for long stretches these days 鈥� he is already booked for 96 shows in two countries and 184聽days on the road in 2019, and 77 shows in five countries and 106聽days on the road in 2020 鈥� he purposely keeps Mama鈥檚 Boy out of his regular rotation of shows due to its content. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not my typical show. It鈥檚 not a big comedy show.鈥�
Though it was written five years ago, it still strikes a nerve. It was supposed to provide some healing to its author, and serve as a form of catharsis. That has not yet materialized, according to Delamont. 鈥淚 hope that one day it will.鈥�
There is an upside to Mama鈥檚 Boy, however. Though he finds it 鈥渋ncredibly uncomfortable鈥� to perform, Delamont understands the show has given hope to many who鈥檝e seen it. He often finds himself in post-show conversations with other children of alcoholics, or some who are alcoholics themselves. That鈥檚 one reason he plans to continue performing Mama鈥檚 Boy.
鈥淚 discuss in the play not being afraid, and how [being afraid] holds people back,鈥� Delamont said. 鈥淏reaking through and being able to tell the story has been life-changing for me.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy, but I鈥檓 glad that it has helped other people. Seeing how much people connect to the show, and in what ways, was very surprising to me. The actual act of the show itself 鈥� I don鈥檛 love doing it. But at the same time, I love doing it.鈥�
Delamont will be realizing 鈥渁 dream-and-a-half鈥� when he steps onto the Belfry鈥檚 main stage for his performances this weekend. That it was Mama鈥檚 Boy that put him there is fitting, according to Delamont, who calls the achievement a surreal moment.
When he first moved to Victoria, his mother took him to the Belfry to see his first professional show, a production of Roy Surette鈥檚 The Number 14. Delamont said he had never seen anything like it, and the feeling stuck with him as he pursued a career in聽the arts.
Now, more than 20 years after he first walked through the doors of the Fernwood theatre, he鈥檚 paying tribute to the woman 鈥� his biggest fan, to be sure 鈥� who helped get him there.
鈥淭he Belfry in my early teens years was a huge education and showed me what theatre could be. To be able to have that full-circle moment of bringing what is my most personal show to that main stage, where I鈥檝e never performed, is amazing.鈥�
