FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

Heather Darata

Heather Darata

Story Vault

By Heather Darata

It took prompting from a university professor to get Alain Nadro to take his cut-up act on stage as a professional comedian.

Nadro, an EMD at Urgences Santé in Montréal, Québec, Canada, has always enjoyed making people laugh—so much so that he participated in improv comedy in high school and college. But he wasn’t ready to become a headliner in front of hundreds of people until one of Nadro’s university professors in the Human Resources program he was working toward gave him the courage he needed to make a switch in his schooling.

“The teacher asked ‘what are you doing here?’” Nadro said. “I was too funny, cracking up the class when he stepped out. I decided that I should do something that I should have done long ago.”

After taking classes to become a professional comedian, Nadro was ready in 2003 to take the stage for his first gig. Since then, his popularity has soared and he’s the 45-minute headliner act at a variety of venues from small ones to those with 500+ seats. Nadro loves trying out new material and mixing in his political impersonations. Encouragement from people who enjoy his material keeps Nadro going.

“Laughing is good medicine,” Nadro said. “Things that couldn’t be said around the table can be said on stage.”

Two years after Nadro broke into the comedy circuit, he jumped into the acting world, without any acting classes under his belt. He auditioned for the TV series Casino and landed a recurring role (Zachary) from 2006-2008.

“I had the chance to go audition for a big role in a big series in Canada,” Nadro said. “Boom. I had the part. That was a big show—more than one million people watched it each week.”

But his acting career didn’t end after finishing Casino. He’s appeared in movies including Bumrush, inspired by real events that took place in Montréal, which premiered in Canadian theaters in April 2011. Nadro was on the movie set during the day for more than a month, leaving to go work nights at the dispatch center. Bumrush received two Genie nominations and nominations and prizes from the Maverick Movie Awards and the Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival.

He also had “an amazing experience” working as a photo double on the set of Mirror Mirror, a Snow White movie starring Julia Roberts as Evil Queen. The movie will be released in April 2012.

His coworkers are very supportive of what he does, switching shifts when he has a conflicting show or shoot and attending his performances. Although Nadro has trouble catching enough sleep, he wouldn’t give up the opportunity he has in 2012 to open for comedian Sugar Sammy and whatever else may come his way in the future.

“It’s all about energy and the focus on your dream,” Nadro said. “You find a way to do what you got to do. I’m very blessed.”