By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
(ANNews) – For Howie Miller, comedy is more than a punchline. It is a way to confront racism, challenge stereotypes and make space for Indigenous people in an entertainment industry that has often reduced them to narrow roles.
The Edmonton comedian has spent decades turning personal experience into material while encouraging a new generation of Indigenous performers to step into the spotlight. His goal is not only to see more Indigenous comedians onstage, but to see Indigenous people represented across mainstream media as doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts and artists.
“We need our faces in mainstream media more and more, and not so much riding around on horses or drunk on a reservation,” Miller said. “We need to be doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, everything, because that’s what we are.”
Miller is originally from Paul Band, west of Edmonton near Wabamun Lake, and was born and raised in the city. Adopted during the Sixties Scoop, he reconnected with his Indigenous family in his early 20s.
His path to comedy began in high school, where he discovered a talent for mimicry, accents and performance. He started pursuing stand-up in his early 20s while raising a family and later expanded into corporate entertainment.
“It was really in high school where I sort of developed a sense of humor and the art of mimicry,” Miller said. “It was very easy for me to articulate in accents and mimic things, and I got a great amount of pleasure of that, and that got attention to me, positive attention.”
As he developed his career, supporting his family became a central motivation.
“And then it just sort of fell into, like, I really need to get good at this because I have a family to support,” he said.
Turning experience into material
Miller said his Indigenous identity opened doors early in his career at a time when few Indigenous performers were visible in Canadian comedy. “People might think it was hard for me because I was Indigenous. Actually, that opened a gateway for me,” he said.
He credited Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club with helping him gain experience, build an audience and establish his name. “So it was really helpful in my career at the beginning. And I got my name out there and it opened a lot of doors for me,” Miller said. “So as far as stand-up is concerned, it’s been a very positive road for me.”
His experiences have also included encounters with racism and prejudice in Alberta and British Columbia. Those experiences became part of his comedy, allowing him to address subjects that are often left unspoken.
“That was always the underlying tone of my sense of humor, was to bring to light the situations that Indigenous people face in this country: racism, ignorance, you know, prejudice, whatever you want to call it,” Miller said.
“There’s a lot of it that we have to experience daily, and many people don’t know that, or they don’t realize it. So, if I can bring that to light in a humorous way, it’s sort of, you know, brushing off the dust off, because it’s something we don’t talk about.”
Comedy, he said, can make difficult realities easier for audiences to understand. “And I’m able to talk about it, and people can understand it,” Miller said.
Making room for the next generation
When Miller began performing, he said there were only a handful of Indigenous comedians and entertainers working across the country. Today, he sees Indigenous performers at comedy clubs and open mics in communities across Canada.
“When I started, there was probably only about four or five Indigenous entertainers or comedians in the entire country,” he said. “Now it’s such a pleasure to see so many faces.”
Miller said seeing Indigenous performers develop their own voices onstage fills him with pride. “It fills my heart with such joy,” he said.
He hopes his career has helped make the path easier for those performers, comparing himself to the Kool-Aid Man crashing through a wall and leaving an opening for others to follow.
“Not to say that I had anything to do with that, but, you know, I always tell people I’m like a Kool-Aid man. I’m like the Indigenous Kool-Aid man. I crash through the wall, I make a big hole, and I want people to follow me,” Miller said.
“I want Indigenous people to follow me and, you know, just keep doing things. I can’t do this forever, and I’d like to continue and grow more. So it’s very positive.”
Miller has also performed with fellow Canadian comedian Howie Mandel during shows in the United States. “He’s a super nice guy. He’s super funny, and he’s treated me with the utmost respect, and it’s just wonderful doing those shows,” Miller said.
Another milestone came when Miller performed during commercial breaks at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Edmonton. The event was especially meaningful because Rexall Place was connected to his childhood memories of watching the Oilers.
“It was Edmonton. It’s my hometown, and I just felt, okay, I’ve made it,” he said. “I’m performing for, you know, 25,000 people here in a place that I grew up, and it was very heartwarming.”
Confidence as a starting point
For Indigenous performers hoping to enter comedy or other creative fields, Miller’s advice is to build confidence. “Confidence. Absolute 100% confidence. Confidence in yourself, confidence in what you’re saying,” he said. “You grow that confidence; it grows inside you. Once you have that confidence inside you, you can accomplish anything.”
Miller recognizes that confidence can be difficult to develop, particularly for Indigenous people affected by trauma and difficult upbringings. Still, he encourages emerging performers to trust themselves and their material.
“You just have to be confident in yourself, and that’s very hard sometimes for Indigenous people to be confident in themselves, given their upbringing, where they’re growing up,” he said. “You just have to be confident, self-confident, and confident in your material, and yeah, the sky’s the limit.”
For Miller, family remains an important source of pride beyond his career in comedy.
“I’m very proud of my four sons. They are in their careers. Some of them are in the entertainment or arts field. They are excelling, and they’re just amazing. The four sons are just, you know, they’re my four warriors. And I’m very happy and proud of them.”
Website: howiemiller.com
Instagram: @howiemiller72
X (Twitter): @HowieMiller
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