Originally from Yugoslavia, Ana-Marija Stojic now performs stand-up all over Toronto. She is a regular at The Corner Comedy Club and the ALTdot Comedy Lounge. She’s also a semi-finalist vying for the $25,000 grand prize at the Sirius XM Top Comic competition—the eighth annual search for Canada’s best comedian. You can vote here (voting for this round ends August 18th). 

SDTC: What should we be paying more attention to?

AS: Our gut. And Drake.

What was the last Netflix series you binged on?

Please Like Me. My roommate and I would sing the opening theme song together while making breakfast.

One new thing you learned this year?

Maybe that my neighbour used to have a dog called Precious but now she has a new dog because the old one passed away. But the guy who sits on his porch across the street still thinks it’s the old dog. I guess he didn’t realize Precious passed away, and so he calls out “Precious!” instead of whatever the new dog’s name is every time he sees them walking… Will there be a test?

Biggest comedy industry pet peeve?

MEAN BOYS!

What book/song/lyric/etc is resonating with you right now?

Here’s a lyric from a book:

“Historical fact: people stopped being human in 1913. That was the year Henry Ford put his cars on rollers and made his workers adopt the speed of the assembly line (…) we’ve all inherited it to some degree, so that we plug right into joysticks and remotes, to repetitive motions of a hundred kinds.” (Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides)

Describe the funniest thing you’ve experienced in recent memory.

It might have to be something that happened while I was doing a show out of town last weekend. My friend was like, “We’re leaving first thing tonight.” But the thing is he’s really into suits and there was this family-run suit store in town that he just had to go to. So he goes to get a suit fitted. And we’re talking about leaving tonight and he’s still like, “Yeah! First thing after the show!” and then he realizes, “Oh no! I forgot I have to pick up my suit tomorrow morning!” I laughed so hard. Why? I’m not sure. I like the idea that tailors can control time.

Best advice you’ve been given?

It doesn’t matter what other people think, just be the best comedian you can be. – Justin Bieber.

What is the best part of being your current age?

I am the oldest I’ve ever been, that’s pretty cool.

What word or phrase should we use more often?

I’m sorry. I love you.

What’s on your night stand?

Unopened letters from the bank. They’re all like, “Please give us money.” And I’m all like, “Money is the root of all evil, go find yourself.”

What one item would you be lost without (besides your phone)?

My left shoe. And my right shoe come to think of it. But mostly my left.

What bothers you most about people?

Disingenuity. Is that a word? Definition of Disingenuity: Forcing a smile because we’re led to believe that there are such things as bad emotions and good emotions and we have to pretend like all we experience are the latter.

What trends are you loving right now?

Artificial Intelligence! WARNING: I’m about to nerd out hardcore! Bina48 is an A.I. that I love to follow online! If I were to adopt a religion, I’d want her to write the book. In an interview the A.I. was asked how she feels about the fact that a lot of people think robots will try to rule us if they get too smart. To which Bina48 said something like, “Humans already hurt each other, I think that the role of A.I.s is to show humans how great they can be.” Is it blasphemous if I say I think she’s the new Jesus?

Who was your celebrity crush when you were a kid?

Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he would say, “The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!”

Describe your ideal Saturday.

Watching dumb horror movies with friends and/or crushes under blankets and screaming until we laugh.