Carla Collins

{{Short description|Canadian comedian, writer and actress (born 1965)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Carla Collins

| image = CarlaCollins1999.jpg

| image_caption = Collins in 1999

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=y|1965|4|30}}

| birth_place = Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada

| education = University of Western Ontario

| occupation = Comedian, actress, television host, writer

| years active = 1990–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Tyrone Power Jr.|2007}}

| website = http://www.carlacollins.com/

}}

Carla Collins (born April 30, 1965) is a Canadian comedian, actress, television host, and writer.

Collins performs across North America. She has been a regular at the Laugh Factory{{cite web|url=http://www.laughfactory.com/comedians/147/Carla-Collins |title=Carla Collins Biography | Laugh Factory Comedians |publisher=Laughfactory.com |date=June 21, 2010 |accessdate=October 18, 2011}} in Los Angeles and toured with the renowned "Hot Tamales".{{cite web|url=http://www.vegasnews.com/11818/showtimes-kiki-melendez-hot-tamales-live-to-perform-at-the-pearl-at-the-palms.html |title=Showtime's "Kiki Melendez' Hot Tamales Live" to Perform at The Pearl at The Palms : VegasNews.com – Las Vegas News |publisher=Vegasnews.com |date=August 18, 2009 |accessdate=October 18, 2011}} In January 2015, Collins was awarded with Comedian Of The Year by the Southern California Motion Picture Council, an inaugural honour created to recognize Collins' talent.{{cite web|url=https://instagram.com/carlacollinscomedian/p/y6WIjRG8Q8/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150313072517/https://instagram.com/carlacollinscomedian/p/y6WIjRG8Q8/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 13, 2015 |title=Carla Collins Named Comedian Of The Year |publisher=Instagram.com |date=January 20, 2015 |accessdate=March 13, 2015 }}

Early life

Collins was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,Vaughan, R. M. and Commanducci, Massimo (April 10, 2009). "Carla Collins: People made fun of her for years, she says. Now, it's her turn", The Globe and Mail, p. R4. until moving to Guelph, Ontario and attending Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute where she was Prom Queen and Valedictorian, Collins pursued her education at the Université de Franche-Comté in France and the University of Western Ontario.

1990s

She joined The Weather Network in 1990 as an on-air host, and subsequently moved to CFTO to host Eye on Toronto. In 1995, she began hosting Baton Broadcastings's Entertainment Now,{{cite web|url=http://nsb.com/speakers/view/carla-collins |title=Carla Collins » Speaker Profile » National Speakers Bureau |publisher=Nsb.com |accessdate=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012171056/http://nsb.com/speakers/view/carla-collins |archivedate=October 12, 2011 |df=mdy }} which she cohosted with Dan Duran. She also hosted the Canadian variety series Sonic Temple and the sketch comedy series Chez Carla. In 1998, Collins played an anchorwoman in Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Donna Jean in When Husbands Cheat.

Earlier in her career, she was a morning radio personality on Toronto's Mix 99.9 from 1992 to 1994, co-hosting with Tom Rivers along with Larry Fedoruk. Rivers left in 1993 and Fedoruk and Collins continued as a duo. She returned from 2001 to 2003. For the latter stint, following a short period co-hosting with Steve Anthony who then moved to afternoon drive time, Collins became the first woman in Canada to be billed as the sole regular host of a morning radio show on a commercial station in a major media market, as opposed to co-hosting with one or more men.

2000s

Collins had her first solo stand-up special, The Wonder Bra Years, on The Comedy Network in 2001.{{cite web |url=http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/comedy-now/season-4/carla-collins-the-wonder-bra-years/#clip45387 |title=Comedy Now : Carla Collins "The Wonder Bra Years" |publisher=Watch.thecomedynetwork.ca |accessdate=October 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220152047/http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/comedy-now/season-4/carla-collins-the-wonder-bra-years/#clip45387 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} It was one of the highest rated in the Comedy Now series.

Collins starred in 50 episodes of Paradise Falls a soap opera on Showcase Television as Rusty Sinclair (2001). She also appeared in: Deep in the City as a Sex-Shop Owner (2000), The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Degrassi: The Next Generation as herself (2002), two episodes of Doc as Felicia Brand (2002–2003), Recipe for Murder as a Glam Reporter (2002), Tracker as Dr. Janet Sullivann (2002), and Show Me Yours as Tammy (2005).

In 2003, she began to lend her voice to the PBS animated show Cyberchase as Erica Ram, a reporter who reports on events in Cyberspace.

Collins was a writer, star and host of Chez Carla (2000), Sonic Temple (2001), 2 Smart Blondes (2003) and E-Now (1995).

In 2006 Carla teamed up with producer Frank Sicoli for an unscripted television sitcom titled The Visionary Position.{{cite web|last=Palmer |first=Alex D. |url=http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/The_Visionary_Position_-_Review_-_Get_Laid_with_a_Little_Help_from_Imaginary_Friends_printer.php |title=The Visionary Position – Review – Get Laid with a Little Help from Imaginary Friends | Splash Magazines | Los Angeles |publisher=Lasplash.com |date=September 18, 2006 |accessdate=October 18, 2011}} This series (released on DVD) is described as Curb Your Enthusiasm meets Sex and the City meets Bewitched. Collins says, "I prefer to think of it as The Ghost Whisperer on crack.""[http://www.speakers.ca/collins_carla.aspx Carla Collins] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923163941/http://www.speakers.ca/collins_carla.aspx |date=September 23, 2006 }}", Speakers' Spotlight.

In 2006, she workshopped a one-woman show called The Visionary Position in Toronto and Los Angeles.{{cite web |title=Laughing at and loving Hollywood |url=https://malibutimes.com/article_65c8cf57-da94-5641-bf43-02e79c90072b |website=The Malibu Times |date=August 27, 2008 |access-date=February 25, 2023}}

She is also a freelance writer for Inside Entertainment.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In 2007, Collins married Tyrone Power Jr., an actor from the United States.

Collins' reality show Carlawood debuted on TVtropolis in April 2009.[http://www2.canada.com/tvtropolis/tv/carlawood/index_basic.html ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020150826/http://www2.canada.com/tvtropolis/tv/carlawood/index_basic.html |date=October 20, 2009 }} The show follows her attempt to find work after her move to Hollywood, and satirizes reality shows.

2010s

Collins' filmed season two of her docu-soap/comedy Carlawood, and is working on the movie The Hack, a comedy/horror film in which she stars as a comedian who kills other performers for their material.{{cite web|url=http://www.inmag.com/profiles/carla-collins.html |title=Carla Collins – Lifestyle Advisor |publisher=Inmag.com |accessdate=October 18, 2011}}

She also completed her first book "Angels, Vampires and Douche Bags"{{cite book|last=Byrne |first=Rhonda |title=ANGELS VAMPIRES AND DOUCHE BAGS (9781897404249): CARLA COLLINS: Books |date=March 2010 |publisher=Burman Books, Incorporated |isbn=978-1897404249 }} published by Burman Books.

She also lent her voice to a special from the hit Canadian animated series, Total Drama, in its second season, Total Drama Action‘s special, "Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special", as the host of the show-within-a-show, Celebrity Manhunt, Blaineley.{{cite web|author=SqueakyYugi Added Apr 21, 2010 All my reviews |url=http://www.tv.com/total-drama-island/celebrity-manhunts-total-drama-reunion-special/episode/1336602/summary.html |title=Total Drama Island: Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Reunion Special Episode Summary |publisher=TV.com |date=April 21, 2010 |accessdate=October 18, 2011}} Then she lent her voice for the next season in Total Drama World Tour, once again playing Blaineley, the co-host of Total Drama Aftermath, and then she became a late-coming contestant that same season and ending in either seventh or sixth place. This was her first voice acting role, a role which also required her to sing.

2020s

After performing at various locations doing standup comedy, Collins found that many venues were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Spotlight-Series-Meet-Comedian-Carla-Collins-Host-of-SHELTER-AT-OM-Comedic-Meditation-Benefiting-the-Whitefire-Theatre-20200623 BWW Spotlight Series: Meet Comedian Carla Collins, Host of SHELTER AT 'OM: Comedic Meditation Benefiting the Whitefire Theatre 23 June 2020] During that time, she performed some "Quarantine Queen" comedy programs on Facebook[https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Spotlight-Series-Meet-Comedian-Carla-Collins-Host-of-SHELTER-AT-OM-Comedic-Meditation-Benefiting-the-Whitefire-Theatre-20200623 BWW Spotlight Series: Meet Comedian Carla Collins, Host of SHELTER AT 'OM: Comedic Meditation Benefiting the Whitefire Theatreby Shari Barrett 23 June 2020] and began streaming "Comedic Meditation" from Los Angeles, at no charge to the public; she also offered private sessions. By autumn 2020 some venues were open and she performed at the El Mocambo in Toronto and began streaming her Meditation program in Canada, again free of charge.[https://www.collingwoodtoday.ca/local-news/chuckle-and-chill-world-debut-of-comedic-meditation-livestreams-from-collingwood-today-2776386 'Chuckle and chill:' world debut of Comedic Meditation livestreams from Collingwood today 7 October 2020]

A September 2020 article added that Collins's program "Carlawood" was streaming on Amazon Prime and she also performed on SiriusXM. She was waiting to film a comedy special produced by David Steinberg and she was also producing "Hump Day Howl" a monthly streaming program from the Whitefire Theatre.[https://totimes.ca/the-legendary-el-mocambo-is-very-much-back-and-rockin-comedy-returns-this-weekend-sept-23-24/ Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo is very much back and rockin’: Comedy returns this weekend Sept. 23-24]