Winnipeg's comedy uber-fan makes Gawker

Anyone who has done stand-up in Winnipeg knows Sharilyn Johnson - comedy uber-fan and sometime stand-up.

There has been many a night when I've played to a half-empty (by that I mean "empty") room where the only folks in attendance are the other comics and Sharilyn. Minus 30, blizzard, bad, hack, and old material (hello, my old friends!): nothing deters Sharilyn from coming out to a comedy show.

I haven't spoken with Sharilyn in awhile, so I'm late in finding out that she recently became a New York comedy uber-fan, regularly attending tapings of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

Everything was apparently going to plan until election night, when Sharilyn flew to New York to see the Daily Show and didn't get in, despite having a ticket.

Frustrated and let down by the experience, she blogged about it in the Huffington Post (the original article is here), and the Blogosphere exploded - as it often does - leading to this article on Gawker.

How to have a grievance, version 2.0

It is interesting to note how the new media has changed the whole business of having a grievance: in the old days, if I had a complaint, I'd tell my friends at work, no one would listen, I'd feel better, and forget about it.

Or, if it was really important, I'd write a letter to the editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, they'd run it, nothing would happen, I'd feel better, and forget about it.

Now, I guess, I should post my complaints online and everyone around the world can weigh in with helpful comments, like the one talkbacker on Gawker, who says to Sharilyn: "You're Canadian, sweetheart. Life is tough."

Then, I'd feel worse, but later get to star in a Weezer video. Or something.

Maybe the best solution is to do what my father used to suggest when I was a kid and whining about something: "You have a complaint? Take it to the complaint department!"

Where can I find that online?