| Nikki Payne | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 17, 1976[1] Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada[1] |
| Occupation | Actress, Comedian |
Nikki Payne (also credited as Nikkie Payne), is a Canadian comedian and actress, from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada.[1] Born with a cleft palate,[1] she is well known for incorporating her lisp into her comedy act.[1] She has won three Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Stand-up Newcomer and Best Female Stand-up (2003, 2005 & 2008). She is the first stand-up in either the male or female category to win the best stand-up award twice. She is also the first stand-up of either gender to win both a best newcomer and best stand-up award. She cites Emo Philips as one of her biggest inspirations.
She is a graduate of the comedy program at Humber College at the top of her class and a graduate of The Second City Conservatory Program, where she received a participant ribbon.
Payne has appeared in Last Comic Standing, Video on Trial, Buzz,[2] Am I Right??,[3] and the NFB documentary The Next Big Thing.[4] She has also appeared in the Canadian sketch comedy show Comedy Inc.. She is a member of The Boom comedy troupe.[5]
Payne also claims to have grown up in the trailer park where early seasons of the hit Canadian television show Trailer Park Boys was filmed.
Payne recently donated a kidney to her father, and is currently working on a comedy routine tentatively titled "My Big Fat Donated Kidney".
In 2009 she was a performer on the Showtime special Kiki Melendez Presents Hot Tamales Live. She also starred in the Canadian television pilot Wolf Canyon.