Tanyalee Davis (born 27 November 1970) is a Canadian-American
comedian.
Davis has a form of
dwarfism called
diastrophic dysplasia
Diastrophic dysplasia is an autosomal recessive dysplasia which affects cartilage and bone development. ("Diastrophism" is a general word referring to a twisting.) Diastrophic dysplasia is due to mutations in the ''SLC26A2'' gene.
Affected indivi ...
and is tall.
Career
In November 1999, she placed second in the
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
Comedy Competition. She was the first woman in 10 years to make it into the finals. In October 2012, she placed sixth overall in the San Francisco Comedy Festival. In April 2001, she headlined at the
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...
.
She won the 2003 Norman G. Brooks Standup Comedy Scholarship Competition held at the Hollywood
Improv. In August 2003, she was part of the "US Comedy Invasion" show, performing at the world's largest arts festival, the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. She then embarked on a UK tour in the spring of 2004. She featured at the Edinburgh Fringe again in 2013.
In the US, she was featured on ''
Last Comic Standing
''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...
'' in 2004, on
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...
's hit show, ''
Pit Boss
''Pit Boss'' is an American television series docudrama that follows Shorty Rossi, owner of Shorty's Rescue, an organization set up for Pit Bull rescue. The series aired on Animal Planet from January 16, 2010 to March 30, 2013.
Series overview
S ...
'' (2012) as well as ''
Dr Drew
David Drew Pinsky (born September 4, 1958), commonly known as Dr. Drew, is an American media personality, internist, and addiction medicine specialist. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show ''Loveline'' from the show's inceptio ...
'' on CNN. Previous credits include ''
Austin Powers in Goldmember
''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers a ...
'' film teaser, "For the Love of Money"(Movie 2002),
MTV's Bash of Carson Daly (TV 2003) and the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network's
reality show ''
30 Seconds to Fame
''30 Seconds to Fame'' is an American television series that was shown on the Fox Network from July 17, 2002 to June 26, 2003, featuring a talent show where acts could only last up to 30 seconds each, regardless of any resolution to the act. The s ...
''.
In 2005, she performed as part of the ''Abnormally Funny People'' show, with Steve Best,
Liz Carr
Liz Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist.
Early life and education
Carr was born 21 April 1972 in Port Sunlight and grew up in Bebington, Merseyside. She attended Upton Hall School FCJ i ...
,
Steve Day,
Chris McCausland and Simon Minty. As part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the following year she appeared with Carr in ''Bravetarts''. In 2007 she performed her one-woman show ''Little Do They Know''. She then revamped the fringe show and had a six-month contract at the
Clarion Hotel and Casino
Clarion Hotel and Casino, formerly known as Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel and Greek Isles Hotel & Casino, was near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The hotel originally opened in 1970 as a Royal Inn, and also operated under the names ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in 2011.
In August 2013, Davis went back to the Edinburgh Fringe with her new one-person show "Big Trouble in Little 'Gina" which was based on a terrible medical ordeal starting at the end of 2012.
In 2011–2012 Davis was a series regular on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
TV show ''
I'm Spazticus''.
Davis was featured in a few British-produced programmes such as
Sky TV's documentary of the making of ''Abnormally Funny People'' as well as ITV's ''SuperHuman: World's Smallest People'' (which also aired on
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
in the US). Her extensive spinal surgery was a focus in this show. On 28 August 2013, she appeared as a special guest on the live comedy Paralympics show ''
The Last Leg
''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British comedy and late-night television talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Pa ...
'', discussing
Jim Davidson
James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows '' Big Break'' and ''The Generation Game''. He also developed two adult pantomime shows such as ''B ...
's comments about "midgets".
In 2015 she appeared on two major UK television shows, both on BBC: ''
The John Bishop Show
''The Christmas Show'', formerly known as ''The John Bishop Show'', is a British comedy-variety show presented by stand-up comedian John Bishop at the Hackney Empire Theatre. The show has aired on BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air ...
'' and ''
Live at the Apollo''.
On 15 July 2018, Davis was "harassed and humiliated" after a train guard for
Great Western Railway attempted to force her to move her mobility scooter from a disabled space on the train. The guard made an announcement to the train passengers that she was "causing problems" and threatened to call the
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
if she did not move and give her space to a woman with a pram. An investigation into the incident was begun by the rail company. On 20 July 2018, Davis was left stranded on a train when staff at
York railway station
York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and on the main line it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the station is operated by London North Ea ...
failed to arrive with a ramp, and the train departed for
Darlington, adding an hour's delay to her journey.
On 29 August 2018 it was reported that Davis had to wait two hours for her mobility scooter at
Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London.
London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...
; she then found that airline Ryanair lost a vital attachment to the chair.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tanyalee
1970 births
Living people
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American women
Actors with dwarfism
American actors with disabilities
American women comedians
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian people with disabilities
People from the Las Vegas Valley