--- title: "Susan Stewart" description: "Book Susan Stewart | Canadian comedian and mental health speaker for conferences, delivering entertaining keynotes on stress, resilience and mental health." canonical: https://www.kmprod.com/speakers/susan-stewart updated: 2026-10-09 16:15:30 --- # Susan Stewart *Comedian, Keynote Speaker, Author & Mental Health Advocate* ## Biography Susan Stewart is a Toronto-based comedian, keynote speaker and author who uses stand-up comedy to help people talk honestly about stress, resilience and mental health. Her programs are built on a simple idea: if you can find the funny in something hard, it becomes easier to manage. Susan earned a theatre arts degree from the University of Waterloo and launched her career on Toronto’s stand-up stages. About three years in, clinical depression and anxiety forced her to step away from comedy. After recovering, she moved into human resources with the Ontario government, working as an organizational learning and development consultant. Her return to the stage came by accident. A year into her HR role, she was asked to write and deliver a humorous wellness presentation for a staff professional development conference. It was so well received that she was soon presenting it at events across the Ontario government, and in 2008 she left HR to speak full-time. In 2023, Susan lived through a serious mental health crisis of her own. She turned that experience into a comedy show, and later a book, called *A Bit More Than A Rough Patch*, which she has performed at venues including The Gladstone in Ottawa and Aeolian Hall in London, Ontario. **Her talks now pair corporate-friendly humour with a candid message about depression, seeking help and finding hope again.** Susan has spoken for organizations such as *PepsiCo Foods Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Health Canada, the Ontario Hospital Association, McMaster University, Queen's University* and the *Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.* She also works as an emcee for events including the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Ontario Public Service Human Resources Awards. She is the author of *A Bit More Than A Rough Patch; You Gotta Laugh: Wit And Wisdom About Not Taking Life (Or Yourself) Too Seriously; Your New Lenses Are Ready For Pick Up: A Guide To Seeing The Lighter Side Of Life;* and *Reaching The Laugh Resort.* She also hosts the podcast *Still a Hot Mess* and released the comedy album *Relentless.* ## Presentation Topics Susan Stewart is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She delivers keynote presentations, fireside chats, and moderated Q&A on a variety of topics. Presentation lengths can be a minimum of 45 minutes to a maximum of 90 minutes. Most conference keynotes are typically 60 minutes. Each presentation is unique, customized and tailored for audiences, industries, conferences and event formats. All of Susan’s programs are also available for virtual events. ### You Gotta Laugh: Healing Stress with Humour  Packed full of laughs about the challenges we face at work and in life, Susan shares how humour relieves stress, improves our outlook, and protects our mental health.  ### You Gotta Laugh: Building Resiliency With Humour  While giving your group some much needed laughs, Susan shares how we can meet our challenges with confidence, courage, and a sense of humour.  ### How The “Golden Rule Of Comedy” Can Help You See The Lighter Side Of Life  The “golden rule” of comedy is to talk about the truth. Anytime you laugh at what a comedian says, it’s because it’s true. Susan highlights 5 important truths about life and shares how remembering these truths can make times of adversity and uncertainty appear more manageable.  ### Your New Lenses Are Ready For Pick Up: Seeing The Lighter Side Of Life In Challenging Times  With the humour she is best known for, Susan offers some shifts in perspective that can help your group be resilient in the face of adversity and uncertainty.  ### A Bit More than a Rough Patch: What a Comedian Learned about Taking Mental Health Seriously  After surviving a mental health crisis in 2023, Susan shares her story to reduce stigma, normalize mental illness, and help people see the humour in the hard parts of their lives. With the vulnerability she is well-known for, Susan contributes to the mental health conversation that is (thankfully) growing and helps people feel seen as they navigate their own struggles and the struggles of others. A mental health speaker who both entertains and inspires, Susan will help your group gain a better understanding of depression, emphasize the importance of seeking support, and send the strong message that brighter days are ahead. This is a funny, yet powerful program about losing hope and finding it again.  **Stand-up Comedy:** ### The Last Laugh This program is 100% pure PG-rated, corporate-friendly, stand-up comedy and a perfect ending for your event! Packed full of laughs, Susan Stewart will make your event stand out from the rest and send your group off feeling energized and uplifted. ## About Susan Stewart is a Canadian comedian, keynote speaker, author and mental health advocate based in Toronto, Ontario. She uses PG-rated, corporate-friendly stand-up comedy to help audiences manage stress, build resilience and talk openly about mental health. A former stand-up comic turned Ontario government learning and development consultant, Susan has delivered humour-based wellness keynotes full-time since 2008. After surviving a mental health crisis in 2023, she created *A Bit More Than A Rough Patch*, a comedy show and book about depression, recovery and finding hope again. Her programs combine big laughs with honest lived experience, giving audiences practical ways to meet adversity with courage, confidence and a sense of humour. Susan speaks to corporate, government, healthcare, education and association audiences across Canada, both in person and virtually, and also works as an event emcee. ## Expertise - **Humour for Stress Relief** — Uses laughter as a practical tool to release workplace and life stress and reset how audiences feel in the moment. - **Building Resilience With Humour** — Shows how a sense of humour helps people meet adversity with courage and confidence. - **Mental Health Awareness** — Builds understanding of depression and anxiety and stresses the importance of seeking support. - **Reducing Mental Health Stigma** — Normalizes mental illness by speaking openly and humorously about her own 2023 mental health crisis. - **Depression and Anxiety** — Draws on lived experience from early in her comedy career and again in 2023 to describe recovery and hope. - **Workplace Wellness** — Delivers comedic wellness programs shaped by her years in Ontario Public Service human resources. - **Navigating Change and Uncertainty** — Offers perspective shifts that make change and uncertain times feel more manageable. - **Perspective and Mindset** — Applies the "golden rule of comedy" (truth) to help people see the lighter side of life. - **Corporate-Friendly Stand-Up Comedy** — Performs a full hour of PG-rated stand-up, ideal as an event opener or closer. - **Event Hosting and Emceeing** — Keeps agendas on time and crowds engaged for conferences, awards and staff events. - **Lived-Experience Storytelling** — Turns personal struggles into relatable, funny stories that leave audiences feeling seen. ## What Clients Say > Susan shared about a subject that many find very difficult to talk about and she did so with humour. Her natural storytelling ability and the ease with which she connected to the audience by being vulnerable and real was truly amazing. Susan is also really funny! The feedback I have received from the team has been great – they loved Susan and the talk! Something that really amazed me was how comfortable the team was asking questions of Susan about her experience and what she would recommend to help others who may be struggling. That to me reiterates just how well she not only connected with the audience, made a heavy subject easier to discuss but also just how relevant the topic was. > > — Erin Christopher, Town Of Newmarket > Loved her! Perfect mix of laughs, key messages and she even referenced the topic of anxiety/stress which related to the previous speaker's message. Great repetition of take aways and left everyone leaving on a high. Susan was the PERFECT choice to close our conference – she kept it light, and moving, with great strategies to use. I couldn’t be happier. > > — MISA Ontario (Municipal Information Systems Association) > Everything went great! Susan was very professional, and her presentation was seamless. > > — Fortis Inc. (2024) (Booked by K&M Productions) > Susan’s energy is infectious! Susan does a really great job of breaking down big concepts into small nuggets that you can use to help you in your daily life. Susan will make you laugh from your belly and has a way of warming your heart and seeing the lighter side of life. > > — Ontario Hospital Association > We had about 180+ attendees and although their cameras were off, the chat was going crazy! Susan was hilarious, engaging, and most importantly relatable. In a time of uncertainty we really have to make it a choice to be happy and Susan really made it easy that day. > > — PepsiCo Foods Canada > Susan was fabulous, funny, entertaining and sincere in her delivery. I would highly, highly recommend her. She rocked the house!!!! > > — Women In Business Conference > Susan's upbeat, laughter-filled presentation ended the conference on a high note... > > — Occupational Health Nurses Association > Susan’s delivery captured everyone’s attention and kept them laughing and thinking! My event was a complete success and Susan played a vital role. > > — Natural Resources Canada > ...what a great speaker you are! I found you to be extremely entertaining, very engaging, and most importantly, informed. > > — Ministry of the Attorney General ---