She’s an adored character all over Canada, particularly here in Calgary, and her writer and portrayer Jo-Ann Waytowich can only guess that relatability is the reason why.

"I’m not exactly sure what the draw has been, but it’s not just Lunchbox," she says, over the phone from Arizona, where she now winters. "[Ivanka] is like a steamroller – once people see the character they come back to see what the character is going to do or say next."

Waytowich thinks that, especially in the western part of the country, her character reminds audiences of a grandma or aunt in their own family, or harkens back to a character they cherished in childhood. While Ivanka certainly makes me think of Dame Edna, Waytowich names different personal idols.

"I was raised with Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball," she says. "Both of those people were very physical [in their performances] ... and larger than life."

Waytowich, now semi-retired, got what she deems a "late start" in the acting profession. She was originally a social worker for a lengthy tenure, but went back to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay to study music. Not sure what to do with a music degree, she took a position back in the ‘helping profession’ at AIDS Thunder Bay until Magnus Theatre decided to produce her first Ivanka show (written in 1994 for her honour’s project). At age 30 she became a full-time devoted thespian.

"From there I have written four more full-length musicals," she says. Ivanka Chews the Fat! is the third show in that series and, despite her success, her mother still asks "do you have a job yet?"

It might not provide a pension, but Waytowich has definitely found her calling and summoned her passion. She has created a show for people in her own age bracket and, perhaps best of all, it’s portable. She has found an entirely new target audience in Arizona where she lives five months of the year. Writing her own shows has also enabled her to stay in Thunder Bay. She admits that, had she become an actress that solely auditions for other people’s roles, she would have had to relocate to a bigger centre.

"I just sort of pick [the show] up and take it where I go," she says. "And Calgary has been especially welcoming to me... I think I have done all my shows in Calgary, and some more than once."

Indeed she has become a staple at Lunchbox where, she says, audiences remember her if they have seen her once before.

This particular show is motivated by the ‘craziness’ of famed motivational speakers.

"They get so bent out of shape... they just take themselves so damn seriously," Waytowich says. "It’s a really great way to spend a lunchtime and just sort of break the office monotony... It’s an uplifting way to spend your lunch hour."

She says that her time in human service positions definitely primed her for departing pearls of humourous wisdom up on stage.

"Everything that we do is a stepping stone to the next thing that we are going to do," she says. "I know people – that is what I know... To package all of life’s lessons into [Ivanka], that’s the switch."

"That character will do or say things that you and I wouldn’t."

But your zany great aunt would. So this month, why not call up an old relative and treat them to an hour of fun and forgotten sensibility.

"The underlying [theme] is just be true to yourself, follow your own path, embrace who you are, and love it any stage," Waytowich imparts. "You come away from the show having laughed and I think, in our society, we don’t laugh enough. We need to laugh."