Rita Carrey, Jim Carrey's Big Sister, Makes Her Toronto Performing Debut Nov. 15th

Shove over, Jim Carrey. You better watch out, you better not cry. You better not pout I'm telling you why. Your vivacious big sister Rita Carrey is coming to town.

She's arriving to claim her share of the spotlight and spread joy to the world with her Toronto singing debut "Carry On" on Saturday, Nov. 15th at Cabbagetown's Flying Beaver Pubaret.

The timing is serendipitous. Jim's new movie Dumb and Dumber To opens in T.O. and everywhere else the night before on Friday, Nov. 14th.

As well, last month when Brother Jim hosted Saturday Night Live's Hallowe'en show, he presented a hilarious skit titled "Carrey Family Reunion" in which each talented member of the SNL cast played a member of Jim's family. Turns out each one of them... his aunt, sisters, brother, etc ... was a character from one of his hit movies. There was The Mask, Fire Marshall Bill and even a surprise cameo by Jeff Daniels playing Harry from the Dumb and Dumber movies.

This Saturday night, Rita will tell you what the family is really like as she reminisces about "Growing Up Carrey" and sings - accompanied by a guitarist - some of her favorite rock 'n' roll tunes and popular standards. Many are from her forthcoming memoir "Growing Up Carrey" that she is co-writing ... full disclosure ... with me.

She may even confide that Jim borrowed Ace Ventura's Alrighty, Then! from her. As a child, she exclaimed it all the time. If someone said, "Let's go have some grilled cheese sandwiches with ketchup," she'd pipe up "Well, alrighty then!"

The night before Ace Ventura opened, Rita spoke on the phone with Jim in Hollywood. He teased her, she recalls, saying "I've put something from our childhood in the movie and I'm going to make it world famous." When the family went to see the comedy ... Jim's first major feature film ... they stared at the screen, waiting for the big moment. "Well, allllriiighhhty then!," and movie comedy history has never been the same.

"It's about my life and the music I listened to growing up from big band to pop," she explains. It includes Barbra Streisand's 'The Way We Were"" because life is a roller coaster which I know only too well from the early, tragic death of my eldest son Marty in a car accident. The show is about who I am, who my parents were, who my brothers and sister are and why we `Carry On.'

She won't shy away from sadder memories, she said. :I talk about my mother's depression and the impact that had on us growing up. I also will reminisce about how my Dad was the funniest man I have ever known. Even Rodney Dangerfield thought so."

It's also fitting that Toronto's Santa Claus Parade is the day after Rita's gig, on Sunday, Nov. 16th. Christmas was always a joyous, fun-filled time in the Carrey household and Rita still cherishes the holiday. Today, she works as a manager in Christmas in Niagara Falls in the Fallsview Casino where every day is Christmas morning. Maybe the fact, courtesy of baby brother Jim's movies, she is the big sister of the Grinch and Ebeneezer Scrooge has something to do with it.

"No question Christmas was our favorite time of year," she told Broadway World Toronto. "When we were little, each year we would wait for the Eaton's' Christmas catalogue to arrive. It would land with a thud at our door and we'd race to see what was in it. That was THE sign that Christmas was coming. Immediately, we flipped the pages to the toy section to pick out what we might like from Santa. We circled the items we liked the most and hoped that we had been good enough throughout the year so Santa might bring us something."

Yet for the Carreys, Christmas was more than just presents, a belief she expresses in the title song she wrote for her new Yuletide CD. "Around Each Christmas Treeexpresses how I feel about this time of year. For me, it's not just about Santa. It's about God and angels... a very holy night. My parents taught me that."

She will have advance copies for sale this Saturday.

"Growing Up Carrey" told in song and story, Saturday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m., Flying Beaver Pubaret. $10 advance or at the $15 door. Tix available at the Pubaret or online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/908136.

Dinner available before, during, and after the show. Dinner patrons get priority sitting. E-mail heather@pubaret.com for reservations or call 647-347-6567.www.pubaret.com