What's So Funny?

Podcast episode 263ish: Kliph Nesteroff

2012-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Since young Kliph Nesteroff last joined us in 2006, he's gone on to become the preeminent comedy historian in North America. Only he hates the word 'historian', as he tells us on this 90-minute podcast episode. Yes, 90 minutes. He's got so many great anecdotes about the greats he's interviewed in the last few years that we had to send this one into overtime. He not only tells the stories, he impersonates the old-times. Performers like Shecky Greene, Jack Carter, Marty Allen, Marvin Kaplan, and George Schlatter. He doesn't impersonate the master impressionist Marilyn Michaels, though, but he talks about her, too. And Bill Dana. And Dick Cavett. Oh, it's a good one. Enjoy.

Listen here now. Or download the episode on iTunes.

Jan 29: Darcy Michael

2012-01-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

When Todd Glass came out of the closet a couple weeks ago, I thought it's been a while since we've had Darcy Michael on the show. Because, well, you know, they're both comics. So tonight on What's So Funny? we catch up with Darcy Michael. It's been almost three years since his last appearance and I know he's had a lot going on. Not sure what, exactly, but he's constantly doing stand-up on the road, acting in one project or another, and debating fellow comics on radio. We'll get the details tonight.

Live WTF taping

2012-01-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

I personally know a few people who've lamented the fact that the live WTF with Marc Maron taping sold out in 4 minutes. Well, said people, good news: ComedyFest Vancouver has changed the venue from the Tom Lee Music Hall to the Rio Theatre, which holds approximately twice the people. I have no idea of the current status, as the following press release came out yesterday and maybe it's sold out again already, but at least you can give it a try again.

On a related note, I'll be interviewing Maron for the fifth time on Monday. Needless to say, I've asked him lots of questions already over the years. It seems I always have a dozen thoughts each and every episode of WTF so I'm sure I'll have more than enough new questions for him. But if there's something you've been dying to ask him, leave a comment below and I promise I'll ask.

Now, onto the ComedyFest press release:

January 25, 2012

For immediate release:

A LIVE PODCAST TAPING OF
WTF with MARC MARON
MOVES TO THE RIO THEATRE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012
Doors: 6:00pm Show: 7:00pm

Vancouver, BC ~ Due to overwhelming ticket demand, Vancouver ComedyFest is pleased to announce a change of venue for "WTF with Marc Maron". Originally scheduled for the Tom Lee Music Hall, this live podcast taping, with special guests Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, will now take place at The Rio Theatre.

Tickets are $27.50 (plus applicable fees and service charges) and are available online at www.comedyfest.com.

For over fifteen years, Marc Maron has been writing and performing raw, honest and thought-provoking comedy for print, stage, radio and television. A legend in the stand-up community, he has appeared on HBO, Conan, Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Real Time, The Green Room and two Comedy Central Presents specials.

His podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” has featured in-depth interviews with such comedy icons as Conan O’Brien, Louis CK, Robin Williams, Judd Apatow and Ben Stiller, to name a few. The show frequently hits #1 on the iTunes comedy charts, brags over 20 million downloads to date and has been called a “must listen” by Vanity Fair and The New York Times.

Don’t miss the live podcast taping of WTF with Marc Maron, with special guests Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, at The Rio Theatre on Friday, February 24, 2012 at 7:00pm.

For more information, please visit www.comedyfest.com.

ABOUT VANCOUVER COMEDYFEST:
For eight years the Vancouver ComedyFest has taken advantage of our city’s perfect backdrop to experience some of the best comedians from around the globe. We have grown to become a prime destination for talent within the international comedy circuit and have had the incredible opportunity to host personalities like Carol Burnett, Steve Martin, Jay Leno and Zach Galifianakis, to name just a few. The Vancouver ComedyFest, directed by Will Davis, works diligently to support up-and-coming talent from across Canada and to create a unique west coast festival that represents us here on the water’s edge. Join us February 15 - 25 for the best of the best in 2012. www.comedyfest.com

The Debaters

2012-01-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

For years, I used to wonder why CBC radio's The Debaters wasn't on TV. It seemed like a natural. And sure enough, last season it happened. Careful what you wish for, as the show wasn't quite up to snuff. It still had its moments, but something was just not right. Less time due to commercials made for more edits and less spontaneity. I think with some tinkering, it's a sure-fire hit. Hopefully it returns next season. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Or at least better. They'll figure it out. Of course, there's the possibility that it just doesn't translate as well visually. Double Exposure and Dr. Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show are two examples of huge radio hits that never quite achieved the same success on television.

But the great news is that there's a chance The Debaters will be popping up on American TV screens some time in the future. Not saying they'd do it any better down there, but it goes to show what a solid concept it is. For years, we've been stealing their ideas with Candian Idol, Canada's Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and just announced this week, The Bachelor Canada. It's nice to have one go the other way for once. Check out this press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“THE DEBATERS” SIGNS WITH WME

VANCOUVER, January 24, 2012 – THE DEBATERS is the latest entry into the arena of Canadian programming poised to get traction in the U.S. market.
William Morris Endeavor will represent Big Widget Productions’ THE DEBATERS when the series concept is pitched to U.S. networks, it was announced today by executive producers Richard Side and Brian Roberts. The series will be represented by WME’s Amir Shahkhalili.

Part stand up, part quiz show and part comedy competition, The Debaters is a half-hour format that features two debates between two different comics. Winners of each hilarious debate are determined by a live studio audience, and the series tackles a wide range of topics from “Adult Children Living at Home” to “Urban Chickens” to “Showers vs. Baths” and everything in between, even taking on such provocative issues as “The Rise of China,” “Scientology,” and “Walmart.”
The Debaters debuted on Canadian television last year and was a sleeper hit of CBC’s fall line up, steadily gaining audience momentum. Created by Richard Side (The Western Alienation Comedy Hour, Improv Comedy Olympics), who originally conceived the series for television, THE DEBATERS found its first home on CBC Radio, where it has continued to entertain a large, loyal audience on CBC Radio One for six years. While most comedians deliver sets solo, in THE DEBATERS’ format they spar and riff off of another comic. “THE DEBATERS takes stand-up to a new level,” says Side. “There are endless possibilities for debating guests and topics, and the series concept is a perfect fit for American networks.”
Originally from the U.S., Roberts recalls hearing THE DEBATERS on CBC Radio his very first week in Canada. “It was really, really funny,” he says, “and I wondered ‘Why isn’t this on television?’” An Emmy Award-winning director who has directed a slated of episodic comedies, including Everybody Loves Raymond and The Drew Carey Show, Roberts liked THE DEBATERS so much he optioned the television rights. “THE DEBATERS reformats and reinvents comedy in a smart way. It challenges comedians with subjects ranging from topical to taboo. There’s always an entertaining result when comedians are put in the unique position of arguing, and in this election year that is already rife with debating politicians, there’s never been a better time to give comedians a shot at television debates, too.”

Jan. 22: Kliph Nesteroff

2012-01-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Kliph Nesteroff has guested on What's So Funny? four times. But not since 2006 when he was but a vintage comedy enthusiast. Now he's one of the top comedy historians in North America. His work on WFMU's Beware of the Blog and his own site, Classic Television Showbiz, has been cited by the likes of the Guardian, Vanity Fair, the Onion AV Club, and WTF with Marc Maron. Not bad for a punk kid who used to do stand-up in dives around town.

Kliph has interviewed just about every comedy veteran over the age of 70, and a few under, from Rusty Warren to Shecky Greene, from Steve Martin to Norm Crosby, from Rich Little to Jack Carter. His depth of knowledge blows his subjects away and they, in turn, recommend him to their peers.

Tonight, we'll hear some anecdotes about these characters and find out who's on his radar. Kliph has fans all over the US and Canada, so we'll open up the phone lines, too, and you can ask him anything. The phone number is 604-684-7561. If you're outside the city, livestream the show at coopradio.org. We go from 11 to midnight PST.

Catch Phrases

2012-01-21T01:09:00.000-08:00

We're dipping into the archives for this video snippet. Phil Hanley's last visit to What's So Funny? was back in 2010 and we had lots of fun. I don't know why I find it so easy to tease him. I think because he takes it so well. In this episode, there were three excerpts I could have used, all equally fun. I chose this one for no real reason. In it, Hanley unintentionally stumbles upon a catch phrase. If you like it, there's a whole hour's worth over on iTunes. Or simply click on the hyperlink and find it lurking there somewhere.

Podcast episode 262ish: Glenn Wool

2012-01-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

Better late than never. Here is the much anticipated Glenn Wool episode from ten days ago. It was Glenn's first visit to the show but hopefully not the last. If you watched the YouTube excerpt posted earlier today, you'll know Glenn's voice was... well, Glenn's voice. We talked about it and much more, such as overly sensitive Vancouver audiences, the effects of drugs and alcohol on an aging body, and the soul-destroying nature of auditions.

Have a listen here or go download the episode at iTunes or your podcast server of choice.

The Voice

2012-01-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

We're a little behind with the Glenn Wool podcast episode but it's coming soon. Promise. To whet your appetite, he's a little excerpt from that show, complete with accompanying photos. It's almost like being there.

To catch up on the 11 other video snippets, go to the What's So Funny? YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/guymac22

Jan. 15: Comedy clips

2012-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

We are guest-less tonight. But as luck would have it, this week I acquired 15 new comedy CDs. So we'll be hearing from a selection of those. Not sure what I'll draw from yet, but it'll be stuff you haven't heard on the show before. One of them you haven't heard anywhere else before because it's not released to the general public until the end of this month. So you'll definitely be hearing a cut from John Mulaney's new album "New in Town". And for the rest of the hour you'll hear from some of the following:

Marc Maron "This Has to be Funny"
Michael Ian Black "Very Famous"
Mo Mandel "The M-Word"
Pete Holmes "Impregnated with Wonder"
Doug Benson "Potty Mouth"
Tom Papa "Live in New York City"
The Beards of Comedy (Andy Sandford, Joe Zimmerman, T.J. Young, Dave Stone) "Cardio Mix"
Lewis Black "The Prophet"
T.J. Miller "The Extended Play EP"
Rachel Feinstein "Thug Tears"
Ryan Stout "Touché"
Wyatt Cenac "Comedy Person"
Carlos Mencia "New Territory"
Patton Oswalt "Finest Hour"

If there's something there you really want to hear, let me know somehow. Maybe a comment below, maybe a Tweet to @GuyMacPherson, maybe an email. But remember, show starts at 11.

World's Biggest Asshole

2012-01-14T00:22:00.000-08:00

Now who would that be? I couldn't begin to name one. But Scott Aukerman happily gave us his vote when he visited the What's So Funny? studios back in September of 2009. Run the clip, Kevin:

If you missed it the first time, you can listen to the whole episode here or download it at iTunes.

Arj Barker interview

2012-01-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

The Snowed In Comedy Tour hits Vancouver this Saturday night so I thought it was a good time to run my interview with Arj Barker. He, along with Craig Campbell, Glenn Wool, Pete Johansson and Dan Quinn will be playing the Granville Island Stage at 8 and 10:30. Don't fret if you're not in town because they are literally coming to a town near you (that is, if you live in BC). Follow the link above to see the full schedule.

ARJ BARKER – December 15, 2011

"Very early on I lost interest in playing the race card so it wasn’t a problem for me that I had to change my name to a more homogenous one. Also, I kept some of the flavour. I mean, Arj isn’t an everyday first name that you hear all the time." – Arj Barker

Guy MacPherson: I saw you here on Granville Island years and years ago. Any idea when that was?

Arj Barker: Yeah, that was a while ago. I’m not very good at remembering dates. So it was a while ago, that’s all I know.

GM: Are you living in Australia now or just part-time?

AB: I’m half and half. I live in California still, too.

GM: So six months of the year in Australia?

AB: Um, yeah, give or take. I like to spend time here.

GM: Do you have a house in Sydney?

AB: No. No, it’s out in the countryside. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, really.

GM: Did you experience culture shock?

AB: No because I started coming out here eleven years ago. I got pretty used to it, you know?

GM: Do you have a family? Or are you a single guy?

AB: Still pretty single. I thought I’d have a family by now but I don’t. I don’t know what happened.

GM: Was it tough leaving your friends or other family?

AB: Yeah, but I get to go back and forth so I sort of have that luxury. And also as a comedian I’m so used to moving around that it’s a perpetual state of leaving people behind and then seeing other people. I never have my friends all in one place anyway.

GM: From what I’ve heard about Australia, the gigs are really far apart. And travelling to other countries is a hassle, too.

AB: Yeah. It’s not too bad. When we do a tour, the average distance is about a one- to three-hour drive. It ranges from one to five hours driving. It’s not too bad, if you don’t mind. I don’t think it’s too bad but I don’t know.

GM: How do you explain your rock stardom in Australia?

AB: Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far, as far as rock stardom. I just got here and kept coming back. I think I got some pretty good television spots early on. Just piled up the television appearances, which really makes a difference, and one day something just shifted and people started to kind of know who I was. I got kind of a good momentum going.

GM: Is there something about your sensibility that strikes a chord with Australians?

AB: Maybe but I don’t try to analyze it too much. I mean, I think I’m pretty funny wherever I go. I think Australia was probably the first country to really say, hey, this guy is pretty good. I feel like this country gave me my props. I don’t think it’s because I have this magical connection specifically with Australia. I think it’s easier to get recognized for something when you appear to be a little more exotic. So it’s like when I came here they probably gave me some free credit just because I was American. I think countries are a little harder on their own.

GM: You were a revelation to me when I first saw you, long before your TV work. So it’s nice to see you get the success I thought you deserved.

AB: Yeah, well, it’s been a relief for me, too, believe me. But I still work in North America. I haven’t given up or anything. I get better crowds than I used to, so that’s good. I always wonder if I go back maybe this time I’ll be completely forgotten about. But I don’t worry too much because I’m already halfway through this thing almost. No point in getting too worked up.

GM: Halfway through what thing?

AB: Life.

GM: Ah. You’re not good with dates, but when did you first play Australia?

AB: Approximately ’99.

GM: Has the Australian comedy scene exploded? Have you noticed a difference since you started going there?

AB: Yeah, I think so because when I first came here I was lucky because there wasn’t a plethora of international comedians out here. A ple-THOR-a. But now there is a plethora of… There’s a lot of guys come out now. It’s definitely become a regular stop on the international comedy circuit with the festival. But when I first came out here there was a handful of Americans that had been here but now I’d say that number is tenfold. I guess I’m saying I got in at a good time.

GM: There even seems to be way more Australian comics.

AB: Yeah, sure. I suppose the scene’s grown. The Comedy Store in Sydney brings in a lot of internationals. It’s still a ways away so a lot of guys haven’t been here.

"It’s surprising how many people say, 'Oh, is [Flight of the Conchords] finished?' It hasn’t had a new episode in probably two years now and people still claim to be fans but they don’t seem to have any idea what’s going on." – Arj Barker

GM: Is part of your success due to The Flight of the Conchords or were you starting to hit before that?

AB: Yeah, that helped but I already had a good foot in the door here big time before that hit. Things had already started to turn pretty well here and then that came. That was another nice little wave to help boost my profile and make a lot of new fans, specifically the cooler, hipper, younger folks who really love that show.

GM: How many seasons did it run?

AB: Only a few, actually. It’s surprising how many people say, “Oh, is that finished?” (laughs) It hasn’t had a new episode in probably two years now and people still claim to be fans but they don’t seem to have any idea what’s going on.

GM: I had mixed feelings about you and Todd Barry on the show. I saw Flight of the Conchords in a club here before they hit it big and I liked them a lot. Then they got the show and I felt like you and Todd should be stars of a show and they should be supporting parts. They were pretty late to the scene and they get their own show.

AB: What happened was they really blew up and generated a huge buzz in Edinburgh one year and from there… In fact, I know the lady who was determined to bring them over to NBC in the States. You must know, also, that there’s really no… One guy can do comedy 20 years and another guy can come along and get his own show in his first year. There’s no rules in this business like that. It’s very flavour-of-the-month, too. But it’s important that, if you have me comment on that at all, I do think they deserve everything they got because they have been doing it a long time before people knew them and they put an extraordinary amount of work into that show from all aspects, from writing it and producing it and writing the songs, recording the songs. I haven’t seen people work much harder than they did and I just think they deserve all the success. I don’t want to take away from that just because I’ve been doing it a long time. I was honoured and privileged to even have a small part on that show. They’re great guys and I can never say nothing negative about them.

GM: Yeah. I wasn’t trying to lead you that way. Like I said, I had mixed feelings because I saw them and thought they were hilarious and that’s the bottom line, that they’re funny.

AB: And as for Todd Barry, he creates his own reality. You can put that in there and hopefully he’ll read it and wonder what the fuck I’m talking about.

GM: Up until a year or so ago, I had no idea you were a Sikh. It really never even entered my mind what ethnicity you were. You don’t talk about it. The idea you had behind your stage name when you started, did you just want to avoid that completely or was it simply a matter of easier to pronounce?

AB: It was purely easier to pronounce. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide my heritage or anything. Although I’ve got one or two jokes about being Indian because when you start out you go, ‘Alright, what am I going to write about? Oh, I’m half Indian, I better write some jokes about 7-11 or something.’ Like that. But very early on I lost interest in playing the race card so it wasn’t a problem for me that I had to change my name to a more homogenous one. Also, I kept some of the flavour. I mean, Arj isn’t an everyday first name that you hear all the time, although I have heard of other people called Arj. So it was purely for pronounciation.

GM: Was Barker from your mother’s side of the family or just a name out of thin air?

AB: I just came up with it.

GM: So you decided you weren’t going to go that route pretty early on, and you don’t begrudge anyone who does. There are a lot of comics who talk about nothing else.

AB: Oh sure, I mean, look at Russell Peters. He’s a billionaire. People love it. I’ll tell you my theory on the whole thing: It’s human nature that you love to hear about yourself. If there’s a conversation at a party and it turns to being about you, not all of us but a lot of us are titillated. It’s exciting, you know? People love being the subject. So when a particular race gets talked about, they’re going to eat it up. That’s why black audiences love urban comics. It cracks them up because when you go there and the subject is about you and your culture, and the same thing Russell Peters is a lot about Indians and their culture and Asians, and that’s exciting and makes you feel celebrated. You want to laugh and you feel like you’re part of it. It’s a great thing for guys that do it. It works well. It’s done a lot. If you go to New York it seems like the majority of the comics are race-based. But I’m going to tell you right now, and I’ll go on the record: it bores the shit out of me, personally, to make observations about different cultures based on race. Although, having said that, I’ve made a lot of jokes about Australian culture and I’ve carved out a living, practically, talking about that. Although that’s not my whole show. But personally I’m not judging those guys that do that. I don’t consider myself an authority on what people should talk about or how they should do their show. It’s just me personally, I just like jokes. Just purely from my own personal taste, it bores me to do race-related jokes.

GM: Do you think it’s easier or cheating?

AB: I don’t think it’s my place to say. Comedy is not easy. Original comedy is definitely not easy. There’s hack jokes, but there’s also hack jokes about airplanes, there’s hack jokes about race. It’s just not for me personally. And I don’t feel like I’m an authority to tell other comedians what they should do. Clearly it works and people love it. That’s my point. Russell’s a friend of mine. Not like a close, tight pal that I talk to all the time, but we’re colleagues and I’ve known him for quite a while. It works great for him. I’m happy for him. And of course I wish I’d done it now (laughs). I’d be in a castle. But I do find it quite dull, personally, to talk about race because I think that for me, personally, I would like to break down racial barriers and speak to audiences as a group of humans. I also don’t overthink it too much. I don’t know, I just didn’t go that direction with my comedy.

GM: Do other Sikhs come to you and say you should be talking about them?

AB: No. No, not at all. I get some Indians at my shows but not in droves. Occasionally I think people come because they find out I have Indian heritage, but not really, no. My heritage hasn’t been a big part of my world view.

GM: A lot of those comics end up being spokesmen for their race. And you’re just a comic.

AB: Yeah, I’m just a comic. But probably a big part of it, too, is I grew up in northern California in a mostly white population. There was the odd Asian kid kicking around and a couple black guys and me. But it wasn’t like a big issue. It was very liberal, at least not outwardly racist. There’s always some racism that’s well-hidden, but generally it was a pretty liberal quote-unquote open-minded area so it just wasn’t an issue. I didn’t grow up only going to Indian functions or anything like that. I had Indian relatives around but I also never wanted to sell out jokes about my grandfather, you know? That didn’t appeal to me. In my first year of comedy, before I understood that you had a choice… When you first start, you do pretty much anything to get a laugh. You don’t think ‘I’m not a guitar comic’ or ‘I don’t do parodies’; you just think ‘fuck, that’ll get a laugh, let’s do it.’ Then I think you become more refined as to what you want to do. In my first year I had a joke that my dad worked in 7-11, to give you an idea. I don’t need to do the joke. The point is very early on I did [that kind of material]. I find this whole subject kinda dull so maybe we can move on. I’m just not an ethnic comic. I don’t do ethnic comedy. It bores me. That’s all I have to say.

GM: Have you always played it straight-faced in life?

AB: I think I’ve always been a bit dry, if that’s what you’re asking. Yeah, definitely. I think that’s just a natural component of me.

GM: Last time you were here you played a big theatre. The first time I saw you, you were in a smaller theatre. You’re playing bigger theatres now. Do you prefer that, or do you miss the intimacy of a smaller room?

AB: I can have fun in both. It really depends on the crowd and the vibe. There’s a lot of variables but I can certainly have a great time at any size gig. Sometimes performing for thousands of people at a time – when I performed with Flight of the Conchords it was at places like the Hollywood Bowl and Wembley Arena – it’s pretty exciting but it definitely lost something because there’s so many people there. But between playing to a hundred people and a couple thousand, I can certainly have a great time, regardless of size. That’s not a big issue. There’s a joy of playing to lots of people and also just playing in a café with 20 people and no mic. That can be one of the funnest gigs. That’s sometimes where I feel like I’m at my funniest. You can’t underestimate how important intimacy is with the crowd. I don’t even know where I’m playing this time so I’m just going to have a fun tour.

Podcast episode 261ish: Dylan Rhymer

2012-01-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

Dylan Rhymer became the first guest of this leap year, 2012, when he dropped by the What's So Funny? studios on January 1st. He also helped set a record for the longest episode in series history at 1 hour 18 minutes 22 seconds, beating out the last episode of 2011 featuring Harry Doupe, who clocked in at an already impressive 1 hour 16 minutes 7 seconds. (For the record, third place goes to Larry Miller at 1 hour 10 minutes 52 seconds.)

But it's not about time, it's about content. And there's never a shortage of topics to talk about when Dylan's around. We discussed old-timey radio, religiosity, bike lanes, parliamentary assholes, public breastfeeding, North Korea and more.

So here you go. Have at 'er. Click and listen. Or download at iTunes. Your call.

Jan. 8: Glenn Wool

2012-01-08T00:50:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I missed Glenn Wool back in 1995 but I did. He started out his stand-up comedy career here in Vancouver and performed around town (I'm assuming) until he up and moved to England, where he lived for the next decade-plus. I was around in town from '95-98, but our paths never crossed. I wasn't writing about comedy on a regular basis then, but I was surely going out to shows, albeit not as frequently. It's a shame because it's always interesting to witness career arcs, watch comics progress and evolve. All I know is what I've seen since he already established himself as one of the top stand-ups in the UK and, hence, the English-speaking world. He's not nearly as well-known on this side of the Atlantic as he should be. Not even here in BC, where he's from. But all that's about to change with tonight's visit to What's So Funny?, the long-running star-making radio show/podcast... or not. But at least you'll get to know more about Wool than you knew before.

He was supposed to join us last year but had to cancel due to blowing out his voice at the Vogue Theatre the night before. Here's hoping he spent the day gargling hot tea and honey and sipping Listerene. He's going to need his voice not only for our show, but check out that UK tour he's got coming up starting next week. Told ya he was big over there.

As usual, we're on the air from 11 pm PST to midnight on CFRO, 102.7 FM, in Vancouver or livestream us at coopradio.org.

Demetri Martin interview

2012-01-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

Demetri Martin is playing Vancouver Saturday. I spoke with him a few weeks ago. My story on him ran in the Straight last week. Below is the full transcript of our chat. I just want to explain my first substantial question, though. In the bio I was sent by the publicist – a bio clearly written by Martin – the last line reads, "Demetri has brown hair and he is allergic to peanuts." I hope that clears things up.

Demetri Martin
December 7, 2011

"I tend to gravitate to jokes. I like puzzles, I like the puzzle of writing a joke. I like trying to get an idea down to just a few words. And it’s fun to tell jokes. Sometimes I’m not that interested both in my own personal stuff and someone else’s. They have to be really good at it. I call it the who-gives-a-shit? test. Who gives a shit, you know?" – Demetri Martin

Guy MacPherson: How are you?

Demetri Martin: Good. I’m sorry. I was supposed to call you 2 o’clock my time. I messed up. Sorry about that.

GM: That’s alright. You in L.A?

DM: Yeah.

GM: I see in your bio that you have brown hair.

DM: Yes.

GM: How has that affected your comedy?

DM: Well, I present a little more ethnic probably than the average comedian. So I think I like to offset that with non-ethnic material so I wouldn’t get pigeon-holed. So far so good.

GM: That’s good. Yeah, I haven’t heard you talk about your brown hair in other interviews. So I thought maybe I’d get the scoop. I did hear you on WTF with Marc Maron. It’s no knock on you that I don’t remember it but I remember loving it. And the reason I don’t remember is because I’ve listened to all of them and they tend to blend in with each other. Were you happy with it? Do you feel you revealed too much?

DM: Nah, I thought it was fine. The only reactions I got were from other comedians who were friends: “Hey, I heard you on there. Good job.” You know, I’ve known Marc a long time. I wrote my first book so I thought, cool, I’ll go on there to promote my book and maybe he’ll plug my book. So when I went on it was when the book first came out. But then he didn’t release it until months later so that didn’t help me very much. But it was cool to be on his podcast. Plus I’m allergic to cats. I was just starting to get symptoms towards the end of the interview. But I was fine.

GM: You went to law school. I know there are some comics who’ve left lofty or noble professions to pursue comedy and everyone thinks they made the right choice. Do you think you’d do more good as a lawyer or a comic?

DM: Oh, I don’t know if I do any good. Neither. I discovered that focusing on how I spent each day helped me feel fulfilled. Helping people, working with kids, with juvenile rights, legal aid: these were options in law school to pursue. But the problem was when I doing the actual activities – going to law school, going to class. I wasn’t enjoying it. I didn’t want to have dread in my life. I thought I have to come up with something other than dread. For me that was one of those pivotal life moments. I remember literally asking myself, How do I want to spend my time here? What do I look forward to? And then which of those things could be a job? Comedy was a pretty good contender because I like joking around with my friends. And I was in New York. And there were comedy clubs. Two of them at the time – one of them across the street from my law school and the other half a block down. So I thought, alright, I’m going to try this. That was my way in. The idea of doing good or anything, that was already off the table when I was having the survival debate with myself.

GM: It could be argued, and it is argued, that comedians do do good. It’s cathartic to laugh, it makes people feel better.

DM: Yeah, I think so. I think whatever your career is, you figure out the point where your relationship with the larger community is: donating to foundations, doing charity shows, that kind of thing. There must be a way to leave at least a more positive influence.

GM: You’re touring Canada. Why Canada, why now?

DM: I haven’t been there in a while. The reason now is because I’m gonna do a stand-up special in February, filmed in New York. And I haven’t filmed one of those in six years by the time we shoot it. Five or six years. So I wanted to do a tour where I get ready for it. I have a bunch of new material and I haven’t been to Canada in a while. In fact, I haven’t been to Edmonton or Calgary. I’ve never been to those two places. I don’t think I’ve performed in Ottawa. I’ve performed in Vancouver, I’ve performed in Montreal and I’ve performed in Toronto.

GM: You still use your guitar, right?

DM: Yeah, I use the guitar. Sometimes I play the keyboard. I think on this tour I’m just going to play the guitar. You know, I have a lot of bits that don’t have any instruments or any drawings. When I started that’s mostly what I did: I told jokes. So it’s fun because I improvise more than I used to and I play around during the show more than I used to to keep it pretty loose and not have so many things on stage. Because what happens is if I have the keyboard there and the guitar and all this stuff and then I want to improvise and the show just goes in a different direction I still feel obligated to go do stuff on the keyboard, but then it makes the show kinda long. I mean, it’s not like it’s that much time but sometimes just knowing that it’s there it can be a speed bump.

"God, there are so many things that people get mad about in comedy. It’s so funny that people waste so much energy getting all mad." – Demetri Martin

GM: It amazes me that some comics, among certain other comics, still get flack for using an instrument. Do you ever get it?

DM: I guess, I don’t know. A few years ago I stopped Googling myself and that was a good decision. I don’t hang out on the scene so much. I have a lot of friends in comedy… It’s funny. Being in the mix in New York you go to all the alternative rooms and hang out with all the comedians all the time. But I’m sure I get flack for a few different things.

GM: I’ve never heard flack about you using it. Just in general.

DM: Yeah, most comics don’t like song parodies, don’t like prop comics. God, there are so many things that people get mad about in comedy. It’s so funny that people waste so much energy getting all mad. I mean, when people steal material I think that’s a serious problem. That’s bad. But other than that…

GM: Now there’s a trend towards making comedy so personal. But you basically do jokes, one-liners.

DM: I do jokes, yeah. I’ve done a few one-man shows over the years that were personal. They were personal stories. Very personal. I tend to gravitate to jokes. I like puzzles, I like the puzzle of writing a joke. I like trying to get an idea down to just a few words. And it’s fun to tell jokes. I like personal stuff. I like comedians who do it, but I think sometimes I’m not that interested both in my own personal stuff and someone else’s. They have to be really good at it. I call it the who-gives-a-shit? test. Who gives a shit, you know? I mean, if you’re really good and you’re charismatic… Louis’s really good at it. I think Louis’s a good example. He’s very funny and literate, creative and honest. You know, someone like that. I think Bill Cosby’s always great at It. Richard Pryor. I think it’s just another form and you gotta figure out if that works for you. When I did the one-person shows, I enjoyed it. It was fun. It’s a different way of connecting with the audience. But I do still like jokes. It’s kind of what I started with.

GM: Is it true you did a 500-word palindrome?

DM: Yeah, in the book I just wrote in a chapter called Palindromes for Specific Occasions. The last of the palindromes in there was 500 words.

GM: Wow. How long did that take you?

DM: It took a while. That was something I wrote a bit of a while ago. I can’t remember why. Years ago I wrote this other one that was 224 words long so I remember at some point thinking it would be cool to write one that’s longer than that. I don’t really have a reason to do that; there’s no application. But I travel a lot so sitting on a plane I’ll just write a little bit here and there. And then when I got the book deal I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll put a palindrome in the book.’ So I wrote the book mostly the summer before last. I had a deadline so I sat down and started writing a lot of stuff for it. While I was writing over the summer I would go back to the palindrome and say, ‘If I can get this done in time, I’ll put it in the book.’ But maybe it totalled a couple of weeks.

GM: Are you good at anagrams, too?

DM: I used to be pretty good at anagrams. It’s funny. Before I did stand-up I was more interested in things like anagrams and puzzles. I would do puzzle books. But I think one of the reasons I did end up as more of a joke writer is because what I found in comedy was the same kind of satisfaction. Just playing with ideas like that. Perception. There’s a game to it that I really like. It kind of satiated a lot of that need for me. I don’t spend as much time doing puzzles and stuff. If I want to do that, I sit down and try to write a short story or write a joke or something.

GM: You don’t Google yourself so maybe you haven’t seen this, but on Wikipedia it says you do something called paraprosdokians. Do you know what that is?

DM: No.

GM: It’s apparently a type of statement where the ending makes you reinterpret the beginning.

DM: Hmm. Interesting. Probably a lot of jokes are like that.

GM: I asked my Facebook friends if they had any questions for you. So I have a few here.

DM: Cool.

GM: “I’d like to know how his parents felt about him dropping out of law school. And how they feel about his decision now” – although I know your father’s deceased – “And where the courage came for him to drop out of a secure career to pursue his dream of comedy (and we are thankful he did).”

DM: Oh, that’s nice. I think when I dropped out, when I decided to pursue comedy that was the first time in my life pretty much everybody who I was close to disapproved of my choice or was disappointed. And I never realized how much I had people’s approval until that point. That didn’t feel good at the time but it also was really liberating because I realized, Oh, I disappointed people and that wasn’t so bad. I feel free! I can be a poet, I can be a dancer or I can be a painter. They’re already disappointed so I’m in the clear. So that was pretty nice. So what started as kind of a negative became a legitimate, positive thing for me. And then over the years a kind of weird thing happened with my family where when I started a lot of aunts and uncles and those kinds of people were – I don’t know what the word is; I wouldn’t say judgmental as much as they thought it was funny, like ‘oh, ha-ha. Good luck.’ And then I did well enough where I make a living and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘oh, he thinks he’s a hot-shot.’ I never really had, like, ‘Hey, we’re proud of you.’ Or, ‘Wow, you did it. Good job.’ So it just went from making fun of me to some of them resenting me, like, ‘Oh, Mr. Hollywood. Excuse us.’ (laughs) What?! Okay. So again it was kind of like learning the same lesson, which was I guess I’m better off if I don’t care too much about what other people think is good for me and I’ll have to just follow my own way. And as far as any courage goes, I think I was more trying to avoid despair. I realized quickly that for me personally following through on a career in law might lead to a feeling of despair. Not because it’s such a terrible career, but for me it didn’t feel like a good use of what my mind naturally does, where it naturally goes each day. It was almost like fighting it to do something that was kind of more role-based and linear, and I like more meandering thinking.

GM: Another question comes from a Canadian comic. He says, “Levi MacDougall is one of his go-to guys both as a show writer and opening act. Is it true he found him on the internet? Does he still search the same way?”

DM: Yes, Levi’s going to be touring with me on this tour. And yeah, when I was staffing my show for the second season I went and tried to do research and find comedians I hadn’t heard of, find sketch actors online. I don’t spend a lot of time looking for comedy online. I’ve seen a lot of comedy since 1997, when I started. And while I love comedy, I like to do other things. I like to read books and go see music shows and watch movies and whatever else people do. So I don’t go home each night and go, ‘Oh geez, I want to watch comedy.’ But when I was casting the show I was really curious to see who’s out there and who have I not heard of. I know a lot of the folks coming out of New York and I know a bunch of people in L.A. but where are there other people? And without realizing it, I found a good number of comics from Canada. You know, I just click on a video and think it was funny. There were two guys I hired from Canada: Nate Fielder and Levi MacDougall. And both I discovered for myself through the internet. But I haven’t done that in a while. At this point I’m not staffing anything so I’m not really looking around for stuff. But I imagine if I get another show or something, I’d probably do the same. It was cool getting to know Levi and Nathan, talking to those guys about comedy and Canada specifically. They were saying that there just aren’t as many comedy development opportunities where they were in Toronto as there are, say, in Los Angeles, outside of stand-up. For, like, getting a television series. I said to them I really liked a lot of the videos I saw, and people seemed like they were making content where they weren’t so worried about selling to a wide audience. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be enjoyed by a wider audience, but it didn’t seem like some of the stuff I see in the States where people are trying to get a million hits on the internet and they want to get famous or something. And they said, “No, that’s probably true. We were making stuff for the crowd that comes to, say, the Rivoli,” where they performed a lot in Toronto. You know, for each other. “Because we’re not thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to get discovered and I’ll have my own series on the Comedy Network.” And it’s cool because, as frustrating as that is for a lot of the talent in Canada, when you’re an outsider looking at it, what you see is just stuff that is original and funny and seems unconcerned with broad tastes or something. Which is a lot of the stuff I love.

GM: Another one: “My question to Demetri is about when he talked about MySpace on the Daily Show and he mentioned he was friends with Sparkle Bunny. Did he mean my Sparkle Bunny character? Because she sent him a message and he never responded. At that time I was the only Sparkle Bunny on MySpace and I wonder if he just made up that name.”

DM: Wow! Good question. (chuckles) I’m wracking my brain as you were reading it! Um, okay, there are two answers that are possible. One, I made up the name because it sounded like it would work in the bit. Sparkle Bunny sounds like an interesting name. And two, I thought I made it up but I had maybe looked through, just from looking at friends’ names it was in my subconscious or something. But I don’t remember picking out Sparkle Bunny and being like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll put this in.’ And then as far as the message, the follow-up, I tried pretty quickly not to look at messages on MySpace or respond to people because I don’t know who people are. It’s just too weird, I think. If someone friends you and they know who you are and what you look like, you’re this person, and you don’t know anything about them. It’s really asymmetrical. It’s really kind of weird. You actually have a lot less power, I think, as a human being in that relationship.

GM: These days, though, celebrities and athletes are interacting with these strangers through Twitter and through Facebook.

DM: Yeah, I haven’t figured out how to do that. I like putting content out there but I don’t want to get ensnared.

GM: Next one: “Ask him if he’s upset that Zach got the career that Demetri was supposed to have.”

DM: Uh, no. I guess if Zach and I looked a lot alike or something. I don’t picture myself in a lot of those roles that Zach does. I think he’s well-cast. It’s his thing. It’s funny, I’ve never wanted anyone else’s career. I’m friends with Zach. I think he’s really funny. He does really well at what he does. But I want to make my own films. I want to write and direct my own movies. Whoever else writes and directs their own movies, I don’t see movies and think ‘I wanted to make that.’ It’s such a specific, subjective business. So I think I can honestly say there’s nobody who has the career that I want. I love the kind of career let’s say Woody Allen has had. But I mean he’s Woody Allen. What’s interesting there is it’s about being prolific than about being in this movie or that movie. So I’m still trying to learn how to do that.

GM: Did you watch that documentary on Woody Allen?

DM: Yeah, I did. I enjoyed it.

GM: Have you ever met Steven Wright?

DM: Yeah, I met him a few times. He was really cool. Friendly and gracious and surprisingly warm. I see him on stage and think maybe he’s going to be floating out there but it was really cool. He was real friendly and he knew me. He was like, ‘You’re the guy with the drawings, right?’ I said, ‘Right.’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, those are great.’ So I was thrilled.

GM: Last one from Facebook: “Can you ask him where the emergency stop key to my treadmill is. My kid hid it and now can’t find it and I’m getting more and more out of shape by the second. Thanks.”

DM: Yes. It’s in the kitchen. It’s in one of the cabinets; one of the lower cabinets.

GM: Okay, great. I’ll pass that along.

DM: Thanks for taking time.

Legends – Bill Reiter

2012-01-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks since I last did a video snippet. So here's one for you. If you haven't had the chance to listen to the episode with the legendary Bill Reiter from last May, see if this doesn't whet your whistle.

Jan. 1: Alistair Cook & Dylan Rhymer

2012-01-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

Damn, if it isn't 2012. I have no idea how that happened. I remember as a kid figuring out how old I'd be in the year 2000 and it seemed like a million years in the future. Now it's already 2012? Krazy.

We're starting the new year off running. It's a holiday but not for us. We've got ~~twos~~ this week to make up for missing a show on Christmas day. Tonight ~~Alistair Cook (if you're of a certain vintage, that name will ring a bell but it's not the Masterpiece Theatre AC; he's the hip bizarro world AC as seen on the right) and~~ Dylan Rhymer (above left) join us to talk about East Van comedy in general and the Blackout Broadcast in particular. Tomorrow's a holiday so you can stay up. We're on the air at 11, or shortly thereafter. Have a listen.

THIS JUST IN: As you can see by the cross-outs, Alistair Cook is unable to join us tonight. Does Stop Podcasting Yourself employ a Helen Kushnick-like booker who won't allow their recent guests to do our show? Yeah, let's start that rumour.

Podcast episode 260ish: Harry Doupe

2011-12-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

We've got a little extra for you with this episode. When Harry Doupe dropped by for the last show of the calendar year, we went long. And it's a good thing, too. The first hour was good enough – we talked about the old days at Punchlines with Ryan Stiles and Colin Campbell and Harry aired his dirty laundry with his estrangement from the Canadian Comedy Awards. He also got in shots at the Comedy Network and Yuk Yuk's. But when we went into overtime it got even better. Harry told tales of his epic cross-continent tour with the late, great Campbell that gave real insight into Campbell's problems. Then he finished off with some much needed advice to young comics. Here's hoping Doupe's bi-annual visit becomes annual.

So have at it. Listen below or download at iTunes. Or both. Hell, why not? It's the holidays. Over-indulge!

Sam's secret

2011-12-27T19:42:00.001-08:00

This little WSF? snippet goes back to 2009 when I interviewed Marc Maron in his hotel room (using his WTF equipment). He told a secret about his old mentor Sam Kinison he'd never mentioned publicly anywhere else to that point (I haven't heard it anywhere else but I don't listen to everything so who knows?). It's not a mind-blowing secret, but it is a somewhat surprising glimpse into the genesis of Kinison's iconic primal scream.

A cautionary tale

2011-12-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

The Snowed In Comedy Tour is almost upon us, playing at ski hills throughout BC (with stops in bigger burghs like Vancouver and Victoria along the way). Among those on the bill is former local Craig Campbell, now plying his trade in England. He's a regular on this tour. Last year he and another ex-pat, Phil Nichol, dropped by the studios and while there shared a most harrowing tale from their adventures in jolly olde London. The boys do spin a yarn. Let it be a warning for anyone should they be persuaded by Mike Wilmot to go out for a drink. If you haven't heard the episode yet, here's that story isolated. You can live vicariously through Craig and Phil. Enjoy. And you're welcome.

2011 is all done

2011-12-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me on Sunday how many shows we do a year. I've never counted. We don't have a season with set holidays. We just play it by ear. I just book as many Sundays as I can and away we go. But it got me thinking. When asked, I guessed we probably do 40-45 weeks a year. That is, shows with guests. The other weeks we either run comedy clips or a repeat episode. (And, okay, we're pre-empted 2-3 times a year.)

So I did the math. In 2011 we did 44 shows with 55 guests (or 53 unique guests as two were on twice). Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. How does this compare? Well, I'm not about to count every year we've been on since 2004, but I did the past three years. In 2010, we had guests on 38 times, while in 2009 we spoke to comics 42 times. That's a lot of hours of chit-chat with comedians.

I'd like to thank this year's guests for taking time out of their busy Sunday late-night schedules to talk to me for an hour (listed in order of appearance):

Mike Storck
Paul Anthony
Larke Miller
Craig Campbell
Phil Nichol
Pete Johansson
Ryan Hamilton
Johnny Scoop
Marke Driesschen
Paul Myerhaug
Sunee Dhaliwal
Lisa Lampanelli
Chris Porter
Steve Bays (twice)
Dylan Rhymer
Toby Hargraves
Chuck Byrn
Kyle Bottom
Scott McLean
James Danderfer
Sam Easton
Bill Reiter
Richard Lett
Sara Bynoe
Andrew Barber
Peter New
Ken Hegan
Nathan Burton
Mac King
Lorne Cardinal
Monique Hurteau
Graham Clark
Dave Shumka
Brian McKim
Dave Burleigh
Roy Zimmerman
Larry Miller
Marcus Ryan
Blaine Thurier
Tanyalee Davis
Adam Pateman
Kaitlin Fontana
Dino Archie (twice)
Diana Frances
Ken Lawson
Sean Emeny
Steve Burgess
Chris Gaskin
Jason Bryden
Bob Robertson
Linda Cullen
Paul Shirley
Harry Doupe

If you missed any of them, they're all available in podcast form at iTunes! Merry Christmas!

Podcast episode 259ish: Dino Archie and me

2011-12-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I had a good chat with Dino Archie. But in reverse fashion since he was the one doing the asking. Or more like grilling. He asked me about not writing enough about locals, about the perception of favouritism and if it's true I'm hard to work with. The guy's got a future when Mike Wallace retires. But it was fun.

Have a listen here or download it at iTunes. Even though I list it here as episode 259, that's not how it's listed there since they have the most recent episode as 1. So if you're coming to this after the fact, just do a search for Dino Archie. Or better yet, just subscribe to the damn thing!

Seeing as this episode was all about me, I couldn't very well make a video snippet of it. So instead I dipped into the mouldie-oldie podcast vault and pulled out a show from December 18, 2005 when Brent Butt guested. I mentioned this episode with Dino so it's somewhat relevant. It's one of my faves, too, so if you've never heard it, and you like what you see below, go download the whole thing at iTunes.

Dec. 18: Harry Doupe

2011-12-17T23:57:00.000-08:00

One week till the big day but we've got a big day ourselves on What's So Funny? because Harry Doupe is in town. And he's in studio. That's always cause for celebration. Oh, and it's our last show of the calendar year.

Doupe always comes prepared to talk. We'll talk about the annual Canadian Comedy Awards, no doubt. If we're lucky he'll give us a synopsis of his Statelessness of the Industry address. Maybe he'll regale us with a story or two about days of yore. And along the way opinions will be proffered. It's his gift to us all.

As always, we hit the air at 11 pm PST (give or take a minute or two) so tune in, why don't you? 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream us at coopradio.org.

Podcast episode 258ish: Paul Shirley

2011-12-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Paul Shirley may not have been a force in the NBA, but at least he played in it. That makes him for the time he was there, anyway, one of the top 450 players in the world. He was also known as the funniest guy in the association. Sure, that's damning with faint praise, as we discuss in this episode, but he really is a witty – and smart – former jock. Go figure! Now he's moved on to more rewarding, if not higher paying, work as a writer. We also talk about him being beat up by Arcade Fire's frontman Win Butler and he explains his controversial essay on Haiti that led to his termination from ESPN.

Here's a little taste of the show. Then when you finish watching, you can listen to the whole thing below or download it at iTunes.

And here's the full episode:

Dec. 11: Dino Archie interviews... me?

2011-12-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. A month or so Dino Archie told me he wanted to interview me on the show. I laughed it off, saying I appreciated the sentiment but nobody would be interested. Hell, I'm barely interested. But he was adamant. Several weeks ago I ran into him again and he hadn't let go of the idea. We had such a good rapport his first time on the show, and he let me tease him mercilessly for cancelling on me twice before, I agreed to his crazy pitch. I figure I can make fun of his questions as we go along and we'll have a grand old time. I'm not going to do a bit of work on this one. I'll show up and let Dino run the show and see what he's made of. That is, if he shows up!

I even made him write a blurb for the blog. So here's Dino:

Tonight we're gonna mix it up a bit. For the first time critic for the Georgia Straight and host of What's So Funny Guy MacPherson will be answering the questions. And guest host Los Angeles comedian Dino Archie will be jamming him up. The LA transplant was a recent guest and one hour wasn't enough. Now it's time to ask Guy the question all comics want to know: What the hell is his problem? Should be interesting, should be funny. Check it out!

Tonight at 11 pm on CFRO 102.7 in Vancouver, or livestream it at coopradio.org.

Podcast episode 257ish: Bob Robertson & Linda Cullen

2011-12-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's always a treat for me when Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen drop by the studio. They are national treasures yet they find time to slum it with the likes of me. On their last visit, we spent the first half hour reminiscing and the second half hour going over various doomsday scenarios for next year. You see, Bob just wrote a book called Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012. He's got all the tips you'll need.

Listen to the full episode right here or download it at iTunes (or another podcast server – we're everywhere).

For a taste of the show, here we are talking about some of Bob's obscure impressions.

A taste of WSF? II

2011-12-06T00:14:00.000-08:00

It's fun making these little videos. And easy. Who knew? After the runaway success of my first effort featuring Ken Lawson (46 views and counting), and in anticipation of the return of Dino Archie this week, I thought I'd put together a little snippet of the last (and first) time he was on the show... after cancelling on me twice earlier. If you didn't hear that episode, maybe this little snippet will whet your appetite. I'll periodically go through some select past episodes and extract a nugget, add some pics, stir and post the end result here (and YouTube). Enjoy.

Oh My God!

2011-12-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

Do you watch iChannel? Do you even get iChannel? If so, a new series begins tonight that's right up my alley, and maybe yours, too. It's called Oh My God! And if you don't get iChannel, I believe you'll be able to watch episodes after they air at http://www.ichannel.ca/oh-my-god/. I spoke to creator/host Tevya Heller, a New York-based, Canadian-born comedian, about his baby last week and the interview follows. The concept is brilliant. As an old guy, my problem is with the presentation. I hate MTV-style fast-action crap. Give me substance. A stationary camera with longer takes doesn't mean the product will be boring any more than a moving camera with fast cuts will make the product exciting. But I'm a geezer. As Tevya says, this show is aimed at teenagers. I'm not sure teenagers will appreciate the subject matter, but I sure can with or without the fast-cutting MTVification of a weighty subject matter. But we hash it all out and discuss the pros and cons of religion:

Tevya Heller – November 29, 2011

Guy MacPherson: You’re searching for God.

Tevye Heller: Yes.

GM: Aren’t we all.

TH: Apparently.

GM: Has the show aired yet?

TH: The show is debuting on Monday, December 5^th at 8:30.

GM: On which station?

TH: In Canada it’s iChannel.

GM: And will it be in other countries?

TH: The show’s actually being sold all over the world. And within the next six months, I believe, it should be in about ten countries.

GM: What’s your background?

TH: Comedian, producer. I own a production company called Go To Heller and we create and produce multi-platform content. I also develop formats. Are you familiar with what a format is?

GM: Not in this context, I don’t think.

TH: American Idol is a format. So there’s American Idol, Canadian Idol, Australian Idol. Or Dancing with the Stars is a format. All these different countries have their own versions with their local celebrities, if you will. So I create formats that I sell internationally. So I do a number of things. This show, Oh My God, I’m also the creator.

GM: What’s the look of the show?

TH: It has a very MTV vibe to it. It’s targeted to an audience between the ages of 11 and 19. Ideally a family will watch it together. It’s really engaging for everyone, but it’s really a teen show. So it moves really quick, very quick cuts, terrific broadcast design and sound design. It’s a really fun, fast-moving reality show. It’s actually The Simple Life meets Touched by an Angel. I’m just way funnier than Paris Hilton.

GM: You’re a stand-up in Toronto?

TH: In New York. I’m based out of New York City.

GM: What have you done in stand-up?

TH: I perform at the Comic Strip in New York but primarily now I’m focused on writing so I have a number of shows in different phases of development and production. So my comedy’s really geared towards the shows that I produce.

GM: But you’re Canadian, right?

TH: Yup. I was born in Montréal and I lived there until I was 18 and then I moved to New York City.

GM: And when was that?

TH: That was a little over ten years ago.

GM: So you took to it. And it took to you.

TH: I’m not sure how well you know New York. I know it’s quite far from British Columbia. When I moved there, it was really, really hard. It was much harder than I had anticipated so I was really poor. I mean, I was so poor that I had to wear shoes that don’t fit-poor. And really all I had was my faith and my ambition. So when I had first moved out there I very much believed in God. I had God in my life. And every night I would pray to God to please help me, to give me a sign, a sandwich, anything. And [I got] nothing and that’s really why I lost my faith because I felt that if God is not there in your darkest hour, if God is not there when you really, really, really, really need him to be, then what’s this whole religion thing anyway. This was a little over ten years ago and in the last ten years things have changed. My career is doing well, thank goodness, but spiritually not so much. And I started to miss the sense of community that religion gives you. But because I grew up in such a devout Jewish household and I had studied the Torah as a kid, I knew that Judaism did not have the answers that I was seeking. But maybe Islam does. Maybe Christianity does. Maybe Wicca does. So I decided I’m gonna give God a second chance. I’m gonna embed myself in all these other religions and see if they have the pathway to God that I’m seeking.

GM: I assume you’ve wrapped the season.

TH: We wrapped the first season and we’re starting the second season. The response has been really, really positive. As I said before, the executive producer now is in Europe selling the show and he just met with the distributor. The show may be brought into India in addition to the other countries so far. So it’s pretty exciting because the show was really created for an international audience. When you see the show, you’ll realize that it’s made for a viewer in Melbourne, Australia, or a viewer in Thailand or a viewer in Montréal, Québec. Everybody is interested in their relationship with God or learning about other religions, so we purposely created a show that will sell really well all over the world. And when you see it you’ll totally understand what I’m talking about.

GM: How are you searching for God?

TH: Every episode is a different religion. I embed myself in the communities. So if it’s Islam, I live with an Islam family, I go to mosque five times a day, I eat their food, I worship like them. I really live like them to see if maybe their religion and their customs and their traditions could offer me some insight that Judaism doesn’t. And so every episode’s a different religion and I get really, really deep in the religion. Obviously it’s a comedy because I’m a comedian, but it’s incredibly informative. And viewers will really come away from this show learning a lot.

GM: You say it’s a comedy, but religion is very serious to a lot of people. How do they feel about you coming in for a week? Are they a little wary that maybe you’re going to make fun of the religion?

TH: Everybody’s wary. The show is cast. I don’t cast the show; there’s producers that work on the show and they go out and they find these people to participate. But the tone of the show is extremely respectful. As you can imagine, networks were very, very concerned that we would go out and poke fun at all these different religions. I personally did not want to have a fatwa on my head, if you know what I mean. So we really take great pains in being respectful so if anyone ever looks stupid, it’s me. All the jokes are played on me. I’m always the fall guy; it’s never someone who’s in the religion. Do you get what I’m saying? So I come off looking like an idiot. The people that participate come off looking extremely smart and good. If anyone looks dumb, it’s me. And that’s done on purpose because we really want to handle and treat religion very carefully. But we also don’t want it to be boring. It all comes down to how you edit the show. It’s really how you handle it in post-production. Because the show is cut so quickly, there’s really never a scene that’s longer than a minute. So it really moves really fast but we deal with a lot of controversial issues. Like Hindus, for example, use a swastika. Did you know that?

GM: I knew somebody did but I wasn’t sure it was them.

TH: So as you can imagine, growing up Jewish, a swastika is probably one of the most repulsive images I can think of. So I was really taken aback that Hindus have a swastika emblazoned on almost everything. And what I learned, and what viewers learn in the show, is that the Nazis co-opted the swastika from Hindus. A swastika means love and peace and life.

GM: Yeah, it’s some kind of eternal thing. When I lived in Japan, I saw them all over the place and I had no idea. It’s also used in Buddhism.

TH: Correct. So I learn so much about all these different religions, and vicariously so does the viewer. But it’s really done in a really fun way.

GM: If each scene is no longer than a minute, how in depth are you getting? These are weighty topics.

TH: In each half-hour episode there’s always a narrative arc. It starts off me being an atheist who knows nothing about the religion. I usually attend a really big event, so if it’s a Jewish episode, they’ll throw a Bar Mitzvah for me; if it’s a Hindu episode, I’ll go to their temple and I’ll go to a huge party which will involve buying a special outfit and preparing special foods. So there’s really something that’s building as we move through the show. Because there’s so much information to process, you really could only have scenes that are a minute or two because there’s so much to get through, as far as the history and the info about the religion. So to answer your question, we get quite in depth.

GM: How many episodes were in the first season?

TH: The first season we weren’t sure what the reaction was going to be so they shot six. An order now for a reality show, regardless if it’s MTV or CTV, is usually eight. They’ll know by the second episode if your show is doing well and they’ll usually order maybe twelve or fourteen for the second round. We’re already in pre-production for season two and it looks like we’re going to do twelve or fourteen for season two.

GM: And you’re not going to run out of religions.

TH: There’s 150 religions out there. And I want to explore every single one of them. For me, the more abstract and different and bizarre the religion is, the more I’m excited. There are so many religions I’ve never even heard of so I think that would be so cool for a viewer. And you know what? I also think people who are in religious communities tend to be very insular looking. Just referring to my own conservative traditional Jewish environment. If you’re in a Jewish community, you’re very inward-looking. Everyone in your world is Jewish, you go to a Jewish school, you go to a kosher summer camp, you go to temple. I don’t know that many Jews who’ve gone to a mosque and worshipped with Muslims. And it’s made me such a richer person. I have such a great appreciation for Islam. The religion is actually incredibly beautiful. Before I did this, the only thing that I knew about Muslims was what I heard on the news. So I have great respect and great affection for Islam that I never had before because I didn’t know!

GM: (chuckles) Okay, you’re not going to get a fatwa. You’re bending over backwards here.

TH: Forget backwards, I’m in knots.

GM: What were the six religions you did in season one?

TH: Season one we did Islam, Wicca, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and atheism.

GM: How did you immerse yourself in atheism? Did you just go about your daily life?

TH: No. Atheism is a religion like every other religion. There are rituals, there’s belief.

GM: Disagree.

TH: Okay. Well, in the atheism episode we actually filmed this one on location. We flew up to Sudbury, Ontario, and we met this professor who is really well-respected. He’s an esteemed professor at Laurentian University and he’s created what’s called the God Helmet. And what this does is he’s able to put electrodes on your head and he’ll make you feel God. He’s been able to prove that the brain plays tricks on people. People say they feel God, they see God. It’s really just brain waves. So he was able to prove, in this episode, that he can manipulate your brain into feeling God. So as an atheist I wanted to feel God. It’s really cool because when he did this and put all these electrodes on I really felt something standing next to me but it was just him messing with my head. Trippy. Amazing television! You’re gonna freak out!

GM: I love this because I’m fascinated with religion. You say you were raised in a devout Jewish household. Did you ever feel God then? Or was it just your culture rather than a deep feeling?

TH: Nope. I absolutely believed in God. God was a huge part of my life. I would talk to God every single day. I would express my greatest hopes and wishes to God. I absolutely believed in God. God was a huge part of my life. My parents believe in God. It really wasn’t until I reached out to God and He wasn’t there for me that I said “Screw this” and I walked away. I was really, really, really, really at my wit’s end. I was in an incredibly dark place and I really needed God and He wasn’t there for me so I said I’m going to believe in myself instead. Over the last ten years I was worshipping at the altar of celebrity instead. And that was enough for me. I was hanging out in L.A. and New York and Toronto and travelling and making good money. And I didn’t care. I didn’t miss God. There was no place for God. And it really wasn’t until very recently that I started to miss community. And I’ve been thinking a lot about my mortality. And I’m thinking, gee, is there more than just being six feet under? So I thought I would give God a second chance.

GM: When this professor put that helmet on, and you felt something, was that the same feeling you had when you were younger? Or is it a totally new feeling?

TH: It was different. It was a much stronger feeling. I actually felt almost a spirit standing next to me. It was like God on steroids. It was incredibly wild.

GM: I guess your family is happy that you’re searching for something but how did they feel when you fell out of the religion?

TH: My parents are very conservative and very traditional and they believe in God. Obviously they would like me to think the way they do, but they’re very nice people and they’re very open-minded with regards to my search and my struggle. So I think they’re okay with it.

GM: They’re okay with your search and your struggle but during those ten years when you were worshipping at the altar of celebrity, were they less okay?

TH: You know what? It’s amazing how parents and children can dance around issues they don’t want to deal with. I didn’t go home for the holidays. I didn’t really want to be part of that. And so we just didn’t talk about it. That’s how we dealt with it.

GM: You didn’t go home for the holidays because it would have been a religious affair?

TH: Yeah. And they’re in Florida. But I really did not feel the need to worship Jewish holidays.

GM: I don’t know your take on Christmas, but I consider Christmas a non-religious holiday. Even when we were kids it was certainly not a religious holiday other than going to mass. There was no talk about what it meant in the religious world. So to me it’s just a day with presents and turkey and all that.

TH: Being in this business, I’ve always worked… You know, when you’re filming a show, you work regardless of what the day is. So Christmas really never held any importance for me because we film on Christmas. And quite honestly I find Christmas to be completely co-opted by industry. It’s really become about stuff.

GM: That’s what I love about it!

TH: Yeah. So I really never gave too much heed to Christmas. I love the time of the year, I like all the lights, I love the energy in the air and people seem to be jolly and happy and I love all of that. But growing up Jewish it’s kind of like growing up a vegetarian at an all-you-can-eat deli; I felt separate and apart. Christmas was always for somebody else. What do Jews do on Christmas? We go for Chinese food.

GM: In your first season, where do you go in your search for God?

TH: Season one we shot on location in Toronto. We were supposed to shoot it in Los Angeles but the producers felt that because Toronto is so multi-cultural it would be easier to cast the first season here. Season two we’re shooting all over the world. We’re going to be filming in India, we’re going to be filming in the United States, we’re going to Europe. It’s incredibly, incredibly exciting. I’m psyched. Everyone is really excited about this show, all the way from the producers to our distributors to the networks and all our partners. And it’s really exciting for me as a series creator to see an idea that I jotted down on a napkin become this, this show.

GM: And not just your idea but you get to be in it, too.

TH: Yeah. Well, if I don’t hire me, nobody will.

GM: As you’re preparing for a given week, are you thinking of the potential comedy that goes with it or do you really want answers?

TH: I absolutely want answers. It’s just my nature to ask questions. Like for example, when I was embedded with the Islam, I was with an Imam. Are you familiar with what an Imam is?

GM: Yup.

TH: Okay. So I said to him, “How come everyone’s named Mohammed?” Everyone’s named Mohammed! If you go somewhere, literally everyone is named Mohammed. And I didn’t mean that to be disrespectful but I found it kind of weird. And it’s really quite funny. So I ask very obvious things but it becomes quite funny. I also have a very conservative palette. And a lot of these religions have food that’s very unique to their religions. And I hate eating stuff that is super spicy or moves so I tend to have fun that way.

GM: These innocent child-like obvious questions are questions more adults need to ask.

TH: Well, adults are so afraid of offending each other. It really comes down to the essence of where you’re coming from. I have absolute respect for everybody. It’s not like I’m Jewish and everybody is wrong; I’m atheist. I don’t believe in anything so everybody is right. And if you are respectful to a religious tradition and history, then people will open up. And I was blown away at how open these communities were to me.

GM: The thing that I would have a problem with if I were in your shoes is I’d be very curious, like you, but I couldn’t help but challenge them on things I think are just fairy tales or ridiculous.

TH: And I do. I absolutely do. And I also found it really became confounding to me because all these religions contradict each other so who’s got it right? If there’s really just one God, how come every religion has a different pathway there? That really got me thinking. But I absolutely challenge all these religions. I mean, when I think about Moses going to Mt. Sinai and getting the Ten Commandments, I mean, you have to roll your eyes. So I go there. But it’s done in a way that is incredibly respectful to all these religions. The network would never accept otherwise anyway.

GM: Or when God directs them to not eat certain things or to wear things on their heads. Really? Does God really care?

TH: And do you really need to pray five times a day? Can’t you just get up in the morning and say, “Hey, how you doing? I love you, God”? Must you pray every three hours?

GM: And what are the consequences if you don’t?

TH: But you know what? What I learned is there’s beauty in ritual. I grew to love it. Because you worship with everybody in the family and everybody in the street so you become everyone’s best friend really quickly. There’s a wonderful sense of camaraderie. It’s quite lovely. And that really shocked me. Because I don’t do anything five times a day. So the first day we were filming the Islam episode, I had to pray five times a day and it was a huge pain for me. But as I said I grew to love it. There’s beauty in it.

GM: There’s that sense of community you talked about. But that ritual aspect, if they actually just said, “Oh no, we just like that sense of community and the ritual, but God doesn’t actually care,” then I would understand better. But they tend to think, “No, we must do this because it is written.”

TH: It is written. And religions tend to follow the written gospel, whether it’s the Koran or the Torah or a Bible verbatim, regardless if you roll your eyes or not. But the essence of my show is, who am I to roll my eyes? That’s not what this is about. It’s about learning about their religion and letting the viewer take everything that they’ve learned and process it and think about it. Nobody is wrong; everybody is right.

GM: Did you do anything in season two on the B’hai’s?

TH: I don’t know yet. I know in season two we’re doing Scientology, which I am so excited about.

GM: Oh, good luck!

TH: I want to shoot Tom Cruise’s house, which is not going to happen. But I’m really excited about Scientology. And you know what? They will let us in. Once again, it’s not for me to judge that Scientology is bad. I’m there to learn about it. I am there to give them their ten minutes of fame and let them talk about it. So I will not attack them. I will make their religion look as good as I possibly can. So if you offer someone that platform, they will let you in. It’s not my place to judge.

GM: It’s not your place to judge, but some religions, and maybe perhaps Scientology, have been called a cult. Do you have a responsibility to be a little more critical instead of just giving them a chance to sell themselves to impressionable minds?

TH: It’s really not my place to be critical. I hear what you’re saying. Remember, this is a kids show. What I’m responsible for is shining a spotlight on the religion. So we will show, using Scientology as an example, really really really exactly what it’s like to be a Scientologist. We’ll follow you all week. I will live like a Scientologist. It’s up to the audience to make a decision. We’re not going to spin it and hide it and sort of fool people; we’re going to show it exactly the way it is. Some people might like it. Some people won’t. Listen, all you have to do is Google “Scientology” and everything is there in Wikipedia. If you choose to pursue a life in Scientology, barring everything that you learn on the internet, well then godspeed. I’m not Jesus Christ. I’m not out to save everybody. I’m out to entertain everybody.

GM: If you’re seriously searching and are open to any of these religions, maybe they’ll get your hooks in you. Maybe you’ll become a Scientologist.

TH: Maybe. Maybe I’ll go to the Celebrity Center in Los Angeles and hang out with Kirstey Alley.

GM: Think what it would do for your career.

TH: It would probably do a lot. They would probably love it. I’d hang out with John Travolta. I get asked which has been my favourite so far. I think my favourite so far, or the one that’s the closest to where I am today, is probably Hinduism. I say that because karma is so incredibly important within the Hindu religion. And I believe in karma. I may not believe in God yet, but I definitely believe in karma and I believe in the laws of daily morality. I believe that it’s incredibly important to be a kind person. And if you’re an asshole, it will come back to you. I do believe in the laws of karma and the notion of karma. How Hindus tend to carry themselves, they’re very careful with their behaviour and what they say. They don’t want to hurt your feelings or insult you. Not to say that all the other religions are not populated with incredibly lovely kind people, but I really dug the Hindus.

GM: I don’t believe in karma but I believe in the concept of it. It goes back to ritual. I think it’s a great way to act, and the right way to act, because it’s basic human decency. But I don’t agree with the idea of an outside force making it happen, like you’re good so we’ll make something good happen for you, rather than it just organically happening.

TH: I know exactly what you mean. It probably is organic. However, it is a really great way to live your life. They make a point out of being a nice, kind person, whereas it’s really not brought to the forefront in any other religion. Clearly Christians are really great in raising money for the starving and the homeless, and they’re lovely, but it’s not like the Hindus – they live and breathe being kind, which I really love.

GM: What about the Amish?

TH: Don’t know. And I’ll tell you why I don’t know. There’s a reason. As a producer I’m usually very involved with the pre-production and the development of a show. I’m involved in casting, I’m involved in scouting locations, I’m involved in dealing with the network and whatnot. This show, we have a really great director. Her name is Nicola Cole and she’s one of the top lifestyle directors in Canada. She works on all the huge reality shows. And she really loved our show. She really believed in me. So she came to work on the show and she decided that we want to keep the show as real as possible. So I never know what we’re shooting. I never know what episode, what religion, who I’m meeting. A driver picks me up in the morning, drops me off at the location, I get out of the car and the camera rolls. No hair, no make-up, nothing. Boom. Just real. I have no idea who I’m meeting. I love to work totally blind. So when the participant or when the people in the religion meet me, these are non-actors. You can never do a second take. Because people get really wooden. If you’re not an actor and you’re used to doing multiple takes, take two is terrible. So we really only have the first take. I never know what my day is going to be. So as far as season two and what religions, I have no idea and I won’t even know until I show up on set. It’s a crazy way to work. It feels as if I’m jumping out of a plane every single day. I’ve never worked this way before. I literally just show up and go.

GM: The idea reminds me of Hannah and Her Sisters where Woody Allen was trying out the different religions. And also a kinder, gentler Religulous by Bill Maher.

TH: It’s not like that at all.

GM: He was critical and interviewing them, so that’s why I say a kinder, gentler version.

TH: As far as an umbrella theme, yes. But my show looks and feels and moves like an MTV music video. Bill Maher’s audience are my parents. My audience are twelve-year-olds. High School Musical, that’s my audience. So my show looks and feels like a great MTV reality show.

GM: Are twelve-year-olds, or teenagers, interested in this topic.

TH: I think they are.

GM: And why not an adult version?

TH: Well (pause)… That’s a very good question.

GM: Because adults are thinking about these topics.

TH: We’re doing a show for teenagers because remember, this is a business and advertisers want shows that speak to the most desirable demographic, which is, you know, 15 to 28. And that’s really what the network wanted. But it’s smart enough and sophisticated enough for a family to watch together. So a 15-year-old and her mom and her dad will find the show equally interesting. We don’t speak down to the kids and the parents won’t find it dumb. It’s really for everybody.

GM: You mentioned the religion that was your favourite. Was there one where you just went, “Meh. No, I can’t get on board with that one”?

TH: When I did Judaism it certainly brought back a lot of my childhood. I was embedded with a rabbi and his family. They had eight kids. And every meal is a huge ordeal because you have to pray and wash your hands and pray and this and kosher… It’s really a hard life. I mean, I loved them all but maybe because I knew Judaism it really didn’t blow my mind as much.

GM: They weren’t Hasidim, were they?

TH: Orthodox. I was embedded with Orthodox. Every religion that I meet, we always push it as far as we can go. So it’s not just Islam, it’s like super religious Islam. It’s not just Christian, it’s a priest. It’s not just Jewish, it’s a rabbi and his family. Do you see where I’m going with this? So we really push it as far as we can go.

GM: Pardon my ignorance, but Orthodox is different from the Hasidic Jews, right?

TH: Correct.

GM: So that would be really pushing it, to go with a Hasidic family.

TH: I don’t think Hasidim… We tried. I think one of the producers tried and they will not allow themselves to be filmed.

GM: Because that would be fascinating.

TH: It would be fascinating. Growing up in Montréal, I had relatives in Outremont. So even a kid who went to Hebrew school, I always found peyess, the round locks that fall past their ears – and women have to cut their hair very short and wear wigs… There are a lot of traditions that are unique to an orthodox Hasidic family – that even a kid who grew up Jewish found kind of shocking and jarring. And they all look exactly the same. Hopefully I’ll be able to inspire viewers and inspire young people to investigate other religions. I think it would be incredibly healthy for kids. It makes them richer. I would love for a Jewish kid to go to mosque. I would love for two Muslim kids to go to a synagogue. I would love for two Jewish kids to go to church and check it out, meet new people, make new friends. Open your mind.

GM: At the very least, even if they don’t take to it, they will have an understanding of the other side and maybe a patience or respect.

TH: Exactly. We live in very inward-looking suburbs where everyone is the same socio-economic class as you, a similar religion as you, has a similar point of view as you, everyone thinks the same, maybe dresses the same, eats the same and watches the same television and we become zombies and robots. And we’re immediately put off or frightened by anyone that’s different from us. And we need to change that. That’s really the motor and my inspiration for doing the show. I really want to make the world a better place, if that’s not an Oprah saying for you. But I really feel that this show’s the opposite of Jersey Shore. Same viewer but it nourishes your spirit, it’s not garbage like Jersey Shore.

GM: And people don’t need to feel you’re proselytizing.

TH: I’m not. I’m just inviting you to the buffet and you can eat whatever you want. All I’m asking is that you try something you never had before. I’m not asking you to have it again, but try it once.

GM: I remember once being in a hotel that had a Bible and a book of Buddha. I opened up the book of Buddha and everything I read I was going, wow, I like that, I believe that. But at no point did I want to become a Buddhist. I just thought you can incorporate bits from all religions in your life.

TH: There you go. Knowledge is the most powerful thing in the world. And after knowledge is compassion. I would love to impart those two things to teenagers today.

Dec. 4: Paul Shirley

2011-12-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

A bit of a departure for us tonight. In our illustrious seven-year run, the bulk of our guests have come from the world of live comedy, be it stand-up, improv or sketch. But we've also had on authors, film makers, and musicians. Well tonight, we've got a former NBA player. Now, if you're a regular listener, you know I kinda sorta like basketball. If you don't, don't be turned off because this ain't a sports show. Oh, I'm sure we'll talk a bit about the greatest sport on earth (i.e. not hockey), but it won't all be roundball. I promise.

That's because Paul Shirley is a modern-day renaissance man. Yes, he was a hoops hobo, but he's also a man of letters. He's a really funny writer who started his second career while he was still in his first. This was in a time before Twitter, when athletes and celebrities weren't so available. It was a revelation to read his very funny online journal on his Phoenix Suns' playoff run in the 2004-05 season. Since then his former career floundered and his current one flourished. He wrote Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond (2008, Villard Books), did a column for ESPN, founded the online writing project FlipCollective (with accompanying podcast), and now is known for his writing on indie/alternative rock, with occasional forays into weightier topics.

And another way this is a departure for us is because Paul won't be in studio with us. He'll join the handful of other episodes we've done by phone when he calls in from Kansas City (we save that for very special guests). As always, we'll be on the air at 11 pm till midnight. If you've done the math, you'll realize that's 1 to 2 a.m. his time. As he wrote to me, "Yeah, I can stay up till 2 a.m. on a Sunday, because I'm wildly irresponsible."

Tune in to 102.7 FM in Vancouver or stream it live at coopradio.org.

Audio-visual presentation

2011-12-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Remember back in September when I posted those photos from my humbling table tennis experience against 13-year-old Natasha Carr-Harris on Paul Anthony's Talent Time? Subsequent to that, Ken Lawson, my sorry excuse for a coach, and I rehashed the evening on What's So Funny? I decided to meld those two formats. Here's what I came up with:

Demetri Martin in Canada

2011-11-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

This press release just came through the teletype machine in the office. Thought you should be the second to know:

DEMETRI MARTIN ANNOUNCES HIS FIRST CANADIAN TOUR EVER

Stand-up Comedian Demetri Martin Announces His

“Telling Jokes in Cold Places 2012 Tour”

Los Angeles, CA. – Tuesday November 29, 2011 After being alive for decades, American stand-up comedian Demetri Martin launches his first official tour of Canada on January 5, 2012. Martin’s tour, titled “Demetri Martin 2012 Telling Jokes in Cold Places Tour”, will take him to six Canadian cities, including Vancouver on January 7, 2012 at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

“I wanted to visit Canada during the coldest time of the year,” said Martin. “Canada excels at being cold, and I plan to take full advantage of that by seeing Canada at its best,” explained Martin from his warm and sunny apartment in southern California. “Sometimes you just get tired of enjoying very comfortable, pleasant, balmy weather,” he added. “It’s time to get my ass kicked by a Canadian winter.”

Martin’s live show will feature brand new jokes, drawings, incidental guitar playing and him walking back and forth on the stage a lot. “I have a lot of new material to share with the people of Canada – but just some of the people of Canada,” said Martin, adding, “This could end up being the best six-city-Canadian tour of the decade – if I don’t get screwed by weather delays.”

In the winter of 2004, Demetri visited Toronto as a staff writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien, for a week of shows. During that visit, Martin promised himself that, eight years later, he would return with his own tour. And now, true to his word, eight years later, Martin returns with his own tour. “I’ve been meaning to tour Canada for a while,” explained Martin, “especially based on the five or six requests I’ve received on my Facebook page.” Demetri added, “I love Canada. Some of my favourite people are Canadian, including The Kids in the Hall, Eugene Levy, Joni Mitchell and Tim Horton. Plus, I’m really excited to go to Calgary, because if you rearrange the letters in that city’s name you get ‘Racy gal’.”

While Demetri is excited to return to Canada, he realizes that as an American, he represents the country that is responsible for both McDonald’s and the near total collapse of the world financial system. “Sorry,” he offered.

Originally from New Jersey, Martin rose to relative obscurity when he started doing stand-up comedy in small clubs in New York City. Later he became a writer at Late Night with Conan O’Brien and then a regular performer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. After that, Demetri starred in his own series for Comedy Central called Important Things with Demetri Martin. Martin’s stand-up comedy special, Demetri Martin. Person. is considered by many to be his longest and only hour-long television stand-up special. He has appeared in movies as an actor, most recently in Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and most lengthily in Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. His first book, This Is A Book by Demetri Martin is a New York Times Best Seller, and it features a 500-word-long palindrome that is one of the longest in the English language.

Demetri has brown hair and he is allergic to peanuts.

DEMETRI MARTIN

LIVE AT THE CENTRE IN VANCOUVER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

January 7, 2012

Tickets: $39.50, $32.50 (taxes included plus applicable charges) go on-sale Friday, December 2 at 10:00 AM.

Tickets available at: Ticketmaster

by phone at 1-855-985-5000

online at www.ticketmaster.ca

For more details and a list of other cities, go to hahaha.com/concerts.

You can find Demetri Martin at www.demetrimartin.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/demetrimartin, on Twitter @demetrimartin, and in various places in the actual physical world.

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Words of Wisdom

2011-11-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

I've long marveled at the ability of beginning stand-up comics to ignore seasoned professionals. Even if they happen to be on the same show, you'll see the young'uns outside yakking with their fellow newbies while someone who knows what they're doing is on stage performing. And when visiting vets play a club in town, very rarely do the kids come and soak it in. There's lots to learn about crafting a set, working a crowd and even subtle physical movements. And you don't even have to like the pro's act because you can learn just as much in reverse, i.e. what you decide you don't want to do.

I was talking about this phenomenon a couple weeks ago with a comedy insider. The very next day I listened to WTF with Marc Maron, which itself is like a graduate study in comedy – any serious comedy fan needs to listen to every single one of his episodes, not just the ones with famous comedians or guests you like. The one that applies here is the Chris Rock episode. Early into the hour-long chat, Rock says essentially the same thing. And I quote (thus the quotation marks):

"I would get there early and watch all the comics. Kids today – because I'm that guy – I'm always telling guys, 'You guys don't watch.' When I go in the clubs, everybody's hanging out outside and shit. When I was coming up, whenever there was an empty seat... When the place got packed we got pissed because that meant some people had to wait outside. We watched every-fucking-body... Dude, I know so many people's acts. I know fucking every Dennis Wolfberg joke and every Joe Bolster joke and every Gary Lazer joke, and Mark Cohen and Jack Coen... I know all these guys' jokes, man. I know their acts inside and out. And I know Fred Stoller and Stu Trivax... I watched all these guys, just take it in, take it in, take it in."

Would Chris Rock be the comic he is today if he didn't absorb all these comics when he was starting out? We'll never know, but I doubt it. As Woody Allen's mom lectures him in Wild Man Blues, "Don't think for a moment that you are what you are by yourself. You're not. You had help."

And speaking of the Woodman, how great was it to hear Rock talk about him. You wouldn't think he'd revere Allen, but he does. He says, "He's my favourite. He's the best. Woody Allen's the best... He's the greatest comic mind in the last 100 years, since Chaplin. And who the fuck's been that funny that long? Who?!"

I posted a couple of videos here a while back taken from my VHS collection. I used to record any stand-up comic I'd see on TV. The first is a very, very young Chris Rock on Arsenio Hall's show. It was the first I'd ever heard of the guy. Watch it here: http://wsf1027fm.blogspot.com/2010/05/early-chris-rock.html

The second is of Fred Stoller, who Rock mentioned on Maron's show a couple of times, also taken from Arsenio. Here's the link for that one: http://wsf1027fm.blogspot.com/2010/11/vhs-vault-fred-stoller.html

Podcast episode 256ish: Jason Bryden

2011-11-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

This podcast episode was a real yawner. But in a literal sense. It's just that Jason Bryden, father of a 22-month-old human boy, couldn't stop yawning. It was the latest he'd been up in a while. Or maybe it was the three gin & tonics. Either way, in this episode our hero bravely takes on an absent Doug Stanhope and relates how he told Marc Maron he was a dick. Plus we get to know the high school version of JB and learn what professional direction his own father tried pointing him in. It's a cram-packed, fun-filled WSF? you won't want to miss.

Your portal into Bryden's mind is at your fingertips below. Also at iTunes, where you can rate the show and leave a nasty comment. Don't be shy.

Nov. 27: Bob Robertson

2011-11-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Grey Cup Day, citizens of Canada. If you watch the big game today, no doubt you'll be sloshed because football and drinking go hand in hand (it's the only way to get through the endless stoppages). So here's a plan for you: Get hammered while cheering on your favoured team, pass out on the couch for a few hours, and wake up in time to tune in to What's So Funny? at 11. I'm more excited about this episode than I am about the fortunes of some thousandaires I don't even know. Why? Because we are welcoming back Mr. Bob Robertson!

Millions know Robertson as the taller half of Double Exposure, which entertained the nation for years on CBC radio and CTV television (they even did a number of podcast episodes which you can download at iTunes or on their website). For me, though, Bob was the subject of my boyhood man crush. He was the funniest weekend deejay I've ever heard in my life. He did the Saturday-Sunday noon-six pm slot and I'd listen religiously to his hilarious segments, like Little Mansion in Oak Bay, the Mouldy Oldie Music Vault and his chats with the likes of Old Ernie and Pierre Trudeau. If he were still doing radio, I'd still listen to radio. That's how great he was.

Bob's back in the WSF? studio as a published author this time around. Rather than moping around for the final twelve months our planet has left, Robertson is cashing in on our fears and anxieties with a book about the end of the world. It's called Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012 (Anvil Press). Can't wait to hear all about it. And, of course, to reminisce. If we're lucky, maybe even his comedic (and personal) partner Linda Cullen – an author, too – will join us, too.

I'm not sure when the book is coming out but he's doing a reading at VIVO Media Arts Centre (1965 Main St.) on Tuesday at 7 pm and books will be available there. He might even sign one for you.

Meanwhile, tune in Sunday night from 11 to midnight to CFRO, 102.7 FM, livestream it online, or listen on Telus TV on channel 3718. So many options, so few excuses not to.

Podcast episode 255ish: Chris Gaskin

2011-11-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

Here's an oldie but a goodie that dates back to all of two weeks ago. We missed getting it uploaded and on to your awaiting ears last week but it's here in all its glory for you this week. Young Chris Gaskin joined us in studio to talk about his youthful visage, his painful open heart surgeries, his foray into professional wrassling, and learning on the job in front of a national TV audience.

Nov. 20: Jason Bryden

2011-11-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Look who's back! Why, it's none other than Jason Bryden, who's been with us a few times before but never under his own name in the credits. One time he was on as himself but the conceit was that he'd be interviewing me as I called in from the Just For Laughs festival. The last time he was on as Bev PoCock and was breaking up with comedy partner David Milchard as Chris Wes. I could swear he's been on other times, too.

But tonight it's all Bryden all the time. We'll talk to him about being a new, and expecting, father, about doing stand-up, about his numerous web series (The Acting Class and The Staff Room), about his new room at the Prophouse Cafe on Mondays at 9 (1636 Venables – I hear Glenn Wool is on tomorrow), about his desire to leave this podunk outpost for the bright lights of America, about his addiction to Twitter, and no doubt lots more.

We hit the air running at 11 pm. And if you're on Telus TV, I just found out CFRO, 102.7 FM, can be heard on channel 3718.

Now I'm off to attend some big playoff football game the Lions are hosting. If there's a riot, I'll let you know tonight.

David Hasselhoff – comedian?

2011-11-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

The Vancouver Comedy Festival should add a question mark to its name. While head honcho Will Davis brings in some great comedic names each year, he seems to be admitting that stand-up comedy doesn't put bums in seats. So he's perfected the art of the non-show show. Throw in a big-name celebrity with a sense of humour but no act and presto! – tickets sold! It all started with a disaster of a show featuring the Trailer Park Boys at the Vogue. Then a few years ago it was former stand-up Steve Martin sitting down and answering inane questions from an adoring crowd. Then former-sketch comic Carol Burnett did two shows two separate years doing essentially the same thing, sans act. This year he's got comedic actress Betty White, at 90 years of age, doing two "shows" the same night. I assume she'll be answering questions, too. The common denominator – buzz. Something stand-up comedy, apparently, can't create.

Well, the fest just announced another in a line of non-stand-ups: David Hasselhoff. No doubt he'll have a few jokes, maybe sing an intentionally horrible song or two. At least in this case he'll be surrounded by actual stand-up comics. The former YouTube star hosts the festival's Opening Night Gala, featuring an international array of comedians: Doug Benson, Howard Kremer, David O'Doherty, Vancouver's Paul Bae, Brad Williams, and Ian Edwards. It's all going down Feb. 16 at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

Nov. 13: Ryan Hamilton (repeat)

2011-11-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

I'm away this week so we're running a repeat. Er, I mean a special encore presentation. There have been some really fun shows lately so it was hard to choose one. I decided to make it semi-timely. Ryan Hamilton is playing the Comedy MIX this weekend (and I'd totally be there if I were in town because the guy is hilarious). When he was here back in February, I dropped by his hotel room and recorded a show with him. So that's what we're running tomorrow night. You can go down to the 8 or 10:30 show at the MIX tonight, laugh at his jokes, then tune in on Sunday night at 11 to learn about the man behind the jokes and funny face. Oh yes, we talk about his face. Enjoy. We're back next Sunday with a live in-studio show when Jason Bryden drops by. Then the following Sunday we've got the legendary Bob Robertson back in studio!

Podcast episode 254ish: Steve Burgess

2011-11-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

Last week's guest (and this week's podcast guest), Steve Burgess, was a real pro. The former radio deejay and current memoirist knows how to spin a yarn. So we talked about his new book, Who Killed Mom? (spoiler alert: it wasn't him), waxed poetic about reality TV in general and Jillian Harris in particular, discussed how bagels can be cute, and we touch on an old topic he was hoping would disappear. It's a bright and breezy hour with Greg Proops' doppelgänger.

Get this episode hot off the podcast presses right here by clicking on the link below. That'll play it for you immediately on your computer via a stream. But should you want to savour it, come and go at your leisure, you might want to head over to the iTunes store, search for 'What's So Funny?' and click on the one with my mug on it, then download the latest episode to your computer or iPod or MP3 device at no monetary cost to you whatsoever.

Nov. 6: Chris Gaskin

2011-11-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

What time do you have? Did you remember to put your clocks back one hour last night? Hope so, otherwise you'll miss tonight's What's So Funny? at 11. Our guest is the youngest one we've ever had on. And if not, he's definitely the youngest-looking one we've had. But Chris Gaskin's no pushover, apparently. The kid is apparently a good wrestler and even "referees" pro-wrestling when not performing stand-up. We'll see if he can get out of my headlock. Besides being a young comic on the rise, he's also the publisher of the Gaskin Bugle. So we'll talk about all that and his health issues, comedy competitions and let him spew off on whatever's getting his goat these days (like all young men, he's known to have an opinion or two). Should be fun. Join us, won't you? We'll hit the air at 11 pm PST, or moments thereafter, at 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream the show at coopradio.org.

Oct. 30: Steve Burgess

2011-10-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

On this All Hallow's Eve Eve, we've got the spooky Steve Burgess... Wait. What? Steve's not spooky at all. In fact, rumour has it he's going out as the definitely non-scary Greg Proops on Halloween. But I digress. We're not here to talk trick-or-treating; we're here to talk about Who Killed Mom?: A Delinquent Son's Meditation on Family, Mortality, and Very Tacky Candles. Burgess is a well-known award-winning writer and broadcaster (remember @the end on CBC Newsworld, the Canadian equivalent of Politically Incorrect?) and man-about-town, but this is his first book. That's kind of unbelievable so we'll ask him why it took him so long. And having recently finished Who Killed Mom?, I've got lots of other questions to ask. So tune in tonight at 11 to 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream the show on your computing devices at coopradio.org.

Canada Supposedly Reads

2011-10-28T00:20:00.000-07:00

Our Sunday night guest this week will be author/broadcaster Steve Burgess, whose recent title Who Killed Mom? is currently fighting it out with 39 other Canadian non-fiction tomes on CBC's Canada Reads: True Stories list. Listeners (and book-lovers) can vote for up to five of the top 40 books listed on their website and the final 10 will be announced in February... Or something like that. Look, all I know is that the voting closes on Sunday at 9 pm PST and we hit the air at 11 pm so Steve won't be able to get the word out to the vast What's So Funny?-listening audience. So I'll do it here now.

I can (and will) personally vouch for Who Killed Mom? having just finished it yesterday. A finer book on matricide you will not read. Okay, it's not really about mother-murder despite its provocative title, but it is really good. If you haven't read it yet, you don't have time between now and Sunday (unless you're some kind of speed-reading freak of nature), so just trust me. Head over to the CBC site linked here and vote for it before Sunday night. Then tune in at 11 to CFRO, 102.7 FM (or livestream it here), to hear Steve and me talking about it. I've got lots of questions I've been scribbling down along the way.

Podcast episode 253ish: Sean Emeny

2011-10-23T21:32:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned, there's no live show tonight on radio. But you can listen to last week's episode if you like. It's up now on the podcast channel. Sean Emeny made his What's So Funny? debut and revealed lots I didn't know. Like, frinstance, did you know he's a California surfer dude at heart? Did you know he used to work in the music industry? I sure didn't. Those are but two of the at least three nuggets of information you'll glean from the People's Champion of stand-up comedy in Vancouver. As an added bonus, you'll get to hear me talk about being ravaged by the e.coli virus.

Here's where it all happens. Or at iTunes. And a few other places. You know the drill.

The Comedy MIX

2011-10-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

What's So Funny? is pre-empted this week due to CFRO's semi-annual membership drive (say, if you are a member, it may be time to renew your annual membership to help keep the station afloat; and if you're not a member, why not join? You can do it here online). But I thought I'd give a shout-out to the best damn comedy club in the city, The Comedy MIX (I have no idea why MIX is all in caps but I'm sure there's a reason).

I went to the early show last night to see Moshe Kasher from Los Angeles. I'd never seen the man perform before but have heard him on both Marc Maron's WTF podcast and Dave Shumka's and Graham Clark's Stop Podcasting Yourself. He's an intriguing character with quite a backstory but who knows how good he'd be as a stand-up. Or, more accurately, how I'd like him as a stand-up.

Well, I'm here to report he's damn good. And a real original comedic voice. He doesn't come out and tell obvious jokes in the sense that they're not jokes with a tried and true format (no set-up/punchline). He talks honestly (we can imagine, anyway, especially if you've heard him interviewed) about his life and thoughts but there's no meandering, no waiting for laughs. Practically every sentence elicits laughter. And every other sentence elicits groans on top of the laughter, which he thrives on. He'll pretend to be incredulous with the crowd at their reaction or non-reaction, but that's just grist for the old mill. It's part of his schtick. At no point in his show did he lose the crowd, yet listening to him kvetch about it you'd think he was bombing.

He's here for one more night (tonight, Saturday Oct. 22), two shows. I highly recommend you check him out. The whole show is top-notch. Charlie Demers hosts with his subversively intellectual material (masked as lowbrow to appease the great unwashed) and former local boy Phil Hanley flirts with the ladies and kills with his superbly-crafted one-liners and crowd work.

This type of show isn't a fluke at the MIX. I'm constantly impressed with their line-ups. They bring in great comics from afar and surround them with the city's best, who are headliners in their own right. As a comedy regular, I think that's the way to go. Vancouver's comics are, by and large, as good as LA's or New York's but the pool is much shallower, obviously. If you go see live comedy in town more than a couple times a year, you'll probably catch most of them. So it's refreshing to see new, polished faces from outside our area. And the locals get various weeks during the year where they get to headline, too. Win-win.

Two weeks ago Tom Rhodes headlined the club. Last week it was Chris Porter. This week, they brought in Kasher. On Thursday, Doug Benson does a special one-night show. Then November sees Ian Bagg, Ryan Hamilton, Tom Segura and Glenn Wool all travelling to town to play there. Then the hilarious Chad Daniels the first week of December. I think I'll be spending a lot of time there in the coming weeks. You should, too.

2012 Vancouver Comedy Fest names

2011-10-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

A lot of people asked me what was happening with the Vancouver Comedy Fest (aka Global ComedyFest, aka Some Other Generic Sponsorship Name I Can't Recall). It usually happened in September. Didn't happen this year. That's because it's been moved up, for reasons unknown to me, to February. Sounds good. September's too busy with tons of stuff.

If you haven't heard, they recently announced a few names for the festival, which will take place Feb. 16-26. The biggest one is Betty White, who'll be 90 by the time her show at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts rolls around on Feb. 18. Festival head honcho Will Davis loves these types of non-performing shows, and so do the people. Carol Burnett started it here with a Q&A followed by Steve Martin. White has had one helluva career and is hotter than she's ever been right now. I recently saw her killing it in Bridesmaids and she's hosted Saturday Night Live in the past year, too. Think of all she's done: my first memory of her is from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I also remember her from Password, hosted by her late husband Allen Ludden. Then there was The Golden Girls, which I never got into but the show was inexplicably popular. And now she's on a sitcom called Hot in Cleveland, which is appropriate because she's hot everywhere.

The other two names announced for the festival are ones I thought might have over-saturated the market. Margaret Cho plays here (seemingly) once a year (although now that I look it up, I see she was last here in August of 2010). I first saw her live at Bumbershoot Lord knows how many years ago. That's when she was still a rising young alt-comic in the company of David Cross and Patton Oswalt and the like. Now she's a freakin' brand. She'll be playing the Centre the next night, Feb. 19.

And Jeremy Hotz, too, has been here more times than I can count. (Just checked: last time he was here was March 2010). He's always naturally funny and does great crowd work so even if he doesn't change his act, you'll be laughing even though you've seen him before. He's playing Lafflines in New West on Feb. 16, 17 and 18.

Can't wait to hear more names announced in the coming months. There'll be some good ones, some bad ones, and some you've never heard of who may fall under either category.

I also see that the festival has something to do with the surprise appearance of Doug Benson at the Comedy MIX this Thursday night, and that's a great thing indeed. Check him out. One night only.

Podcast episode 252ish: Ken Lawson

2011-10-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

This here episode was a fun show. In some people's worlds (*ahem*Ken Lawson's*ahem*) that's showbiz code for not all that good, as you'll hear. But this ain't code; it really was fun. Ken was in fine form, saying, in effect, "yes and..." all throughout our one-hour improvisational interview. Because really, life is improv. We discuss whether "heavy metal" and "musician" even go together, learn what his nephew calls him, and he relates how Amy Poehler is a huge fan of his. So give this one a listen. I think you'll enjoy it.

Here it is for you, in all its glory. Take your shoes off, put your feet up and click below. Or download it to your iPod over at iTunes and listen to it repeatedly on your portable listening device.

Oct. 16: Sean Emeny

2011-10-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

We've got another first-timer on the show tonight. But Sean Emeny's been around for a while now, winning contests and entertaining all with his oddball eyes-closed delivery and solid one-liners. What's behind the man in the visor? Is he an inveterate poker and/or tennis player? A golfer, perchance? Who knows? Not I. That's why we're having him on. He intrigues. Despite the short jokes, Emeny is also a master storyteller. Maybe he'll share a few with us tonight. We're live on the air at 11 pm, as usual (give or take a few minutes). Talk to you then.

Podcast episode 251ish: Diana Frances

2011-10-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

Warning: This podcast episode could induce seasickness. Or just sickness. You see, Diana Frances talked about her experiences curled up in a ball on board cruise ships as well as an early sketch TV series she was involved in that her being impregnated by a giant omnipotent phallus. Other than that, though, it's suitable for children and small animals. Have a listen. It's her first solo appearance on the show after several guest spots with her comedy brethren and she managed to be not too creeped out by the whole thing.

Check it out here or on iTunes, where you'll be sure NOT to leave a comment or star rating (I'm going for the reverse psychology here).

Oct. 9: Ken Lawson

2011-10-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Or, to our American friends, happy Sunday. Tonight we give thanks by offering Ken Lawson. The first-time WSF? guest is not only a top-of-the-line improvisor (he's improvved at festivals all over this great continent), a cast member of the legendary Second City troupe on board an international cruise line, a star on the Canadian sitcom Health Nutz, and a musician, the Jim Carrey look-alike is also, without a doubt, the worst Ping-Pong coach in the world. We'll talk about all these things tonight at 11 as you digest your turkey.

Podcast episode 250ish: Dino Archie

2011-10-03T00:54:00.001-07:00

250 episodes?! Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. We've done more just on radio, but with today's installment, we've now got a cool 250 podcast episodes up and running. Impressive, no?

I left you hanging last week when I suggested Dino Archie would be our guest. After missing his first two scheduled appearances, I wasn't 100 percent certain he'd show up. But Archie was good on his word. He arrived early, even, and we had a grand old time on air. Here is the proof of that exchange. We get to know how the California native wound up in sunny Vancouver performing at stand-up stages all around town, learn about his irrepressible irrepressibility, find out about his days playing college basketball, and I dredge up a news-making gig he had at a UFC event in his hometown of Fresno. Good times.

Here's the episode for you. If you'd rather download it and listen to it on your commute, you go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you. Search for 'What's So Funny?' over at iTunes, if you will. All 250 of our episodes are there for the taking.

Oct. 2: Diana Frances

2011-10-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've hosted our good friend Diana Frances. Diana has been on What's So Funny? a few times but tonight is special becomes she's flying solo for the first time. Being an improviser, she works well with others and is always eager to share her time with fellow comics. We managed to snag her during her short stay back in Vancouver. She's always jetting off to other parts of the world, working on cruise ships, touring with Second City, and generally going where the work is. So we'll learn all about her travels and sea-sickness.

Tonight. At 11 pm PST. Be there. (102.7 FM or livestream at coopradio.org)

Podcast episode 249ish: Kaitlin Fontana

2011-09-28T01:09:00.000-07:00

Comedy fans know Kaitlin Fontana as an improv/sketch performer. Rock and roll fans know Kaitlin Fontana as an award-winning music journalist. Journalists know Kaitlin Fontana as a top-notch publicist. And any day now, fans of books will know Kaitlin Fontana as an author of Fresh at Twenty: An Oral History of Mint Records. We touched on all those subjects when Kaitlin Fontana visited the What's So Funny? studios on Sept. 18, 2011. We also learned what said awards were for, who Kaitlin Fontana's namesake is, which Mint Records artiste is a bit of a prima stinkin' donna, who people say Kaitlin Fontana looks like, and what, exactly, Kaitlin Fontana's involvement in the re-election of Stephen Harper was. Say wha'? Well, that's one way to look at it. Tune in to find out more.

If you haven't noticed, I kinda think the name Kaitlin Fontana is just about perfect. We also find out what her name would be if Kaitlin Fontana had been born a boy.

Here's your portal into the past below. Or go to iTunes and download the episode for enjoyment at your leisure.

Podcast episode 248ish: Adam Pateman

2011-09-26T01:09:00.000-07:00

Ready for a new podcast episode? I knew it! You guys are the best.

When you download this one, don't be fooled. It's not actually Tom Arnold. Nor is it a guy doing a spot-on impression of Roseanne's ex. Rather, it's Vancouver's own Adam Pateman! And when he's not doing impressions of campfires and the opening of pop cans and the pouring of contents into a glass, he sounds exactly like Tom Arnold without even trying. Unfortunately, we didn't talk about it during his visit to the What's So Funny? studio. I only realized it after listening back to the episode.

This show was recorded on 9/11/11 and we talked about the former New York resident's prophetic dream ten years earlier. It's almost eerie, except that it's not at all. And we field a call from former WSF? guest Ivan Decker, who complains about doing shows in the Big Apple.

Get started on the show right here. If you run out of time, go download it at iTunes – but only if you give it a rating. Come on, it's getting embarrassing. We've been stuck on eight ratings for eons. I know there are listeners. We have stats for these things. Some of you have to step up and rate the damn show, maybe even leave a comment. It's really giving a guy a complex.

Sept. 25: Dino Archie

2011-09-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Third time a charm? Here's hoping.

Regular readers of this space will have noticed Dino Archie's name has appeared here twice before. Each time he's had to cancel his spot on What's So Funny? for reasons we'll get to tonight... if he shows up! I'm confident he will. We spoke several weeks ago and he was eager to do the show. As an American, he's familiar with the baseball analogy of three strikes and you're out.

Archie has been an irrepressible figure on the Vancouver stand-up scene the past few months despite being a California native. What's he doing here? Career move? I'm guessing not. We'll find out if there's a woman involved. That's usually the way things work. And we'll find out all other things Dino Archie-related tonight between 11 and midnight on 102.7 FM in Vancouver and livestreamed at coopradio.org.

That is, if he shows up! (Oh yeah, he's never going to hear the end of it!)

Podcast episode 247ish: Tanyalee Davis

2011-09-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

We are in heavy podcast mode at the moment, just trying to get caught up with the live radio episodes. Once we're up-to-date, we'll get back to uploading the podcasts one week after they air on the radio. Deal? Good.

So this one was a real joy. Little Miss Sunshine Tanyalee Davis joined us in studio to talk about prisoners and leprechauns. You'll also learn who the bigger dick is: Maury Povich or Bono. And along the way, the 3-foot-6 stand-up comic has a midlife crisis. Can't nobody hold her down!

Listen right here right now or download the episode over at a place such as iTunes and listen while walking your dog or painting your fence.*

* Substitute mindless activity of your own choosing.

Podcast episode 246ish: Marcus Ryan

2011-09-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

For episode 246ish, we go back in time, to two weeks before episode 245ish. It was a simpler time. And for that reason we felt we should release it after the later one. Does this make any sense? Didn't think so.

Aussie Marcus Ryan made his second visit to the What's So Funny? studio. The itinerant stand-up comic found his way back to our shores after a 2.5-year absence. We talked about a rather happy 3-hour performance in Phnom Penh, rude Canadians, what it means to do shows in Vegas, and, of course, our mutual reverence of the inimitable legend that is Rolf Harris.

By clicking that button below, you'll be whisked back to that simpler era of early August 2011. Another way to go about it is find a podcast server and download the episode onto your electronic gizmo. A service such as iTunes would suffice, although there are others.

Sept. 18: Kaitlin Fontana

2011-09-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Author! Author! That's right, we've got a freakin' author on What's So Funny? tonight. But not only has award-winning writer Kaitlin Fontana just come out with a new book (Fresh at Twenty: The Oral History of Mint Records), she's also an improviser, sketch comic and publicist extraordinaire. She really is a gal on the go. We'll cover it all in our hour-long discussion and find out why in a world full of slackers she's so damn driven to succeed. And somewhere along the way I'll ask her how she came to choose nom de plume Kaitlin Fontana because, surely, it's gotta be one. It's too perfect.

Podcast episode 245ish: Blaine Thurier

2011-09-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Now that my trusted web mistress Raegan is back from her Eastern European honeymoon, the backlog of podcast episodes can now start moving. We're going slightly out of order from when they aired but five years from now, who's going to know the difference?

This episode, brought to you by the letter C, brings us film maker/New Pornographer Blaine Thurier. He talks about critics, comic books, Christian rock, and being creative.

Listen right here right now by pressing 'play' below, or download at iTunes. While you're there, click on some stars and rate the show. It's only polite.

Sept. 11: Adam Pateman

2011-09-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

On this most sombre of anniversaries, our guest tonight is a young Vancouver comic who lived in New York City the past two years. We'll talk to Adam Pateman about the Big Apple and what he remembers as a 17-year-old back in 2001. And along the way we'll get to plenty of other stuff, too. I just spoke to Adam (for the first time) in depth a week or two ago and he's got plenty to talk about so this show promises to be a good one. And if we're lucky he'll do his famous impression of a campfire.

Tonight at 11, people! Be there. 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream it on coopradio.org. If you want to call in and talk to Adam, the number is 604-684-7561. He's looking forward to getting some calls. No pressure, though.

My Time to Shine

2011-09-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

MacPherson about to pounce on his young and inexperienced opponent.

I've had 24 hours to reflect on my appearance at Paul Anthony's Talent Time (held monthly at the Biltmore Hotel). Here's the deal: Paul brought out a 13-year-old wunderkind by the name of Natasha Carr-Harris, a local table tennis whiz who came back from the US Open Championships in Milwaukee a winner. She put on a little exhibition with her coach, wowing the crowd with her Ping-Pong chops.

Carr-Harris displaying her virtuosic table tennis prowess against her coach.

Then I was brought on to give the young champ a game. Ken Lawson played my coach and hit some balls to me, one of which landed on the table. But I didn't need no stinkin' warm-up! This was a 13-year-old girl! I play against grown-ups.

Anthony does the pre-interview with me.

I do love to play. And in fact, in the one year I lived in a house with a table in the basement, I held a tournament, dubbing it Ping-Pong-Palooza. Fourteen players vied for top prize; only one came away the winner. Me. I made sure to bring my hard-won trophy to the Biltmore to establish my bona fides. And lest you think I invited patsies to my tournament, I made sure I saw each player play once before they were allowed in the competition. I didn't want any weak links. Many good friends asked to play and I had to tell them it was an invitational and their skillz were simply not mad enough.

Coach Lawson confidant in my abilities; Anthony holding up my prized trophy.

All this to say I wasn't some palooka who was going to take the fall for comedic effect. I was going to give this young lady a game. And to her credit, she told me before our match that she didn't want me to let her win. As if.

The game is afoot. Is that fear in the teen's eyes?

I play a little gamesmanship with Carr-Harris. I rightfully won the serve but, being the savvy vet that I am, knew I could allow her first service and I could choose the end. She'd never expect such a brazen opening gambit. So I took her side of the table. Yes, you guessed it, the very side she had warmed up on! This would completely throw her for a loop!

Carr-Harris looking dazed and confused at what just came her way.

I gave her all I had.

I try to smash one by her, as Lawson cowers for his life.

When my smashes failed to get by her, I threw lobs at her so she'd lose the ball in the glaring television lights.

Where's the ball? Caught in the lights, that's where.

I proceeded to lose 11-0 to Natasha.

All fun and games. She was supposed to win. I was the stooge. I was asked to play her after Anthony discovered I was a Ping-Pong enthusiast. He thought it would be funny to have me, an old geezer, trying to play against this young US Open champ. So did I. I thought it would be poor form to beat her since she was the star. I also realized there was very little chance of that happening.

A disgusted Coach Lawson listens to my pathetic excuses.

And yet... And yet I really thought maybe there was an outside chance I could do it. And at the very least get in some good rallies. Make a game of it. Yes, I was that delusional. Not only did she clean my clock to the tune of 11-0, but there wasn't even one decent rally in the whole game. Zip. Nada. I felt bad for the people. If I were in the crowd watching that kind of pathetic display, I would have thought I could do better than that. I still believe I could have done better than that. But I didn't.

Now, in my defense, I've got lots of good excuses:

I had a beer before the game and I'm pretty sure she was clean and sober.
She had a good long warm-up with her coach while I didn't.
I wasn't wearing my glasses.
She did all her fancy spins.
If I were up, say, 8-0 in a game to 11, I would ease up a bit, maybe engage my opponent by geting in a rally. But she did no such thing!
I'm old-school. I much prefer the 21-point games, where players alternate taking five serves apiece. I can come back from 8-0 in a game to 21; it's very hard to do in a game to 11.
Come on, everyone knows a real competition is a best-of-3 or best-of-5 sets. I was just warming up!

Okay, not so much good excuses, but excuses nonetheless. It was overall a fun night. I just wish I could have given her a better game. Natasha is a very charming young lady and quite the over-achiever. I think I might go to her coach for lessons.

The photo above and the ones following were all taken by Patrick Shannon. Visit his website here.

Sept. 4: Tanyalee Davis

2011-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

The live show returns tonight. And by 'live', I mean, of course, live to air on the radio with an in-studio guest, not live in front of a studio audience. And it promises to be a great show. I've been waiting a long time to get this comic on. Tanyalee Davis is practically a local. Hailing from Manitoba, she got her comedy career started right here in Vancouver, if I'm not mistaken. And if I am mistaken, she will correct me on-air. Soon after she started her career, she headed down to Los Angeles to seek her fame and fortune in Hollywood. Not sure of the timeline, but I know she spent a good number of years in Las Vegas, where she performed regularly when not touring the globe. And she tours the globe frequently. I interviewed Tanyalee back in 2005 and the girl has stories and isn't afraid to tell them. If you've ever seen her stage act, you know her life is an open book so I expect an hour will barely scratch the surface.

As usual, the show goes from 11 to midnight PST on 102.7 FM in Vancouver, streaming live on the interweb at coopradio.org

August 21: Blaine Thurier

2011-08-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I changed the description of the show under the header recently. I decided to go with "Canada's longest-running radio show/podcast about comedy..." because I figured it's gotta be true. And if it isn't, whoever is will contact me and set me straight. But really, we've been doing this thing since 2004. It also got me thinking how comedy has damn-near exploded over the years. When I first started writing about comedy, it was practically invisible. Just getting an article in on a fairly big name coming to town was next to impossible, let alone any stories on locals, whom nobody knew. Nowadays every paper writes about it and there are almost as many comedy podcasts looking for comedian guests as there are comedians. There was a time I thought I could get just about any guest I wanted. Now, because of the demand on their time, it's not as easy as it once was. So there you have it. We're Canada's longest-running comedy podcast whether it's true or not.

Okay, that was a big digression. The point of this post is to tell you about tonight's live in-studio guest. Blaine Thurier is a film maker/writer/editor/actor/producer/cinematographer/sound man/production designer/casting director. His latest effort is a comedy called A Gun to the Head (starring former WSF? guest Paul Anthony), which debuts in Vancouver at the Denman Theatre on Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 pm. We'll talk about that, his other films, being portrayed by Wyatt Cenac and working with the likes of Tom Scharpling, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Horatio Sanz, Jon Oliver, John Hodgman and Todd Barry in a video for his band New Pornographers. Or is it The New Pornographers? I never know about the definite article with rock bands. And we'll talk about more I haven't thought of yet.

Tune in tonight at 11 at 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream it at coopradio.org.

Trailer for A Gun To the Head:

Moves, by New Pornographers:

August 14: Encore Presentation

2011-08-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today is a travel day so I apologize for the late post on tonight's program. Since I'm away, we're offering one of the livelier episodes we've had this year when Phil Nichol and Craig Campbell dropped by to tell drinking stories and sing songs. It was a blast, as you already know if you heard it the first time back in February or listened to the podcast. Tune in at 11 to 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream it at coopradio.org for this special encore presentation. We'll be back next week with live in-studio guest, film-maker/musician Blaine Thurier.

Podcast episode 244ish: Larry Miller

2011-08-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

It's great when people you've admired for years turn out to be great people. Such was the case with Larry Miller. I first saw him back on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in the 1980s many times. Then he moved on to many a character role in many a movie. But he's still doing stand-up. And surprisingly, he admitted on this podcast episode, he feels he's just starting to feel he gets it after 32 years on stage. We sat down in his hotel room on an off-day shooting (he was here making another film) and he couldn't have been nicer. And what a positive outlook he has on life. He's a regular Benedict Spinoza. From The Story of Philosophy, by Brian Magee:

...[Spinoza] argued that it was absurd for individuals to be obsessed by their personal problems, these being merely petty concerns: we should try to see our problems as occupying the place they actually do in the totality of things; and when we do that we shall see them as insignificant – and this will greatly help us to bear them.

You'll see what I mean when you listen to the episode, which runs ten minutes longer than most of the others and could very easily have run twice that long. We talked about his days on Carson, starting out in New York with Jerry Seinfeld, and he offers many words of wisdom along the way. Enjoy.

As always, click below to listen right here and now on your computer. Or download it at, say, iTunes, onto your personal listening device to listen at your leisure whenever and wherever you like.

And check out some early Miller from back in the day:

August 7: Marcus Ryan

2011-08-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

Come on, admit it, you love the Aussie accent, right? Who doesn't? Tonight is your night because we have, direct from Down Under, Marcus Ryan. Marcus has been with us once before, back in early 2009. I have little memory of that show but I do recall somewhere along the way I noticed he looked a lot like Norm MacDonald. So there's that. You won't see that on the radio, but he's playing around town so go check him out. He'll inform us of the whereabouts tonight, I'm sure. And we'll talk of his latest travels throughout southeast Asia and plenty more. I notice his Facebook page now says he lives here, so we'll find out about that, too. So tune in tonight. Same time, same channel.

Podcast episode 243ish: Roy Zimmerman

2011-08-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

If one hour of uninterrupted conversation is too much for you, this episode will fix that. Interspersed in the discussion with political satirist Roy Zimmerman are songs from the Zimmerman library. Everyone, including me, makes the obvious comparison to Tom Lehrer but that's how good Zimmerman is. He's been at it a long time and has about a thousand songs under his writer's belt and there's not a dud among them. We talk about politics of the left, his musical history, Oliver North and Ray Stevens and plenty more.

So have a listen. Check it out here or at iTunes. There are still people out there who don't know how to use iTunes (I was speaking to one the other night). If that describes you, ask a friend how it works.

Tommy Tiernan interview

2011-07-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Look what I found. I really should try to stay on top of things. I interviewed Irish comic Tommy Tiernan back in April and forgot to post it. Whatcha gonna do?

I do a ton of phone interviews for print purposes and some are good, some not so good (cough-Patton Oswalt-cough). But I would say without a doubt the best, most-thoughtful and articulate one I've ever done was this one with Tommy Tiernan. Was I swept away with the Irish lilt? Maybe a wee bit but I think you'll agree from reading this that he is a guy who has given much thought to many a topic and he expresses himself beautifully. I would love to get him on the radio show/podcast one day so you can experience the full effect of the accent along with the words. One day...

Meanwhile, enjoy the transcript:

Tommy Tiernan – April 5, 2011

"I’m an Irish comedian; I’m not trying to be a global product. I’m not going to hide my Irishness and I’m not going to try and dilute it. I’m giving my experience from an Irish perspective rather than trying to be a kind of pan-national comedian." – Tommy Tiernan

Tommy Tiernan: Hello?

Guy MacPherson: Good morning, Tommy Tiernan.
TT: Yes. Is that Guy?

GM: It is. Hi.
TT: How are you?

GM: Good, thanks. Are you in Adelaide?
TT: Yes.

GM: On tour, I assume.
TT: I gotta hope I am. (laughs) Yeah, yeah, I’m on tour down here. I’ve been on the road for two or three weeks now.

GM: Where are you based?
TT: In my life?

GM: Yeah.
TT: I live in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland.

GM: You travel the whole world. Have you done Australia before?
TT: I’ve done Australia before. I can only perform in places with the western mindset so I couldn’t perform in India. Or Yemen.

GM: A lot of comics from the UK perform in India and the Middle East now, don’t they?
TT: Yeah, but they’re performing to ex-pats, though. They’re just performing to exiles. I often fantasize about walking into a village in Pakistan or something and being held hostage and they say, “What do you do?” And you say you’re a comedian. And they say, “Okay, do your show and we’ll decide if you live or die.” (laughs) I think our western minds operate along familiar tram lines: We all watch the same TV shows; our cities are more or less the same; government and structures... So they’re the places I work best.

GM: When you say these other comics are performing to ex-pat audiences...
TT: Exactly, they’re all sort of English people who are living in India or living in Hong Kong or whatever. You’re not really playing that country. It’s like doing a tour of embassies.

GM: Or military shows.
TT: Or something like that. Yeah, exactly. You wouldn’t say to a Canadian comic who plays a military base in Afghanistan that his stuff goes down very well in that part of the world. It’s the western heads that I attempt to undermine and understand.

GM: To help me understand, you’re not playing to those western heads in countries that aren’t western. Is that right?
TT: I’m not playing... I wouldn’t be able to.

GM: Why’s that?
TT: Why would I not be able to play to somebody who’s not from the west?

GM: No, no. What I mean is, these other comics are playing to ex-pats in places like India...
TT: Oh, I could do that. I could do that.

GM: I see. And do you do that? Or you don’t?
TT: Oh, I’ve done it before. I mean, I’ve done tours before. I remember doing shows in Bangkok and Hong Kong and Phuket and places like that. One of the most famous places in London is a place called The Comedy Store and they now have a franchise in Mumbai. But you know that’s just going to be full of westerners. And, you know, that’s fine. But those trips are more about what happens outside of the comedy club rather than what happens inside. They’re just a trip. You’re not crossing cultural borders. It’s like travelling around the world and only eating in McDonald’s wherever you go.

GM: That’s a great analogy. There are a lot of comics these days who are playing all over the world and they tend to make it seem like what you’re suggesting it isn’t. So it’s good to remember, yeah, they’re just playing to people like me. If I were over in India, I’d go to that club to see you or another western comic for sure.
TT: Absolutely, yeah. It’s kind of a nice reminder of home and stuff like that. It’s like a little breathing hole in the ice. I feel very privileged, really, that wherever I am in the world Irish people come to my shows. I don’t know if ‘proud of it’ is the right phrase but it means a lot to me. I’m an Irish comedian; I’m not trying to be a global product. To me, I love Jackie Mason and he gets thunderous strength from being Jewish. I made the decision a few years ago – it was actually before I performed a show in Canada – a friend said, “Okay, they won’t get this reference, they won’t get that reference.” Maybe I should choose another word for this. And then I thought, no. When I’m in Ireland and an American comedian comes to play, a guy like Rich Hall, the thing that makes it interesting to me is that he’s American and that he is using American phraseology, American terms for this, American terms for that. And I thought, well, I’m going to do the same when I go to Canada. I’m not going to hide my Irishness and I’m not going to try and dilute it. I’m giving my experience from an Irish perspective rather than trying to be a kind of pan-national comedian.

GM: Canada’s right in the middle. We grew up watching TV from England and shows from the States. It’s like we’re trilingual. When American comics come up, or comics from the British Isles come over, they use their terminology. But when Canadian comics travel abroad, they’re constantly changing words to be understood. Stewart Francis is a good example. In one joke he changes the word ‘trunk’ to ‘boot’, and I always think, “Why don’t you just keep it?! They’ll understand.”
TT: It’s funny. In Ireland, we don’t get enough Canadian stuff for us to understand exactly where a Canadian might be coming from, in terms of cultural references. Even a cultural stereotype. It can be difficult for Irish people to embrace a Canadian stereotype because we’re not exactly sure what that is. But for me performing, America isn’t as welcoming or as comfortable a place to play as Canada is. I find the Canadian audiences are just a bit more like the Europeans than they are like the Americans. I don’t find Canada as hysterical in the freaked-out sense. It’s not as fundamentalist as America. It seems a lot more daring, in a lot of ways. Now, everything has its flip side. There’s a place in Ireland that I love: County Mayo. And the people there, when they’re in their good moods, they’re the softest, most open, easy-going people on the planet. But they can also be, not individually but as kind of as a tribe, they can also be the most pig-ignorant, boorish pugs you could ever walk into. So as sure as Canada has an educated, liberal, easy-going side, I know it also has the opposite of that. Every soul has its shadow. But in general terms I find Canada a much sweeter place to play.

GM: Is that something you notice from the stage? I’m wondering how it manifests itself. Is it a difference in the audience or just a difference in what you know about the two countries?
TT: It’s a difference in the audience. There’s more of a willingness to go along with ideas. Now, I’ve done a lot of shows in Montreal and maybe the audience there, because they’ve had so many comedy festivals, they’re quite well-educated in terms of stand-up. One thing that’s happening with stand-up now in England is that there are two or three very popular stand-up comedy shows on television and they’re mainstream. They’re on at the peak times at the weekend and they get huge audiences. But the stuff that works on those television shows is absolutely the middle of the road. It’s funny – and I’m not criticizing; I’m just noticing it – but it’s centre of the road stuff. It’s very well done and it’s very funny but that’s where it is. So you have the vast majority of people who are watching stand-up are being told this is what it is, this is what stand-up comedy is. So if you then play to those people and your stuff is left of centre, a lot of them don’t know how to cope with it because it’s not what they watched on television. So I imagine that there are parts of Canada that maybe are the same. But in general I find that Canadian audiences are a bit more educated when it comes to stand-up. I don’t mean educated that it’s necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. I just mean maybe they’re more experienced in different types of stand-up.

GM: That’s an interesting point. I don’t know if that’s true because I don’t know other places. Who knows? I don’t.
TT: But certainly it’s a place I look forward to playing. I find it’s a place where, if I try something different, I don’t have to explain to the audience what I’m doing. Whereas I’ve had some shows in New York where you’re on a bill with 15 or 20 other comedians. You get about 15 minutes and the show runs from 7 in the evening until 12 o’clock at night. And the audience aren’t expected to stay very long. They just come in for two or three drinks and then they go again. I remember one time doing a gig there and there was about eight or nine Latinos at the show and that was it. It was, you know, 7:15 on a Tuesday night and I was bewildering to them. My accent they couldn’t figure out, my references. Laughter is an earthquake. It’s supposed to undermine whatever concept you’re talking about. And they just didn’t understand what I was doing. So insular crowds can be found everywhere.

"There’s a few elements to Irish wit. Whimsy is the last refuge of the impotent. We were powerless for so long that the only way we could feel free was through liberating speech. So I think Irish people, over time, developed this ability not to take reality too seriously. We take a fierce delight in words and wordplay." – Tommy Tiernan

GM: Who dubbed you the Bono of Irish comedy?
TT: My wife, I think.

GM: I was wondering how you feel about being compared to someone so humourless.
TT: Yeah. He’s okay, actually. He professionally obliged to be sincere all the time. Not only does a stand-up comedian have to undermine civilization or whatever he’s talking about, but he also has to undermine himself. I guess that I would aspire to being more Bobo than Bono.

GM: I don’t now Bobo.
TT: Bobo’s just some kind of a fictional clown. I’m more that. I’m more of a clown than a messiah.

GM: Do you know Bono?
TT: I’ve met him a few times, yes. A nice guy.

GM: Musicians all have a good sense of humour so he’s probably just not showing it publicly.
TT: Absolutely. When you’re part of such a vast money-making machine as U2... When U2 come to town, do you know those alien movies where this incredibly huge UFO hovers above the city and drains all the resources before moving on? U2 are kind of like that with their big stage show – they hover above an unsuspecting metropolis (laughs) and then just take all the money and move on to the next phase. So he’s more Captain Kirk, really. Anyway, anyway...

GM: The Irish are famously known for their wit. When you got into comedy as a young man – how old were you when you started, by the way?
TT: About 25 or 26.

GM: Were you the funny guy amongst all your friends?
TT: There’s a few elements to Irish wit, really. One of them is, I think, whimsy is the last refuge of the impotent. We were powerless for so long that the only way we could feel free was through liberating speech. We became anarchic in our ideas because we couldn’t take up arms against our oppressor because they were too powerful, so we sought refuge in ideas and kind of crazy ideas. It’s like, you get a few guys who might be kidnapped by the militant group in the Middle East and they’ve all be chained to radiators in the room and the guards can’t understand how every now and again he hears them laughing. I think you kind of find freedom wherever you can get it. So I think Irish people, over time we’ve just developed this ability not to take reality too seriously. We take a fierce delight in words and wordplay. And I guess I moved around an awful lot as a child. I felt like a – I still feel like a refugee of sorts, kind of a constant exile. I find it very interesting. I’m in Adelaide in Australia today and I’ll spend the day walking around the city and I’m kind of invisible, in that nobody really sees me. If I disappeared, nobody would know. It’s a curious feeling of not counting. I’m not in any way tethered to this community. And I go from that experience of feeling invisible in the afternoon to the experience of being the centre of attention at night. And I think that’s probably one of the reasons I got into stand-up comedy, is that I needed that feeling at the end of the day to help me cope with the feeling of earlier on in the day. And I moved around a lot as a child so I was used to being the new boy. And also to undermine things – the world around me and myself. My brain works like that anyway so stand-up suits me. Stand-up suits my inclinations, really.

GM: Why did you move around a lot?
TT: My father was just in the witness protection program. (laughs) No, my dad had jobs with different kinds of farming organizations. We started off in Donegal in the north of Ireland, then we moved to Africa for three years, then we moved to London, England, for a while, then various towns around Ireland. Then at 16 I was sent off to a boarding school.

GM: Where was that?
TT: That was also in Ireland. I’m very used to moving around.

GM: Well, it suits your lifestyle now... Are you and Frankie Boyle in the same club?
TT: Not in the slightest, no.

GM: Now that you’ve both been in trouble for the Down Syndrome jokes.
TT: I think there’s a huge difference. We actually got support. It’s a slightly long-winded story, Guy, but I’ll tell it to you. I’m not a fan of the type of stand-up that sets out to be divisive, the type of stand-up that is all bricks and no flowers. I have no interest in that. I find it abrasive and without charm. But it’s very easy to come along to a show of mine as a journalist and hear a joke and decide that... I think in a way, I know the journalists that come to see me are intelligent so they understand what I mean, that I’m making a joke, but they can also understand how they can create a story out of it. They can go back to their editors the next day and go, “Do you think there’s a story in this?” And the editor goes, “Yeah, we’ll get three or four days out of that.” And then they contact loads of people who they feel ought to be shocked at something they haven’t heard. It’s all the work of journalists. All of it. Everybody’s just looking for a story. That’s all it is. Just the journalist is just, “I have an empty week ahead of me. How do I come up with a story?” The essence of comedy is to kind of rattle things up a little bit. Of course there’s going to be stories in there. With the Down Syndrome thing, after it made the papers and was deliberately misrepresented – it was intelligently misrepresented – we invited Down Syndrome Ireland along to the show so they could see the piece in context. And they came along and they issued a press statement afterwards saying that they fully support what I was doing but none of the newspapers carried that story because it wasn’t interesting. The interesting part of the story was “comedian attacks vulnerable group”. That’s interesting. Just as a headline: “I wonder what happened there?” But “vulnerable group say comedian’s material was not offensive”, that’s less interesting as a story. So the people who are at fault in the second story are the people who created the story. And the people who created the story mightn’t be likely to run that story. It’s happened to me lots of times on a load of different issues. I’m so familiar with it now, I know how it works.

"When I say my style has matured, I hope, it hasn’t become less dangerous or less anarchic; it’s just that I whisper now as well as shout every now and again." – Tommy Tiernan

GM: And you had the anti-Semetic charges.
TT: Absolutely the same thing. One-hundred percent the same thing. What happens, I think, with the Jewish community is that once you get tagged as saying something anti-Semetic, it’s a whole other world. It’s a world of huge hurt and often kind of irrational judgment. I met the Canadian Jewish Congress and I had a great dinner with him and we had a great conversation and got on very well. The whole thing was the work of journalism. But when it became a story, and you get called racist and anti-Semetic, it’s unbelievable. It’s like sticking your finger into a bee’s nest – you’re unlikely to escape with just honey. (laughs) It’s hard, it’s hard.

GM: When I read the quote out of context, it didn’t sound like you were joking.
TT: No, because there’s no joke in it. It was a rant done that made sense in the context of the whole interview. If you go see a comic and he does a characterization of an old person, the lines themselves aren’t funny but the context in which it was done... There’s an adage in comedy that in a ridiculous situation, the more normal the stuff you say, the funnier it is.

GM: So was that a character you were doing?
TT: Absolutely! The whole interview lasted for about 45 minutes and this took about, I dunno, 12 seconds. But the journalist knew what they were doing. It wasn’t a... em...

GM: … a mistake, a misunderstanding.
TT: No, it wasn’t. And the newspaper – which I’m delighted to say has gone into receivership since. It was a newspaper called the Sunday Tribune and their sales were going down. And they adopted a policy of trying to attract more readers through more salacious headlines for about six or nine months, and I was at the start of that. I had to bear the brunt of it but it was absolutely not my doing.

GM: When you’re in the middle of it, do you think, “Uh-oh, there goes my career”, like Michael Richards, or do you think it’s great because you get the publicity, or what do you think?
TT: It was a headache, to be honest with you. It was unpleasant. I never like to hear people being upset. When people come along to a show of mine, I want them to laugh; I don’t want them to be annoyed or feel hurt or anything like that. That’s not my job. I have no interest in that. What it did do was it happened at a period of time in my stand-up where I was frustrated with the way I was performing, and it made me kind of re-evaluate what I was doing and the style in which I was doing it. That, actually, then led to... I said I want to change my performance style. I thought the material was getting a bit too aggressive. I felt as if I was kind of trapped in a slightly too combative a persona on stage and I didn’t know how to get out of it. And I’d been feeling that for a few years. I felt that the playfulness had gone out of the stand-up. So what I did was I decided the best way to find my way out of it would be to talk my way out of it. So I did a 36-hour show. My reasoning was, the only way I’m going to evolve my style... I’ll go up on stage one night and I’ll stay there until I can’t be aggressive anymore, until I can’t be combative anymore and I’ll see where that ends up. And it worked. I think probably six or eight months later I found myself on stage being able to do things, knowing how to do things I’d wanted to do before but couldn’t find the door. When I say my style has matured, I hope, it hasn’t become less dangerous or less anarchic; it’s just that I whisper now as well as shout every now and again.

GM: When did you go through that change?
TT: I’d say, uh, 2009.

GM: Now are you overly sensitive to any potential misunderstanding? Do you find yourself holding back a bit because somebody might take something the wrong way?
TT: No, absolutely not. Not at all, no. When you’re on stage, whatever you’re thinking, you have to say it. So the brakes are still off but I’m just better at going around corners. (laughs) Do you know what I mean? I haven’t become more careful; I’m just not as thorny, maybe.

GM: So are you taking some responsibility or are you saying it was all on the journalist? It seems like you were thinking you should also ease up a bit.
TT: No, not ease up. It happened around the same time. I’d been frustrated with my style of stand-up for about a year, maybe even two years. So it just contributed, it was an ingredient of lots of other things. I felt myself as if the shows were too kind of one-dimensional. And when a crisis like that happens, the amount of trouble I had gotten into with that, it just all adds up. I just said, Okay, what is it that you do? What is it that you want to do? One of my favourite quotes is from a guy called D.T. Suzuki and he might have been a Buddhist monk. He said one of the characteristics of Zen is a walking away from respectability. And that still inspires me. To be, not disrespectful, but to be irresponsible on stage, I get great joy out of that. The full quote is probably available online somewhere. I can’t remember it but his name is D.T. Suzuki and one of the lines is, “One of the characteristics of Zen is a walking away from respectability.” And that still inspires me, you know? The thing of, when I walk out on stage, of undermining myself, of undermining society, civilization, of being unpredictable, but all in a kind of a joyous way. That you’re joyfully disrespectful as opposed to angrily disrespectful. I wanted more joy and less anger.

GM: And that’s in your personal life as well?
TT: There’s another Zen quote, I think, or maybe it’s Oscar Wilde, that says, “Every artist must choose.” Maybe it’s William Butler Yeats. “Every artist must choose perfection of the life or the work.” (laughs)

GM: So you go for the work.
TT: Sometimes. (laughs) Sometimes.

GM: When did you move to the lavalier mic? Does it give it a more theatrical feel?
TT: I’ve gone back, actually. I’ve gone back to the traditional handheld now.

GM: Oh, good. That’s my preference. I don’t know why. It’s a silly thing.
TT: It’s much more stylish, I think. For about a year-and-a-half now I’ve been back using the handheld. I won’t even use a radio mic. I love the cord coming out of the mic as well, you know?

GM: It’s a bit of a dance, moving it around, stepping over it.
TT: Yeah, absolutely. Maybe it’s a bit like if you’re an electric guitar player. There are archetypal images in your mind of a rock guitarist. And for me there are archetypal images of performers. I get a great kick out of watching people like Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and the shapes and body movement they would have on stage and how they can twist and contort themselves, and it’s always with a handheld mic with a cord coming out of it. So I use that, as well. I use that kind of imagery in my head to adopt a pose.

GM: It’s funny none of those are comedians, those images you have.
TT: No, they’re still funny, though! I mean, Leonard Cohen is hilarious. Tom Waits is hilarious. They’re almost like refugees, as well. They’re kind of in constant exile. You know, it’s the Clint Eastwood gunslinger thing of a man on his own on stage. I’m drawn to that as well.

GM: Do you have comedic heroes?
TT: Absolutely. Lenny Bruce.

GM: You’re younger than I am, I think. How did you come to appreciate Lenny Bruce?
TT: I think I got into Lenny Bruce through Dylan. I went from Bob Dylan to people like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. And all these people are kind of linked. And from Ginsberg and Burroughs I got into Lenny Bruce. These are counter-culture heroes of the sixties. There’s an album, Live at Carnegie Hall, which I used to listen to. Actually, just before you called I was listening to one of his albums. I just listen to them over and over again. A lot of the references are lost on me because they’re very much time- and country-specific, but there’s something magnetic about his style that I’m drawn to. And I don’t fully understand what it is. So, yeah, I really like Lenny Bruce. He wouldn’t be someone who makes me laugh a lot because I think our humour is a bit more... Like, we would find Will Ferrell a lot funnier than Bob Hope because Will Ferrell is the comedian of our times. So I really love Lenny Bruce but he doesn’t make me laugh as much as, say, somebody like Steven Wright or even contemporary comics like Maria Bamford, Doug Benson, Arj Barker, Greg Proops. You know, I have an endless list of comics that make me laugh a lot. But in terms of a kind of style and persona, I’m very attracted to Lenny Bruce.

July 31: Larry Miller

2011-07-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

What an exciting weekend this will be, What's So Funny?-wise. It turns out it's also a holiday. Who knew? As it turns out, we have a very special episode of WSF? on Sunday (I always used to love to hate those "very special episodes" of sitcoms back in the day, but this is nothing like that.) The great Larry Miller will be our guest.

Larry Miller may not be a household name but he's one of the best stand-up comics of his generation. He was on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show about 25 times and I probably saw all of them. I used to watch Carson religiously and would pay extra special attention any time a comedian was on. And Miller was one of my favourites. Maybe you're a baby reader and weren't around then. Okay. Fair enough. If you don't know the name, you'll certainly be familiar with the face and voice – he's one of the top character actors around. His first biggish supporting role was in Pretty Woman but you've seen him in the Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind and Best in Show or such mainstream hits as Princess Diaries, The Nutty Professor and Bee Movie. On the tube he's been Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Legal and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Last Sunday night I heard Miller dropped in and did 15 minute sets at the Comedy MIX on Burrard both Friday and Saturday night. I was devastated that I didn't know about it since I'd never seen him live and was such a big and long-time fan. But a little birdie told me he'd also be dropping by on Tuesday and Wednesday. So I went down on Tuesday and finally got to see him. What a treat. And what a prince of a guy. I asked about recording a show with me and he couldn't have been nicer. He said he had time the next afternoon and he welcomed me to his hotel room where we chatted for about 70 minutes. If he didn't have to run and do a conference call, we could have talked for another hour, easy. So this show will run long (now that we have no show immediately following us). My levels, it turns out, were a little lower than his but that's okay because he did the bulk of the talking.

We touched on his appearances on Carson, his days starting out in New York with Jerry Seinfeld, his connection with other comics of any level, and he exhibited a refreshing perspective about life and show business that more people should adhere to. So mark this on your calendar. Chances are you don't have to work Monday morning so you can stay up. We get things started, as usual, at 11 pm on CFRO 102.7 FM, and you can livestream it here. Next Sunday, of course, it'll be available in podcast form.

And while you're at it, check out his blog/clog and his podcast, This Week with Larry Miller.

Podcast episode 242ish: Dave Burleigh

2011-07-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

From Vegas, comic Dave Burleigh discusses the stigma of doing impressions, the genesis of a Las Vegas show, and explains why comedy and breakfast don't go together. Along the way, we're joined by BC's own Richard Kiss, now residing in Sin City, and a few of Burleigh's celebrity impersonations.

Contest winner

2011-07-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are. Monday, July 25, 10 a.m. Doug Stanhope's Oslo: Burning a Bridge to Nowhere CD/DVD burning a hole in my pocket. I'm all set to announce the winner... But there isn't one to announce. So instead I'll hand it to a random person I meet. Maybe it's better that way. Maybe it will create a new Stanhope fan.

July 24: Roy Zimmerman

2011-07-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Any regular listener to What's So Funny? knows I'm a huge fan of Roy Zimmerman. I've played his political musical satire on the show many a time. Tonight, we actually get to hear from the man himself. He was in town playing an under-publicized gig and he took the time to sit down with me and chat that afternoon. The guy is, without a doubt, the best and funniest singing satirist since the legendary Tom Lehrer (and just as good, I'd say). In fact, the reclusive Lehrer even said, "I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the songs actually rhyme, they don't just 'rhyne'." He sings in the folk tradition, but even non-folkies like me can appreciate his brilliance. But the folkies like him, too. Joni Mitchell said, "Roy's lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection." And they do. During the hour we'll listen to a few of his tunes and talk about his lefty leanings.

Tonight at 11 PST, as always. Co-op radio 102.7 FM in Vancouver or live stream it.

Giveaway update

2011-07-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

We're one day in on the big Doug Stanhope CD/DVD giveaway (see Friday's post) and so far nary an entry. There are a number of possible reasons:

1. Everyone who wants the prize already has it.
2. Nobody wants the prize.
3. Nobody wants to bother trying to answer so many questions.
4. Nobody reads this blog.
5. People are hard at work researching the answers to the ten questions.

Let's take these one at a time:

1. Possible
2. Highly doubtful
3. Possible but see 5.
4. It doesn't get huge numbers but I have the benefit of statistics and I know the page has been viewed many times.
5. Possible, but keep in mind if you're the only entrant, you need only get one question right. Hell, if you're the only entrant, you could take away the prize with no correct answers.

So get on it! You've got about 36 hours until the contest is over! Once again, send your answers (or at least your address) to wsf1027fm@yahoo.ca

CD/DVD Giveaway - Doug Stanhope, Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere

2011-07-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

How about the first ever What's So Funny? blog merchandise give-away? Sounds like a plan. I know you're all big fans of Doug Stanhope, as well you should be. I've got a copy of his latest CD/DVD, Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere [Roadrunner Comedy] to give to one lucky, and skilled, reader. As the yellow sticker on it says, it features over 75 minutes of new material recorded live in Oslo (that'd be in Norway) and the DVD includes the full performance plus bonus material.

But I can't just open this up to the first responder. We need some sort of skill-testing question. Let's see... I don't want to make it too easy. Then again, it shouldn't be ridiculously hard so that only diehard fans who'll already buy the product will win. How about just time-consuming? Maybe that's the ticket. I'll ask ten questions and whoever gets the most right by Monday, July 25 at 10 a.m. PST wins. In the case of a tie, whoever answered first will win. I'll post the winner's name here on Monday then mail the package out to wherever you are in the world. How's that for a deal? So don't forget to include your mailing address with your answers to wsf1027fm AT yahoo DOT ca. And yes, residents of Quebec are eligible. Okay, here we go:

1. Doug recently recorded his latest CD in what U.S. city?
2. What's So Funny? included a half-hour phone interview with Doug. What comic took up the other half of the show?
3. On his album Something To Take The Edge Off, Doug says every vice is a punishment in itself. What is his example of the punishment of watching too much porno?
4. Besides his hidden camera series on Fox, Doug hosted (or co-hosted) two other projects he's embarrassed by. Name them.
5. What's Doug's middle name?
6. Doug created a website to raise money so what famous pregnant woman could get an abortion?
7. Which political party is Doug most closely aligned with?
8. Who did Doug endorse for president of the U.S. in 2008?
9. What was notable about Doug's version of the joke told in The Aristocrats?
10. Who finished second to Doug in the 1995 San Francisco International Comedy Competition?

There you go. Have at 'er. I know, it's a lot for just one CD/DVD but you want to feel you earned it, right? Okay, maybe it's ridiculously hard but remember you don't have to answer them all correct if nobody else does; you just have to answer more of them correct than anyone else, or at least get your answers in more quickly.

Podcast episode 241ish: Brian McKim

2011-07-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

If you've ever read sheckymagazine.com (and if you haven't, you really should), you'll know that Brian McKim speaks his mind, in tandem with his wife and co-publisher and fellow stand-up comic Traci Skene. In this podcast episode, we hear from the male half of the staff himself about some of the controversies that have riled up readers in the past. We also learn how drugs led him to the stage and why he doesn't judge comedy genres against each other. Oh, and there are a couple good street jokes thrown in for good measure. What's not to like? Besides, we recorded our conversation at Hooter's in Las Vegas! Have a listen right here, if you like. Or if you want to wait until you're working out or painting the fence, go download it at your favourite podcast depository, such as your iTunes and the like.

July 17: Dave Burleigh

2011-07-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

In the last of our Las Vegas broadcasts we've got a guy I had never heard of prior to the day of the recording. Former Vancouverite Richard Kiss, who now resides in Vegas, suggested that Dave Burleigh would be a good guest. Who am I to turn down a recommendation? So Richard brought Dave up to my room at the Flamingo and a minute later we were sitting down talking into microphones. And an excellent recommendation it was. I had a lot of fun talking to Dave, a California comic who recently moved to Vegas where he hopes to put together a regular nightly show complete with band. We discuss the genesis of the idea, along with the stigma of doing impressions on stage, his worst corporate gig ever and Olivia Newton-John not talking to him. Along the way, we're joined by Mr. Kiss with cameos by Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken and John Travolta. So tune in tonight at 11 PST to CFRO 102.7 FM or livestream it here.

Podcast episode 240ish: Graham Clark & Dave Shumka

2011-07-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

Together again for the first time. On What's So Funny?, anyway. Graham Clark and Dave Shumka made their first appearance together on the show last week after numerous times individually over the years. And what a show it was. I had prepared lots of questions for the hosts of the internet sensation Stop Podcasting Yourself but we got derailed in an attempt to break the WSF? call-in record. At the very least, it gave Dave and Graham the chance to interact with their "bumpers", as they call fans of SPY, in a way they're unable to on their pre-recorded program.

Did they break the record? You'll have to listen to find out. Click below or download somewhere else, like, frinstance, iTunes, as but one example.

July 10: Brian McKim

2011-07-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight's show was recorded about three weeks ago at the bar in Hooter's Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. After the Dirty Joke Show upstairs, in which tonight's guest participated, I sat down for an hour with SheckyMagazine.com's Brian McKim. With beers flowing, we discussed the magazine, the perception of stand-up comics in the lamestream media, controversies such as the Tracy Morgan brouhaha and the Guy Earle ballyhoo, his appearance on NBC's Last Comic Standing with his wife and cohort Traci Skene, and told a couple of street jokes for good measure. It was a good time and I hope you'll join us. Show starts at 11 PST. You know the deal. CFRO 102.7 FM in Vancouver, or livestream it here.

Photo from McKim's website

Bumbershoot fest comedy line-up

2011-07-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

There were a few years, back more than a few years ago, when I'd drive down to Seattle every year to catch comedy at the Bumbershoot festival. Haven't been in years now. Don't know why. Maybe it's because comedy is cool now and I can't bother fighting the crowds. Like Groucho said, I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member. Maybe it's because the comedy is all of a kind now. That is, it's all the cool kids, that posse of hip alt-comics that are all buddies with each other, that do each other's podcasts. I love those guys as much as the next fella, but I like a little variety, too.

Whatever the reason is, I should rectify the situation and get back there this year. My memories of Bumbershoot go back to seeing Elayne Boosler. She was a comic I never liked on TV (and she was on all the time back in the day) but I quite enjoyed her live. I could totally see why she got so much TV work. Another year I saw a young musical act I had never heard of to that point, and I doubt many others had, either: Tenacious D. They were awesome. Then there was the time Jon Stewart was supposed to perform (this was pre-Daily Show) and I was stoked. But he couldn't make it. So they got Margaret Cho, who had yet to reach superstar status and was still an alt-darling, to replace him. That was kind of disappointing. Fred Armisen, pre-SNL, also stood out, playing his Kaufmanesque bongo player who'd tell a bad joke in a thick accent then throw his hands in the air saying, "Just keeeding!" (I believe he took that character with him to SNL.) The first time I saw Janeane Garofalo perform live was at Bumbershoot. She was a special surprise guest and it marked the first time I'd be disappointed with her act, but not the last. I saw a joke-off between Doug Benson and... David Cross maybe? (I definitely saw Cross perform his gay Jesus bit there solo.) Bumbershoot was also the first place I ever saw Patton Oswalt perform, long long before King of Queens or Comedians of Comedy. Possibly the last time I was there was some time between 2001 and 2003 when I saw Sarah Silverman perform. So I'm due back.

They just announced their comedy line-up. Have a look. I'm sure there's something there for you.

BUMBERSHOOT®: SEATTLE’S MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCES 2011 COMEDY LINEUP

Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival, which takes place September 3-5 at Seattle Center, announces this year’s Comedy lineup.

While Bumbershoot gets the bulk of its attention due to its diverse musical offerings, it also boasts a similarly stellar arts lineup that includes theatre, dance, literature, visual arts — and, for the past 14 years, at least one dedicated comedy stage.

This year, the festival’s laugh-inducing programming stretches across three stages, offering festivalgoers more opportunities to catch some of today’s best and brightest comedians — whether they’re culled from Seattle’s backyard (courtesy of the People’s Republic of Komedy) or hand-picked by Comedy Central exec Lisa Leingang.

"Bumbershoot has been proud to consistently present many up and coming comics over many years,” says One Reel Programming Director Chris Porter. “Now famous acts including David Cross, Sarah Silverman, Flight of the Conchords, Fred Armisen and many others have graced the Bumbershoot comedy stages as they were rising stars. We are almost assured to see a future TV star each year within our line-up."

Doug Benson let the cat out of the proverbial bag early, but we’re pleased as punch to tell you who else will be joining us over Labor Day weekend. Heeeeeere’s our lineup!

Doug Loves Movies and we love Doug Benson! Doug invites you to join him and his friends as they podcast their affection for all things cinematic.

Scott Aukerman has rubbed elbows with Zach Galifinakis and David Cross, and not only lived to tell the tales – he’s broadcasted them. His lively podcast Comedy Bang Bang is a treasure trove of comedy gold, with celebrity guests and all around hilarity. His Bumbershoot performance features the prodigious talents of Paul F. Tompkins.

Yell out an inspired title and you might be the inspiration for The Improvised Shakespeare Company’s current sketch, delivered in grand Elizabethan style. Each of the players has brushed up on his “thee’s” and “thou’s” to bring you off-the-cuff comedy using the language and themes of William Shakespeare.

Eugene Mirman is a Bumbershoot veteran, a music fan and a world-class comedian whose albums have been released on Seattle labels Suicide Squeeze and Sub Pop. He probably needs no introduction. He might need a beverage.

Who are The Gregory Brothers? Glad you asked. You might know them as the folks behind the wildly popular internet sensations “Auto-Tune the News” and “Songify This,” or perhaps through their “country & soul, folk & roll” EP, “Meet The Gregory Brothers.” Strangely, one of them is not male.

Hari Kondabolu plays with race the way that some people play with kittens. His comedy is playful, irreverent and spot-on, turning the spotlight on hypocrisy with a surgeon’s precision and a comedian’s rapier wit. A Comedy Central favorite and a regular on the Seattle scene, we’re delighted to welcome him to Bumbershoot.

Anthony Jeselnik was awarded album of the year by Punchline magazine for his album, Shakespeare. He’s worked as a writer on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and roasted Donald Trump. Comedy Central named him one of the breakout comedians of 2009, and the rest of that graduating class likes to call him the most attractive of their bunch.

Kurt Metzger’s made Comedy Central’s 2010 Hot List, was a regular on VH1's Best Week Ever and is the voice of Randall on the Comedy Central program Ugly Americans. If you missed him on television, you can catch his album “Kurt Metzger Talks to Young People About Sex” on iTunes in June. Ask him how he feels about Jersey Shore.

Deon Cole got his break on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, after an on-air performance landed him a job as a writer for the show and the show’s untimely demise led to a slot as the featured comedian on Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television tour. A gifted actor as well as a comedian, he’s been featured on Comedy Central’s “John Oliver & Friends,” Lopez Tonight and Laffapalooza; HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, BET’s Comic View, NBC’s Showtime at the Apollo and Starz’s Martin Lawrence’s 1^st Amendment.

Wayne Federman’s Woody Allen joke was voted the #4 joke of the year in the New York Post last year. You might also have seen him in one of these movies (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, 50 First Dates , Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Legally Blonde,) on The X-Files or The Larry Sanders Show, through his own stand-up performances, or unwittingly have been exposed to his wit through his time as the head monologue writer on the inaugural season of The Jimmy Fallon Show.

Amy Schumer’s wholesome, girl-next-door looks give her edgy comedy even more of an impact. A rapidly rising star (who made her debut by coming in fourth on Last Comic Standing in 2007). she’s a favorite of Ellen DeGeneres and a master at heckling hecklers.

The London Evening Standard called Kyle Kinane “bleak and misanthropic,” which he still feels may be a compliment. He made Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch of 2010” and his episode of Comedy Central Presents premiered in February 2011.

Bumbershoot veteran Rory Scovel returns to dazzle audiences with his spontaneous creativity and absurd view of the world. Well known for his improvisational skills, he’s been a festival favorite.

Julian McCullough is a self-proclaimed “super fun guy,” and his take on relationships and life as a cat-owning, single straight guy in NYC is enough to induce fits of giggles in even the most curmudgeonly. He’s also had his own Comedy Central special and may or may not be soliciting funds to protect his neighbors by buying curtains for his apartment.

Freestyle Love Supreme operates on a simple principle – get words from the audience, use them to inspire new rap songs and build a hip-hop community. Word.

NORTHWEST COMEDY

The Pacific Northwest’s not just a rich environment for indie rock, it’s also a veritable goldmine for indie comedy. This isn’t regional pride speaking, folks – it’s fact. Check out the roster below for a full listing of some of the PNW’s best and brightest (and funniest) denizens.

Laff Hole

Laff Hole is Comedy Stage West's flagship show. Every night at Bumbershoot The People's Republic of Komedy presents Seattle's most exciting stand-up, sketch, and video, helmed by a special guest.

John Keister – former Almost Live! host John Keister is a staple in the Seattle comedy community and a pioneer of Northwest humor.

Andy Haynes – Laff Hole vet and NYC transplant Andy Haynes returns to his hometown for a reunion with his Laff Hole pals.

Blood Squad Reunion - The wildly talented improvisers/terror experts of Blood Squad (Brandon Felker, Elicia Wickstead, and Molly Arkin) reunite one last time.

Stop Podcasting Yourself
Comedians Graham Clark and Dave Shumka present their podcast live. Part of the Maximum Fun podcasting network, Clark and Shumka bring together comedians and friends to discuss things both trivial and momentous in Vancouver's top comedy podcast.

The Ashley Judd Comedy Hour

The Ashley Judd Comedy Hour formed when its celebrity creator gathered Seattle's six funniest juvenile delinquents and molded them into a tight comedy unit. Now they perform a brand new hour of sketches, characters, and stand-up every month at the People's Republic Kafe.

Weird and Awesome with Emmett Montgomery

An ecstatic coming-together of Seattle’s comedy and performance scenes, Weird and Awesome is an eclectic comic spectacle. Comedian Emmett Montgomery presents stand-up, songs, stories, videos, and more. Assisted by child prodigy Barbara Holm.

The Humor Program

The Humor Program follows the hilarious hijinks of Jake Barker and his sidekick David Tveite, with music by Devin Badoo and The Humor Program Band. The show features stand-up, interviews, puppets, and much, much more.

Sketchfest Showcase
Seattle Sketchfest, the hub of the Northwest sketch comedy scene, curates this showcase of Seattle's best writers and performers of sketch.

Kitty Cats in Pirate Hats

Based at West Seattle's Shipwreck Tavern, Kitty Cats in Pirate Hats is a showcase of the area's most talented young comedians. Featuring the show's creators Zach Gabriel, Edrease Peshtaz, and Adam Firestone.

TBTL Live
Luke Burbank's Too Beautiful To Live is a podcasting sensation. Burbank, America's foremost “Imaginary Radio Host” (a term he invented), invites comedians, writers, celebrities, and every other kind of fascinating person into his studio to gab. Now TBTL is live.

Funbucket/Charles
Funbucket is an improvised comedy extravaganza. Featuring some of Seattle's most skilled improvisors, it’s a mainstay of Wing-It Productions. Sharing the stage is Charles, the sketch comedy twosome of Charlie Stockman and Chuck Armstrong, who are known for cerebral humor bordering on sheer arrogance.

Comedy is O.K.
Portland's favorite sons Mikey Kampmann, Paul Schlesinger, and Andrew Michaan bring their formidable irreverence to Bumbershoot. A powerhouse of Northwest comedy, Comedy is O.K. is not to be missed!TICKETS

Single-day tickets, three-day passes and Gold and Platinum passes for Bumbershoot 2011 are available for purchase at bumbershoot.strangertickets.com.

Podcast episode 239ish: Lorne Cardinal & Monique Hurteau

2011-07-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

I had a great time on last week's episode. It was my first time meeting actor Lorne Cardinal (although I managed to snap a photo of him on a press junket to the set of Corner Gas in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, as seen on the left), and my first real conversing with, other than in passing, stand-up comic Monique Hurteau. We talked about their individual and collective careers. Cardinal, best known as Sergeant Davis Quinton on Corner Gas, told how portraying a cop on TV has its privileges but when he's on the rugby pitch it has its downsides. Hurteau discussed what it's like going to eleven different schools as a kid and how that led to her stand-up comedy career. Together, they talked about the workshops that put the humour in health, or vice versa.

Listen here or download somewhere, like, oh, I dunno, iTunes. You know how to get there, but if not, I've supplied the hyperlink.

July 3: Graham Clark & Dave Shumka

2011-07-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, we're going to have maximum fun on tonight's episode of What's So Funny? Graham Clark and Dave Shumka are together again for the first time. They've each been guests on the show multiple times but tonight they're on with each other. That's right, the co-hosts of the internet's most lovable comedy podcast, Stop Podcasting Yourself, will be in studio to tell us all about their most recent trip to the City of Angels, where they recorded shows with the industry's biggest and brightest stars. We'll also, no doubt, discuss Graham's filthy beard paintings, Dave's upcoming nuptuals, Graham's behind-the-scenes work on The Debaters, Dave's behind-the-mic work on CBC Radio 3, and generally get to know them. So tune in, bumpers, for a side of Clark & Shumka you don't get to hear on SPY.

ADDENDUM: I just thought of something. All the SPY bumpers out there don't usually get the chance to interact live with Graham and Dave so I thought I'd give them that opportunity tonight*. Should anyone want to call in and ask a question or give a comment between 11 pm and midnight PST, the studio number is 604-684-7561.
*Providing the phone system is operational.

Podcast episode 238ish: Nathan Burton & Mac King

2011-06-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

If you missed last week's episode featuring magicians Nathan Burton and Mac King live (on digital tape) from Las Vegas, Nevada, it's now magically reappearing as a podcast. You can download it and listen to it over and over again and try to figure out just how they came up with those answers from my questions.

Oh, and also, is this your card?

Now that I've totally sucked you in, enjoy the podcast. Between interviews, I've thrown in some comedy on the subject of magicians from the Sklar Brothers. I think you'll enjoy. Listen here or get it at your favourite podcast depository, such as iTunes.

June 26: Lorne Cardinal & Monique Hurteau

2011-06-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've got to be on my best behaviour tonight. Officer Davis Quinton of the RCMP detachment in Dog River is dropping by the studio. Yes, that's right, Lorne Cardinal, who played the beloved goofball cop on the hit Corner Gas, is one of our guests tonight. The other is his right-hand woman/gal pal Monique Hurteau, who also happens to be a stand-up comic/motivational speaker/personal trainer. We'll concentrate on the comedy portion of those forward slashes and find out what these two fine entertainers are up to these days. So set your PAR (personal audio recorders) for 11 pm tonight to What's So Funny? on CFRO 102.7 FM.