Occasionally throughout our many years on this show, we branch out and have a musician guest. We've had the likes of Craig Northey (Odds), Ewan Currie (Sheepdogs), David Beckingham (Hey Ocean!), Hawksley Workman (Mounties), Ryan Dahle (Limblifter, Mounties), Joel Plaskett (Thrush Hermit, The Emergency) and of course our good pal Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, Mounties). Tonight we welcome another singer:
Jon Bryant. No band name. Just Jon Bryant, a dream-pop singer-songwriter. What's the comedy connection? He was with us in studio a few months ago when his pal Dino Archie was booked on the show and we decided he was worth a whole show on his own. Since his first visit with us, he has completed a European tour. We'll talk about that and whatever else we think of. He's playing the Biltmore Cabaret next week on January 18.
We're on the air at 11pm here in Vancouver. If you're listening from Jon's old home in the maritimes, that's 3am your time. And you can stream it live on
coopradio.org or on various radio-streaming apps like TuneIn Radio.
With this drop, we're all caught up with the podcast side of things. Brigitte May was with us just a few days ago talking about her upcoming improv show The Tragic Comedy of Macbeth. And just like that, it's here. The show started last night and runs until December 15 at the Jericho Arts Centre so it's not too late for this conversation to inspire your ticket-purchasing leanings. In this episode, Brigitte also tells us about the grim reality of living outside the bubble of the lower mainland elsewhere in Canada. We also talk about film theory and she pens numerous essays for us throughout the hour.
I first met Steve McGowan when he was briefly managing Lafflines comedy club in New Westminster. He has long since left that side of the business and even more recently left the day-job side of the business, too, and has committed himself one hundred percent to standup comedy. You can call him "Shooter" if you must, but he just goes by his regular name.
Lord, it looks like Daniel. It is, in fact, Daniel Chai, who visited us a couple weeks back. The improviser and founder of The Fictionals improv troupe and creator of the show Improv Against Humanity joins us and fills us in on his backstory. Who knew he was a legit journalist? Who knew he is from Surrey? Who knew that he owes his artistic life to Legion hall karaoke? If you knew all that, bully for you. Don't be a show-off. I'm sure there will be other factoids you'll learn if you listen to this episode.
We have a really special episode for our 550th-ish. Canadian comedy legend Nestor Pistor was in town and we scored him. He talked all about the early days in the 1970s performing comedy all over the country, releasing top-selling albums, and being nominated for numerous Juno Awards. Nestor is in his seventies now but works out two hours a day, no doubt why he still has the stamina to work the road. Growing up, I'm not sure I ever knew that Nestor Pistor was a character, the creation of mortgage broker Don Ast. Live and learn. But it's Nestor we get on this show, with only a brief few words from Don.
