Podcast episode 576ish: Derek Edwards

What a delight it was talking with Derek Edwards again. He's one of the funniest men to have ever graced a stage, and he's just as funny in casual conversation, as you'll hear here. You won't find him on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Hell, he doesn't even have a website. Still, we managed to track him down in his basement somewhere in the heart of central Canada. Oh, and we laughed. Topics covered: Mike Bullard, Red Green, Corner Gas, Trailer Park Boys, Donald Trump (although not by name), and he tells us his funniest street joke.

I don't imagine Derek will ever hear this episode because it requires electricity, but if you can handle it, there are many ways to access it. 1. You can click on the link below and listen right now. 2. You can seek out your favourite podcast server and download us there. 3. You can "watch" it on YouTube (just some scrolling photos while the audio plays).

Podcast episode 575ish: Sugar Sammy

When Sugar Sammy was last with us in 2010, he told us he was transitioning out of the moniker he spent the first 14 years of his career with. Soon he'd be known as his birth name: Sam Khullar. Well, here we are in 2020 and he's still Sugar Sammy. He explains in this episode that he got too well known after appearing on What's So Funny? to make the change. Coincidence? Doubtful. We are star-makers. We spoke to Sammy from his home in Montreal. We talk about his high school days, some hell gigs he had coming up, and his new role as France's Simon Cowell and how it keeps him off the Paris Métro.

Have a listen here, or on your favourite podcast server, or even on YouTube. We've got you covered.

Podcast episode 574ish: Dave Hill

This week's offering comes to you all the way from the Big Apple, but wishes it could have come to you from somewhere... anywhere in Canada. Or does it? Comedy superstar Dave Hill is one-quarter (or thereabouts) Canadian. He dreams of becoming full-fledged, but maybe that's just a pipe-dream. In this episode, we put down the pipe and talk about his book Parking the Moose, his journey across the land of his maternal grandpa, one bar, thrift shop, and rock club at a time to learn more about this land we call Canada. We quiz each other (spoiler: one of us does extremely well), and he talks a bit about Witch Taint, the black metal band all the kids are talking about.

You can of course listen below, if that's how you roll. I mean, there's a link and everything. Or maybe you're more sophisticated and prefer your podcasts on the go. Fair enough. Go to your favourite podcast dispensary and search for our version (the original) of What's So Funny? But for God's sake, don't lose focus and end up down some rabbit hole chasing whatever fleeting thought enters your mind. And hey, there's a new way to enjoy the show. I've posted over a hundred of our past episodes on the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/GuyMacPhersonWhatsSoFunny. And this episode will be up there today sometime.

Podcast episode 573ish: Ron James

We've got Ron James right here for you. Finally, after all these years, the Canadian comedic legend makes his What's So Funny? debut. And he lets fly with tons of opinions on the role of comedian in society, his bittersweet television experience, and drops "Nietzschean adage", "Oracle of Delphi" and "boreal gulag" in conversation like it's nothing. Ron is still performing during the plague. It started with him just talking to his four walls, but last week he hosted 400 souls in his living room for a classic Ron James TV special – without the TV, and with the 400 paying customers watching through their computers. The man can't slow down.

Have a listen below. Or you can find us on your favourite podcast server. And now you can even find What's So Funny? on YouTube! Go! Subscribe! Please?

Podcast episode 572ish: Ellyn Marie Marsh

This week's episode marks a first in our 16-year history. It's the first time (I believe) we've had a bona fide Broadway star as a guest. And Ellyn Marie Marsh is even more than that. She also performs in New York cabarets, hosts her own trivia nights, teaches how to belt out a song, and co-hosts a true crime podcast. I'm probably forgetting more. Anyway, in this episode, Marsh tells us what it's like to be on Broadway, what the one true crime she keeps thinking about, and what she did when she was fired from her job as a singing waitress.

Check out her podcast, Obsessed With: Disappeared, on your favourite podcast platform. And check out this one below, or wherever you found Ellyn's. We'll be there.

Podcast episode 571ish: Darren Frost

Darren Frost is back for his sixth pony ride. The Toronto-based (well, Barrie-based now) comic was first with us way back in 2006 and we managed to get him on the show every year or two after that. Well, until 2014, which was his previous appearance. But he joined us in the Isolation Studios from his home in snowy Barrie. Darren was all set for his biggest and last cross-Canada tour when a nasty virus put the kibosh on that. We talked about his distaste of crowd work, what advice he'd give to young Darren, his kids' opinion on his work, cartoon voices, dark humour, and Hairspray. He's recently released his seventh album, aptly titled "Story Yelling." And he, Dave Martin and Kathleen McGee have rebooted their old podcast Anything Goes.

Take a listen, why don't you? Click below or, better yet, go download us at your favourite podcast site.

Podcast episode 570ish: Lachlan Patterson

It's been 15 years since Lachlan Patterson was last with us. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, and modern virology, we've got him back in the Isolation Studio from his home in Venice Beach. He's got a new special out, Dark White, which you can purchase for the low, low cost of $3.99 US, or you can watch it for free if you share it on social media. Lachlan's one of our funniest exports. The West Vancouver native has been in the US for a couple decades now and has performed on The Tonight Show as well as being a finalist on Last Comic Standing. We talk about all that... and more!

Listen. Download. Don't just stream unless you really have to. You'll find us on Apple podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, et. al.

Podcast episode 569ish: Bonnie McFarlane

Bonnie McFarlane is a funny comic... Sorry, I can't get that song out of my head. What song? You'll hear it at the start of this episode with Bonnie McFarlane, who is a funny comic. She's the only guest in our 16 years who's been immortalized in song by The Pursuit of Happiness. This is an episode 10 years in the making. It took a pandemic to finally get us together. You've seen her on Letterman, Fallon, and Colbert, but did you know she got her start right here in Vancouver? It's true, and we talk about it here. We also talk about living in the US, we pry into the anonymous names in her memoir You're Better Than Me (the best one of its kind, say I), and she reveals that although she does hate her husband (per her podcast My Wife Hates Me), she also loves him and loves their differences. You don't often hear earnestness from her (a trait she dislikes), but we manage to get it out of her.

Listen at the link below if you like. Otherwise, you know the drill. You're not podcast newbies. Go to iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and all your favourite podcast dispensaries. Leave us a rating and a review, too, why don't you? Thanks.

Podcast episode 568ish: Colin Mochrie

As social isolation continues, our guests keep on coming. This week we invite the great Colin Mochrie into our isolation studio. Everyone knows Colin from his work on Whose Line Is It Anyway? (they should bring back that show!) or from just about any other TV show made in the past 20 years. I've interviewed him five times for the newspaper, but in this chat he really opened up (thanks in large part to the Malbec he was guzzling throughout). He's talks about politics, comedy, fate, Archie Bunker, The $10,000 Pyramid, Donny & Marie, mime, and his weirdest Hollywood night.

It's a good one so you're going to want to get started right away, which you can do by clicking below. Or you can find us on your favourite podcast server. Go download us there and put us in your ears. And then give the show a much-needed rating and review. You have no choice in the matter. It's fate!

Podcast episode 567ish: Michael Gelbart

This week on the program we've got the delightful Michael Gelbart, aka... well, let's just forget about all those nicknames. We recorded a great episode with the LA-based standup and writer back in 2013, episode #327ish. Now, some 240 episodes later, he's back. The bad part about all this isolation is not getting to speak to anyone face-to-face. The good part is that our guests don't have to physically be in Vancouver anymore. Michael is still a Canadian, even if he's forsaken the land of his birth for the bright lights of the big city down south. In this episode, he tells us about being the King of Tween Sitcoms, writing a hit holiday classic, unleashing his best bits with Byron Allen, and so much more.

This show was recorded Tuesday, April 14, 2020, and here it is already for you. Work your magic to get the show in your eardrums, either by clicking below or finding it wherever you usually get your podcasts.