August 21: Blaine Thurier

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

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

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

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

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.