Podcast episode 458ish: Diana Frances

Here's an episode that's so old, it's new. Sorry, it's been a busy month. Diana Frances was our guest on the radio back on June 18. Here it is July 24 and it's just coming out in podcast format. If you're a long-time listener to the show, you'll know Diana is a Vancouverite through and through. She was our guest back in our fifth ever episode, back in 2004. Now she lives in Toronto where she's busy writing for TV, award shows and radio. And she still performs when she can. In this episode, we talk about her early days in standup, why she's such a good podcast guest/lousy softball player, a bit about her crazy childhood/life, complaints about traffic/linguistics, and, of course, vagina jokes.

Listen to this now before it gets even older! You can do it here, or over at iTunes or Stitcher, et. al.

July 16: Chuck Byrn

Tonight we bid a fond adieu to our temporary radio station on Wall Street. We've been there for three years. We move back to our old space in the downtown eastside next week. Our last guest in this spot is a good one: Chuck Byrn! Chuck has been in Toronto for longer than I remember, but he's a Vancouver boy. He started out here in the 1990s with the likes of Tim Nutt, Glenn Wool and Kevin Foxx. We'll find out who else tonight. Chuck's only been with us once before and that was part of a comedy round-table, with Dylan Rhymer, Toby Hargrave and Steve Bays. Tonight he gets the hour all to himself. I'm writing this on the BC Ferries so barring a nautical disaster on the high seas, I'll be there, too.

We are on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver. If you're not in Vancouver, you can still join us by livestreaming at coopradio.org or find us on TuneIn Radio.

July 9: Christina Sicoli

Tonight on your radio, we're welcoming Christina Sicoli. It's been a long time coming getting her in here but our schedules finally aligned. Her hubby, David Milchard, has been on the program a couple of times but not for years and years. But it's Christina's turn tonight. She's an actress, improviser, writer, and producer. Perhaps you've seen her in the web series Paranormal Solutions, Inc. or Convos with my 2-Year-Old. Or maybe in the TV series Supernatural or Psych. Or maybe it was her first listed credit, from 1999, when she played "Foxy Girl" in Detroit Rock City. We'll get her complete story at 11 (or whatever will fit into the hour).

Get your radios warmed up. We're on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver. (For those without such fancy contraptions, you can always stream us online at coopradio.org or find us on the TuneIn Radio app.)

July 2: Bob Robertson Tribute

Tonight we're going to pay tribute the great Bob Robertson, who passed away in March. There was a beautiful (and hilarious) memorial service for him at Bard on the Beach on Friday afternoon, but if you didn't get there, this might help.

Bob, along with his comedy – and life – partner Linda Cullen, was a guest on What's So Funny? three times over the years: on episode 41 in 2005, then on episode 69 in 2006 (along with Trevor Devall), and again in 2011. Tonight I'm going to play clips from all three of those episodes. You'll hear Bob talking about his early days in commercial radio, the Double Exposure heyday, the live revue called the Snides of March they did on Granville Island, and his book Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012. Along the way, we'll hear some old clips and he'll do some voices.

They say never meet your heroes, but Bob Robertson was an exception. He was a superstar to me growing up in Victoria. He was the funniest deejay I'd ever heard. As the weekend man on CFAX 1070 from noon to six, I'd listen all day, often with my cassette recorder poised to record one of his numerous regular segments, like Little Mansion in Oak Bay, the Moldy Oldie Music Vault, a conversation with Old Ernie (with Bob doing both parts), and always a phone call from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (also voiced by Bob), who always condescendingly got Bob's name wrong. Bob was the best.

He went on, of course, to real fame with his wife Linda on CBC radio for 10.5 years, then over to CTV, with Double Exposure.

In the late '90s, I had a job where I had to do the daily banking. More than a few times, I saw the great Bob Robertson in the bank but he was too mythic for me to approach him. Cut to: 2004, when I started hosting What's So Funny? on Co-op radio. I figured, what the hell, I'll contact Bob and Linda and see if they'd come down to the downtown east side to do my rinky-dinky little show. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. And they graciously accepted. They couldn't have been nicer.

Bob gave me an autographed copy of his book on their last visit to the station in 2011, but even better, knowing that I was such a big fan of his early CFAX days, he gave me a disc with a bunch of his old radio bits.

He was a great guy and he is missed.

We're on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM. You can livestream us at coopradio.org or find us on TuneIn Radio. I think it's going to be a long one, in the 90-minute range, so get a nap in!