David Cross

I told you there'd be additions and subtractions to the comedy festival. Turns out the two Matts (Besser and Walsh) won't be able to make it afterall, which is a shame because they're great. And old friend David Cross will be making a return visit.

David Cross and I go way back. I've never interviewed him either over the phone or in person. And I've never met him (except once even before I was writing about comedy regularly I saw him at a Nashville Pussy show at Richard's on Richards and said hi). But I've been a fan ever since I saw him at Bumbershoot years and years ago. I think Patton Oswalt, Laura Kightlinger and Tenacious D were also on the bill. Can't remember who else.

So I've been a big fan. Then two years ago I had to do a festival round-up for the Straight. I took in tons of shows but I didn't have tons of space to go into much depth. But I gave a less-than-stellar review to Cross's stand-up. I wrote:

Probably the most famous name at the fest was David Cross, who gained mass appeal with his role as Tobias on Arrested Development, but his was a mixed bag. Doing standup, he's just an angry know-it-all who appears to hate his time on-stage almost as much as he hates his fans. Appearing last in the almost-three-hour Comedy Death Ray show, Cross insulted First Nations people and drug addicts before going on a seemingly endless–and humourless–rant about Mormonism, hemming and hawing his way through an ill-prepared set. But what a pleasure it was to watch him the next night in Match Game, where he smiled, laughed, and enjoyed himself, and in the SKETCH Show on September 22, also at the Cultch, where he was reunited with former Mr. Show partner Bob Odenkirk.

The thing about reviewing is you can only review the show you've seen, not the body of work. Re-reading my review above, I see that I shouldn't have used the present tense, because I don't think he's always an angry know-it-all. But I definitely thought he was for the two shows I saw him that year. That was my impression, at least, and I spoke to other comedy nerds who loved the guy but didn't at all like his festival sets. And, to be fair, I also spoke to others who did like his stand-up there. But I can only give my opinion when I review. I just try not to give cheap shots, say my piece, and move on. I also mentioned how much I enjoyed him during the Match Game and in his sketch show.

Well, Dave read my review and commented on it in his blog. Fair enough. Critics have to be able to take it just like they dish it out. I have no problem with that. To rebut my criticism, he wrote:

Hmmm, well, I don’t hate my fans, nor do I hate doing stand-up. I’m sorry if I gave (or give) that impression, but as I said, I genuinely like doing it. That’s why I flew to Vancouver for the shows. And I actually like it when people like my act. Not too surprising really. I certainly don’t do it for the money. 7 shows for a thousand bucks total is not very lucrative. I made more money middling at “The Laugher’s Den” in Made-Up-Town, New Hampshire. It’s true though; I did insult drug-users, specifically heroin addicts. So, sorry junkies. Also I did insult a “First Nationer”, or “drunk Indian” as I called her. It was after she stood up in her chair, and yelled out that she didn’t have a TV to a rhetorical question I asked. Then, I guessed that she was a drunk Indian, which it turns out was correct. She wasn’t insulted (at least not then – she waited for me after the show to drunkenly apologize in a drunk Indian way). I then talked about drunk Indians for a minute. I am not angry about drunk Indians at all by the way, I find them adorable.

That was his take and it's good he clarified that he does, indeed, like doing stand-up (or at least doesn't hate it) and likes (or at least doesn't hate) his fans, and he's sorry if he gave that impression. Good to know. Seriously. Who knows, he could have been having a shitty week or whatever. Hopefully if I get to review him this year, I'll be able to give him a better review. Because, as I said, I really do like him.

As for his recollection of the drunk Indian bit, I think his memory is selective. He did the same bit twice. There were two different shows. One at the Comedians of Comedy at the Cultch and the second one at the show where someone yelled out at the Commodore. So he wasn't just reacting to someone in the crowd.

Anyway, here's what I didn't like about his rebuttal:

Here, from the same article is an example of the kind of humor Guy enjoys:

"Former locals Irwin Barker and Darryl Lenox got me all nostalgic about the good old days when we could see these two pros just about any day of the week. Lenox talked about his girlfriend's hippie parents, who served him porridge for breakfast: "I didn't even know that shit was real." And Barker, who's suffering from cancer, is still writing gems: "I bought the book France for Dummies because I've always wanted to see Buckingham Palace."

Well, there you go.

I didn't like it for a couple of reasons. No doubt he's never seen Irwin Barker or Darryl Lenox, who are great comics and well-respected by their peers, so he doesn't need to slag them by way of me. Now, I know he didn't overtly slag them; he just said I enjoy that kind of humour and his is different and he didn't offer any opinion. But we can all read between the lines. He probably just thought they were lame examples of jokes I gave but he should know jokes don't always translate well to the page. Sure, I could have done a better job summing them up in one sentence each, but... uh... deadlines. That's my excuse.

But the other reason I didn't like it is because he's doing some nifty editing. In that same review, I led by saying Paul F. Tompkins (who Cross certainly does know and like) was the highlight of the festival for me, and that Jimmy Pardo (another Cross crony) was another highlight. So they were also examples of the kind of humour I enjoy. And I even mentioned enjoying Cross as Cross in Match Game and as characters in sketch. So to slough me off as a guy who just doesn't get his style of stand-up isn't really accurate.

Still with Cross, I was reading an interview with one of my favourites, Doug Stanhope, the other day. It seems Stanhope might have the same impression of Cross that I had back in 2007:

With Bill Maher, I agree with the majority of things he says, and I hate him. He just comes across as so cunty, and smarmy, that curled up sarcasm … and too many guys on that side of the fence do that. That David Cross kind of delivery of, “I’m smarter than you,” not “We’re smarter than them.”

I agree with that notion completely and have been saying it for years, that just because I agree with a comic politically or socially doesn't make me like their comedy. As I said, I do like David Cross, although I get what Doug's saying here. But I feel exactly that way about Bill Maher. Yes, I agree with almost all he says, but I don't find him funny. I used to, back when he was a young comic on The Tonight Show.

It's funny because for ever I've been saying that Doug Stanhope is a guy I disagree with 90 percent of the time, yet find him hilarious.

Podcasts

We've got three more podcasts for you today. You can listen to them here or at the Comedy Couch, or download them at iTunes. And if you're at iTunes, why not subscribe to us and give us a rating and a review? Be the first!

The Baby Jessicas sketch troupe's Ryan Murphy and Stephen Morton. I can't even remember when this one was recorded. Maybe Ryan or Stephen can help out here.


Paul Breau, from just a few weeks ago, July 19, 2009:


And Darryl Lenox with Richard Lett, from July 26, 2009:


Oh, and while you're at it, this is me guesting (or trying to guest) on The Exploding Sandwich podcast with Devon Lougheed and Devin Mackenzie, recorded last Saturday. The ES is available on iTunes and at their website. Google 'em:


What the hell, let's get all my Vancouver podcast appearances out of the way. Here I am trying to keep up with Graham Clark and Dave Shumka on Stop Podcasting Yourself (available on iTunes and at their site):


It's your one-stop shopping for podcasts.

August 9: The Exploding Sandwich

Talk about log-rolling in our time. Tonight we have the two Devons, aka the two Devins, on our program, one night after I guested on their internet radio program, aka podcast. Devon Lougheed and Devin MacKenzie, hosts of the moderately popular Exploding Sandwich podcast as well as comedic performers, will make their debut on What's So Funny? I'll tell you this much, they'll have it easy compared to what I was put through. I arrived at their fancy studio and was told I'd need to come up with two stories, one true and one false. That's something I need a good two weeks to prepare. I'm not a performer, goddammit, I'm a doctor, Kirk! Then on the air I had to improv a eulogy for Hillary Duff (God rest her soul) and write on cue. And finally I had to eat a Twinkie™ and describe it metaphorically. It was a workout for a guy who spends his time watching others pull off that kind of stuff, I'll tell you that much for free.

Anyway, I enjoyed myself. It aired live, but I believe they will podcast it on the morrow, aka August 10. On our humble interview program, I won't spring them with any surprises. We'll just chat, as per usual... Or will I? Revenge is sweet... Tune in to find out.

Canadian Content in London

You gotta admire the spunk of our Urban Improv/Canadian Content pals. The local improv/sketch troupe decided they wanted to put on a show in London. As in England, not Ontario. Drew McCreadie talked to me about it on Skype a while back, which you can see here. They're there for a month (Aug. 4 - 30) putting on shows at Leicester Square. They've already received one rave review. Chortle, the influential UK comedy guide, writes:

...this is everything you’d hope for from good sketch: fast moving, recurring characters, a showcase for versatility, interspersed with short films and animations... This is splendid ensemble work among the five actor/writers, no weak links and apparently no big ego jostling for the pole position.

Read the whole review here. Good work, kids. Way to represent the 604.

It's official

The comedy fest has released the names of the performers, shows and venues on their website. I missed a couple. And no doubt there will be further additions and subtractions as we get closer to the date. Two I missed were Trevor Boris and Hollywood Harv.

I'm always hesitant to offer an opinion on performers I've never seen live, but from what I've seen of Boris, I'm not a fan. Nor does he seem capable yet of hosting his own show at the Cultch. I could see bringing him in as one of many performers on a few shows, but his own show? Hey, but I've been wrong before. One thing I've learned over the years is that live is a completely different entity than recorded. Brent Butt never did anything for me when I saw him doing standup on TV, but live he was one of the best ever. I always hated Sinbad from his years on the telly, yet I quite enjoyed his live set. Ditto Elaine Boosler. And Nikki Payne. So I always go into a live show with as open a mind as possible. Still... his own show?!

Hollywood Harv I've never heard of. But a quick search online tells me he's a Vancouver Punjabi hip-hop comedy dude. In other words, right up my alley. Can't wait.

Now let me respond to a few of the commenters from the last post:

• To Anonymous 1: Yes, you can drop by the station to pick up goodies.
• To Anonymous 2: Yes, Too Far TV is from Vancouver. But so are lots of comics. The organizers can't include every local act. I know there's always griping, but I actually think they do a good job of getting the best local comics involved. No doubt there will be more than the three I listed.
• To Anonymous 3: Yeah, there are a lot of repeats. I'm of two minds on this. Selfishly, I'd love to see different comics, preferably those who haven't played here before. Then again, they're here for only a couple of days once a year. You can't go wrong with Paul F. Tompkins or Todd Barry. You just can't. If they were here year round, I'd go see them dozens of times, if not more. And you gotta admit, there are lots of new (old) faces, too. They seem to have gone a bit more mainstream this year than in years past, although you have to wonder about The Champions of Last Comic Standing series running over three weekends. Do people even remember that show? Will Dat Phan be there? But I also think it's a good fit for Lafflines.
• To Anonymous 4: I agree, although not as strongly with Bamford. To me, she wears down on repeat viewings more than Tompkins, who is always fresh and new.
• To Anonymous 5: Near perfect? Hardly. But still pretty good.

Comedy fest line-up

On Sunday, if you were listening you'd know that What's So Funny? broke the line-up for the upcoming Vancouver (Global) comedy festival (September 17-27). Today, it's official. Here's the line-up. Some new faces, plenty of old ones, but lots of laughs either way.

• James Adomian
• Tom Arnold
• Scott Aukerman
• Maria Bamford
• Arj Barker
• Todd Barry
• Matt Besser & Matt Walsh (UCB Theatre)
• Alonzo Bodden
• Carol Burnett
• Hannibal Burress
• Comedy Death-Ray
• Sean Cullen
• Andy Daly
• Jon Dore
• Garfunkle & Oats
• Phil Hanley
• John Heffron
• Moshe Kasher
• Andy Kindler
• Ben Kronberg
• Jason Lamb
• Natasha Leggero
• Jerry Minor
• Kumail Nanjiani
• Tig Notaro
• Jimmy Pardo (and his podcast Never Not Funny)
• Picnicface
• Jon Reep
• Tim Rykert
• Rory Scovel
• Pauly Shore
• Steve Smith (aka Red Green)
• Nick Thune
• Paul F. Tompkins
• Larry Vazeos
• Reggie Watts
• Brent Weinbach
• Kurt Weitsmann (of the San Francisco sketch troupe Comedy Noir)

So what do you think? Opinions? Faves? Anyone you can't wait to see? Anyone you wish they had brought in?

Aug. 2: Cameron MacLeod

Yes, we had Daryl Makk scheduled here for the last week or so. But these things happen in the crazy world of show biz. Instead tonight we have Cameron MacLeod, professional Man Hussy as well as one of the comedy curators for the upcoming, and brand spanking new, Olio Festival, which runs August 13-16. There's music, art and comedy. He'll fill us in on the comedy side of things. And we'll talk about his sketch group, Man Hussy.

Banus from Man Hussy on Vimeo.

A few more comedy fest names

I think an official announcement is imminent, re: the Global Comedy Fest, but here are a few more names to whet your whistle:

• Tig Notaro, Sept. 21-27
• Moshe Kasher, Sept. 24-26
• Kumail Nanjiani, Sept. 24-27
  

July 26: Darryl Lenox (and Richard Lett)

Born and raised in the Vegas, Darryl Lenox spent 11 years living in Vancouver before moving back down in 2005. He now lives in New York. I don't know if that situation has given him his unique outlook on life, but he has a comedic voice like no other: A stand-up Yoda who talks of life, death, Socrates, Buddha, and race. Oh, and diarrhea and sex, too. He's human, afterall. There's a real depth to the man and his act. I saw him at Lafflines on Friday night and he held the crowd in the palm of his hand without ever talking down to the audience or compromising his comedy in any way.

Darryl was last on our show back in 2007. He's a great guest, too, with an amazing radio voice. So I'm looking forward to having him back tonight. He always has lots on his mind, so I know it'll be a good one.

ADDENDUM: Just got a call from Darryl asking if Richard Lett can join us tonight. Richard is one of the show's best guests, so it'll be a double-whammy. Of course, I've written all my questions for Darryl, but I'll improvise. Oh, and I just came across this website of Darryl's specifically for his Canadian fans. There are some good stories on there.

Six more podcasts

Just got word that the Comedy Couch, home base for the What's So Funny? podcasts, just uploaded six more. All gems, of course. You can listen to them there, or here, or an various podcast servers, or iTunes. Your call. Just listen.

The first one goes way back. I have no idea why we missed it the first time. It's the first appearance by John Beuhler, and he's joined by Jason Lamb, who is now some sort of radio dude in Victoria. It's from December 19, 2004:


Next up is local legend J.P. Mass. I think the last three or four minutes are lost. Instead of not putting anything up, I thought 57 minutes was better than nothing. Sorry about the abrupt ending. This was from January of 2008. I don't even have an exact date. How lame am I?:


Speaking of no exact date, this is Colleen Brow filling in for me interviewing Dr. Russ Kennedy. I had no record of when this was, but Colleen assures me it was July 6, 2008:


Next up is Simon King, who makes his second appearance on the show. Simon spends much of the year down in Los Angeles and he tells us all about it, as well as revealing that his mom was a bit of a celebrity in her day:


On this recent show I met for the first time Conor Holler and Craig Anderson, the duo who make up Bronx Cheer. Craig sounds exactly like former WSF? guest Ivan Decker, but that's neither here nor there. It's from June 7, 2009, actually:


And last but certainly not least is the infamous Nardwuar the Human Serviette. Everyone knows who he is so I don't need to tell you he's not a comedian, but he's damn entertaining. And exhausting. Nardwuar brought in some clips from some of his thousands of interviews. I manage to get about eleven words in the whole hour. This is from June 14, 2009:

A few festival names

It's not until September 17-27, but I got some names for the upcoming Global Comedy Fest Vancouver. These names were all found on-line, either at the artist's website or at the Ticketmaster site:

• Pauly Shore will somehow get enough people to show up for him at the Vogue Theatre on Sept. 12
• Last Comic Standing fifth season winner Jon Reep will be at Lafflines in New West from Sept. 17-19
• Last Comic Standing second season winner John Heffron will be at Lafflines the following weekend, Sept. 24-26
• Natasha Leggero will be somewhere in town Sept. 24-26
• the first Best of the Fest at the Centre on Sept. 25 will be hosted by Tom Arnold
• the second Best of the Fest on Sept. 26 will be hosted by Red Green
  

Okay, that's only six names, but it's a start. If you hear any more, do tell. Why don't we start a wish list here in the comments section?

I just realized that two names have, indeed been announced. Carol Burnett will be back to answer any other questions you may have missed last year. She'll be at the Orpheum on Sept. 24. And Jon Lajoie will be at the Vogue on the 25th.

July 19: Paul Breau

The people have spoken. There has been clamouring for us to get a real, live guest on the show again. Sure, only one anonymous poster has said anything, but I think it's fair to say that represents 50,000 listeners. That's what I'm going with, anyway. So your wish is our command.

We'll have old pal Paul Breau drop by our studio for the hour tomorrow night (if you're reading this on Sunday, then tonight... if you're reading this on Monday, then nevermind). Paul is hosting at Yuk Yuk's this weekend and is never short of good conversation so we'll have lots to talk about. So tune in on Sunday night at 11. If you feel like it, give us a call. The in-studio number is 604-684-7561. The record is five calls in an hour. Maybe we can break it. It would look good on Paul's résumé.

July 12: Stuff

Not much to report here today. On tonight's show we're guest-free. Kevin and I will spin some hot wax and I'll wax poetic about my thrilling victory in a Ping-Pong tournament yesterday. We're gearing up for two weeks from tonight when we'll welcome back old friend Darryl Lenox. I'm looking forward to that show. Darryl's an amazing comic, and if you're not familiar with him you should check out some of that video over there in the right-hand panel while it's up.

Also coming up, possibly in early August, we'll have comic, writer and host of The Exploding Sandwich podcast, Devon Lougheed. So you see, we're not completely devoid of content this summer.

Tonight, though, it's comedy clips for the masses. If you have a request, give us a call and we'll do our best to get it on the air for you.

July 5: Yakov Smirnoff (repeat)

Look at the time. It's 7 pm and the show starts in four hours. Talk about irresponsible blogging! Oh well, at least it's a repeat. And it's available in podcast form, too. In fact, the reason I chose the Yakov Smirnoff episode, from 2007, is that a friend of mine recently wrote me to tell me he listened to the Smirnoff episode last week and really enjoyed it. Perfect, I thought, that's who I'll run in this season of summer reruns. (It won't be reruns all summer, though, don't you worry.)

It's been a long time since I've heard the program, but I remember it being a good one. I have a lot of respect for comics who have lasted in show business, even if they're not at the same level of fame they once were. While Smirnoff isn't on TV much anymore, he's still got a career down in Branson, Missouri, where he runs his own theatre. And anyone who was alive and conscious in the 1980s knows he was everywhere. The Soviet immigrant was an honest-to-God American success story. His contribution to comedy includes popularizing the comedic antimetabole (aka the Russian reversal): "In America, you watch television. In Russia, television watches you!" He's also known for his catch-phrase, "What a country!" and his distinctive Horshackian laugh, which I found out, is legit.

But how many of you know that the amiable Smirnoff was once roommates with Andrew "Dice" Clay? Tis true. And you'll learn that – and more – if you tune in tonight (or listen on podcast).

Saturday night in Seattle

I am back from our whirlwind trip through Washington and British Columbia. I didn't have time to blog (excuses, excuses), so this is late. Last Saturday night sitting in my hotel room I checked out three entertainment options. 1. Jazz Alley, a block from the hotel. It was some high school band. 2. Giggles comedy club. A competition. Just what I didn't need. 3. The Comedy Underground. Two-time What's So Funny? guest, Kyle Cease.

My mind was made up. I hopped in a cab down to Pioneer Square. Kyle was standing outside the club and kindly offered to comp me. Bonus. That's the perks of co-op radio, folks.

It was largely a good show. I particularly liked Stu Baker, who was assisted to the stage by two men. Turns out the 54-year-old Stu has Muscular Dystrophy. He killed. Sometimes comics with disabilities get an extra level of laughter and applause because the audience really wants to be supportive. This may or may not have been the case with Baker, but he deserved all he got and more. The guy is really funny. Here's a clip:



Next up was the headliner, Kyle Cease, who I'd seen twice previously, both times at Yuk Yuk's. He had a gorgeous Vancouver actress girlfriend who accompanied him to the radio show both times. Unfortunately, the couple broke up, which is one reason we haven't seen Kyle back in town. Too bad. The guy has a crazy frenetic energy. Too often, such energy is a substitute for comedy chops, but he makes me laugh. On this night, he performed a completely new set, including about 10-15 minutes on Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, who had died only 48 hours earlier. His closer, wherein he recaps the evening in slow motion, was the only thing the same, and even that is inherently different each time.

Here's a clip of Cease in action. For those of you wondering where you've seen him before, he played Bogey Lowenstein in 10 Things I Hate About You, as well as the slow clapper in Not Another Teen Movie. Or, more currently, maybe you saw his Comedy Central special, Kyle Cease: Weirder. Blacker. Dimpler. Either way, this is him:



I just checked the What's So Funny? podcast library and for some reason there's only one of the episodes with Kyle Cease. The other one, I guess, is lost forever. No problem because this first one was the better one (I have no idea, actually, but let's go with that). So here's Kyle Cease on his first appearance on What's So Funny? from October 25, 2005:

Tomorrow's show; More podcasts!

Summertime and the livin' is easy. Who has time to blog when the fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high? Not I, it seems. Sorry about that. But I've been thinking about you. Honest.

We took a station-mandated time-out last week. No fault of ours. There was other more important programming that needed airing, is all. And this week, as I mentioned, I'm out of town. In fact, I'm lying in a hotel room in Seattle as I write this. But I
talked it over with my manservant, Kevin, and we decided that the show must go on. In a sense. We won't have a live guest this week. Instead, Kevin will play comedy deejay and spin you some funny trax. Knowing Kevin, I can almost guarantee that means you'll be hearing some Flight of the Conchords and Daniel Tosh. But who knows, he might surprise me.

Meanwhile, if you're jonesin' for some interviews, seven more just joined the podcast family. As always, they're available at the Comedy Couch, on iTunes, or a friendly neighbourhood podcast server near you. Or you could just click on the episode below and let the magic of the intertube take you away.

Colleen Brow, from June 1, 2008:


Irwin Barker, from August 3, 2008:


Derek Edwards, from April 19, 2009:


Urban Improv, from April 26, 2009:


Leland Klassen, from May 17, 2009:


Eric Fell & Shaun Stewart, from May 24, 2009:


Nathan Clark, from May 31, 2009:

June 21: No show

Happy Father's Day, fathers. We are pre-empted tonight for reasons having nothing to do with the special day. There will be no clips, no re-run. Nothing. Well, there will be something but it has nothing to do with What's So Funny? Feel free to tune in anyway, but I can't vouch for it.

We'll be back next Sunday in some form or another. I'll be off in Seattle, but we'll figure something out, either with a guest host or a classic episode.

Peters review

My review of the Russell Peters 20th Anniversary Tour at GM Place last night is up at the Straight site already. It'll be out in tomorrow paper, too.

As you can tell from the review, I was really impressed with Peters. I'd seen him both at Yuk Yuk's and at the Orpheum over the years. This was my favourite. Usually I much prefer watching a comic (or a band, for that matter) in a more intimate setting. Clubs are my favourite. But for some reason, the arena show is the one that really won me over. Go figure.

I especially liked that he didn't try to make it an event. Sure, the former deejay starts the evening with two deejays, but they're there basically to get the masses into their seats. And a local dance troupe came out for about a minute or two as an intro to the man. But other than that, it was the same set you could see in a club. Great sound and good camera work gave it an intimate feel.

Peters isn't breaking any new ground, but so what? He's really good at what he does, especially the crowd work. He's relaxed, confident, conversational and in-the-moment. When talking with a Chinese-Canadian man in the front row with his whole family, Peters said, "You have four kids? Jesus Christ! You really took advantage of not being in China... You're like the US in Iraq. You'll never pull out."

He's got some nice imagery and wordplay, too. He did a big chunk on the word 'cunt', repeating it so often it lost all shockability. He said it sounds so mean when we say it because it sounds like "a really big rock thrown in the middle of a lake." But when the Irish say it, it sings – "coont" – and went on to demonstrate how lovely it can sound.

He spoke of his tiny member and huge ballsack, saying it looked like his "prick was resting on a beanbag chair." He talked about the cruel irony of the attack in Bombay (he still calls Mumbai by its old name) on July 11. "We got hit on 7-11."

Any comic who reaches his heights has a catch phrase his fans love to hear but the rest of us think is retarded. To his credit, Peters snuck his in cleverly. Envisioning he'd be kidnapped in Jordan, he thought of the video when his captors would say, "We have Russell Peters" before demanding he "Say it! Say it!" He meekly stumbles out: "Somebody... gonna... get a... hurt..." And doesn't even have to finish it. The crowd was sated. Yes, he brought it back for his closer in the encore in a story about an impressive dump his dad took, but even then it didn't seem forced. More like an ironic take, which also served to give the crowd what they wanted.

Still more podcasts

A bunch of new podcasts have been added to the library. Eight, to be exact. You can listen to them here, or over at ye olde Comedy Couch, or download them on iTunes, among other places. I haven't heard them in a while, but if memory serves these are all good ones. At least I had fun:

Dave Shumka from June 15, 2008:


Richard Lett from August 31, 2008:


Marcus Ryan from January 4, 2009:


Reza Peyk from January 18, 2009:


John Wing from March 8, 2009:


Toby Hargraves from March 22, 2009:


Jamie Hutchinson & Tim Rykert from March 29, 2009:


Darcy Michael from April 5, 2009:

June 14: Nardwuar the Human Serviette

Our run of stand-up comic-free shows comes to an end with a real departure for What's So Funny? tonight. Our guest tonight isn't a comedian of any kind, although he's always made me laugh. It's the infamous Nardwuar the Human Serviette. He's from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but he's known throughout the land as the most distinctive, fill-in-the-blank interview voice of his generation, or any other. I believe the world can be divided into two groups: those that get him and those that don't. Among those he's interviewed that get him are the likes of David Cross, N.E.R.D., and Kurt Cobain. Among those that don't are celebs like Ernest Angley, Alice Cooper and Mikhail Gorbachev.

No one does as much research going into an interview as Nardwuar. David Cross called it "thorough, in-depth and unnecessary research." He usually imparts gifts to his subjects, something I've never done. Also, what I've written here is about the extent of my research. Boy, is he going to be disappointed on the other side of the mic. But my pace is, er, less frantic so we'll fill the hour.

Nardwuar is going to bring in some clips of interviews with people such as Snoop Doggedy-Dog (that's it, right?) and the late hippie Timothy Leary and then we'll break off into discussion and get to know the story behind the interviews. We'll also play some of his beloved rock'n'roll music from his band The Evaporators. Like I say, a departure for us but it'll be fun. The Evaporators, by the way, are playing with Andrew W.K. on Tuesday, June 23, at Neptoon Records on Main St. at 4 p.m. and at the Biltmore on Kingsway at 8 p.m.

Russell Peters, Coverboy

My cover story on Russell Peters for the Georgia Straight came out today. He's playing GM Place on Monday and Tuesday. Man, I thought it was amazing when he played the Orpheum Theatre four nights in a row a couple years ago. But two nights at a hockey arena? Unheard of.

Comedy nerds (as opposed to bandwagon jumpers) remember seeing him when he was a club comic not all that long ago. Okay, eight years ago, but still. He's come a long way, baby.

While the story is about 1700 words, it still couldn't house all the quotes I got in our phone conversation. Nor all the quotes from Mark Breslin, the founder of Yuk Yuk's, who's known Russell since the kid took up stand-up comedy about twenty years ago. So I'll sweep up the editing room floor and you can hear the rest of the quotes in their own voices. On a couple of occasions there are repeat quotes from the story, but for the most part I've edited out whatever made it into the story.

Check out the actual story, though, too, won't you? The on-line version has extra quotes in a sidebar, too.

Meanwhile, here's Russell on various other topics:


And here's what didn't make it into the story from Yuk Yuk's founder and CEO, Mark Breslin:

June 7: Bronx Cheer

It's one of those special nights on What's So Funny? tonight when we have guests we've never met before and never seen live. Oh, but we've heard great things about Bronx Cheer for a while now. In our defence, we did go to check out there show last week... and there was no show. But I've been enjoying their deadpan web series, With Friends Like These, over at their home base, so I feel like I know them. Plus they've got a bunch of shorts, including the epic, Moustache Wolf, which you can view here:

SHORT - Moustache Wolf from bronx cheer on Vimeo.

To learn more about the duo, Conor Holler and Craig Anderson, tune in tonight at 11. I know I will.

The Dane Cook Experience

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Dane Cook interview excerpt

I spoke to everybody's favourite Dane Cook this morning. He's a morning guy, calling me at 7:45. I'm not. But that's okay. I was told we'd speak for 10-15 minutes. That's good to know ahead of time because I need to know how to pace the conversation. I've got to hit on all the important questions and move on from them quickly. The important questions include some basic information questions a writer needs for the story, as well as bigger questions. So it's a tight dance.

However, we spoke for 28 minutes. Still not a lot of time. This is a new thing for Cook. He only recently started talking to the press. So his answers weren't as spontaneous as they could be. But at least he gave well thought-out responses. The thing was, they were also fairly long. And with my time constraint, there was no room for a deeper discussion on any one topic. And the story had to be more of a general news story as it was for the Province. You can read it here.

I'd love to get him on my radio show, where he (and I) could relax and really get into some depth over the course of an hour. So Dane, if you're out there... Hey, I can wish.

In one part, you'll hear him chastise me gently. We had been talking about when I first saw him live. It was part of the first ever Just For Laughs tour and was at Richard's on Richards, a local rock club. He guessed that was ten years ago. Sounds about right. I mentioned that I thought his style then was similar to the way it is now, and I was wondering if it was always that way. By that point, remember, he was already ten years into his career. He basically told me to do my homework. But in his response, he seemed to be talking about the subjects he covers. I didn't catch it at the time, and anyway had to move on to other topics. But I meant more his delivery and style. (I think I'm right!)

There has been some skepticism, I've read, about Cook's age. I never talked to him about it, but looking at it now, something doesn't add up. His Wikipedia entry says he was born in March of 1972, making him 37. He said he started doing stand-up at the age of 19, but he also says he's been doing it for twenty years. Does that make him 39 or is he counting earlier years of amateur comedy? Then, when discussing his opening act, Al Del Bene, he says they've known each other since they were both 14 in junior high school. Then he says they're still together 26-27 years later. Hmm, 14 plus 26 is 40. Hey, Wikipedia isn't always right, I know.

Anyway, here's another crudely edited 9.5-minute excerpt for you. Cook talks about his new relationship with the press, the evolution of his act, the backlash to his career, his reaction to being booted off the stage at the Yuk Yuk's here in 2006, charges of plagiarism leveled against him, and his inner drive. Yes, I know my levels are higher than his. That's just the way my recorder works and I don't know how to fix it:

The Buck stops at the Tonight Show

After 17 years, the Jay Leno era has ended. At least as far as the Tonight Show is concerned. He'll be back in the fall with a new nightly primetime series.

I was a huge fan of Leno back when he was a standup and appearing monthly on David Letterman's old Late Night series. It's hard to believe all these years later, but those appearances were must-see TV. Any serious fan of comedy wouldn't miss them.

What happened? I think not only did he alter his style somewhat for the venerable chat show, but the style, either way, didn't mesh with the show. Too grating, perhaps. Too whiny. I wasn't a fan.

So now it's Conan O'Brien's turn. His tenure begins tonight. Can't say I'm a big fan of his, either. His recorded comedy segments where he goes in the field are unbelievably great, I'll grant you. But I just can't take his mugging and constant interruptions. Still, I'll give him a shot. Hell, I keep giving Jimmy Fallon a shot and Conan is about a million times better than Fallon.

Anyway, I noticed with great interest that Conan's new stand-up comedy booker for the Tonight Show will be J.P. Buck. Buck has a bit of a local angle. He helped out Will Davis a couple years at the Vancouver comedy festival.

I interviewed Buck for a story I wrote in Vancouver magazine back in 2005. You can read the whole thing here. But as always there were tons of quotes I simply couldn't squeeze in so I dug 'em up for the blog. Here's the new Tonight Show comedy booker talking about, among other things, the level of talent here in Vancouver. But first, he gives us his resumé:

“I’m a freelance producer. I started out working for various networks in Los Angeles. I did a show for Fox. It was called 30 Seconds to Fame, which was a variety show. It didn’t last too long. It was kinda like a Gong Show. But I’ve always had a love for comedy. It’s been what I’ve always wanted to do. I saw Bill Cosby at the age of 11. I saw him live at Radio City Music Hall. I even heckled him at one point. And he actually responded to me, but I soon realized what I had done. I just slumped under my chair. But I’ve always loved comedy. That gave me my first foray into actually going out and scouting. And after that my next job was booking talent for Star Search. The Arsenio one, which was on CBS. And then I did two years of syndicated programs, two of which were for the Showtime at the Apollo people. And after that I moved over to the US Comedy Arts Festival, which is run by HBO, and went over there to run their talent department... geared towards finding the best up-and-coming and also current comedians and sketch troupes and theatre shows.”

“In every one of these jobs I’ve been travelling around the country and going to one-horse towns and see their best comedians. I would have open calls, I’d set up showcases. So over my travels I’ve seen probably about 8000 comedians.”

“I’m looking for comedic ability. My job is not to close the door to somebody because of the way they look. That comes further down the line in terms of the networks. I’m looking for the next comic genius. That’s what I’m expected to do. Further down the road they can become writers, they can become stars on sitcoms. I think that if you’ve got enough personality, it certainly gets you over the hump. There are plenty of leading men out there on TV nowadays that aren’t that good-looking. I think men get away with it moreso than women.”

Now the part about the relative quality of Vancouver comics in the greater North American market:

“I was scouting for the US Comedy Arts Festival. I’d chosen my cities originally. The cities I wanted to go to and the cities where I knew had the best comics. We were based in New York. We were going to New York, LA, Chicago, San Fransisco, Seattle, Austin Texas, and Atlanta and Toronto. Those are the cities that we had mapped out that we were going to go see. So in my discussions with my various scouts around the country, I got referred to Will Davis and got in a conversation with him. And he said, ‘I would love to show you my guys up here.’ And I said, ‘Well, great. I’d love to have you come down to Seattle and see the guys there.’ And so he came down to Seattle and then picked me up and we drove back up to Vancouver, and he put up three shows for me of, like, 36 guys, maybe. And I was really, really impressed with the depth of talent there and just the variety of performers, of material, and how original a lot of the comics were. Because usually whenever I go to a city, I’ll maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll find two or three out of thirty that I’m impressed with. And when I came back from Vancouver, I probably had on my list at least eleven guys that I had no fear of recommending for the festival. And actually two of them got in, which is still a great rate.”

“We were lucky to get one out of every city that we went to. So two out of Vancouver was great.”

I asked Buck if Vancouver was an untapped market:

“Absolutely. Ever since I’ve been there I’ve just been singing its praises to everybody down here. I’m just telling everyone how amazing the talent is up there and how much people are missing out on. I think there’s maybe been a bias. I don’t know enough about Canadian culture enough to say that there’s an east coast bias. But I think Toronto, Montreal, those cities are getting so overworked. But I think the years that Vancouver’s been neglected by the rest of the country I think has been beneficial because it’s created this community of comics that... It fosters an environment where they can write their own material, think differently, work on their sets and their skills, and become much better comics for it, and not get overexposed too soon.”

He even offers an assessment of us, the Vancouver audience, and how we've helped the comics without even knowing it:

“Another great thing about Vancouver is that Vancouver has possibly one of the most discerning, and also toughest crowds, I’ve ever seen. You’ve got these amazing comics on stage... And it’s funny, if you see these comics in other cities, I think you’d get audiences that are flocking to them. But the toughness of winning the crowds over makes the comics work even that much harder here.”

I suggested, maybe ignorantly in hindsight, that Vancouver's scene was better than Seattle's just because we're just one of three major markets in the country, while the U.S. has so many:

“I agree [Vancouver’s better than Seattle]... Boston used to be a mecca for comedy. San Francisco was that as well. But I think both of those cities had their moments and now they kind of need to recharge. And at that moment while they’re down, Vancouver’s the one that’s come up. I don’t want to forecast anything that’s horrible but I think what you’ll see is you’ll see all these Vancouver comedians that come up, become big and move on, and then there’ll maybe be like a little bit of a lull of years before the next wave comes. But I definitely think right now that there’s such a wealth of comics. The audiences are almost spoiled.”

“The only style I can maybe put it under is unapologetic. That’s the beauty of the comics that were out there -- they weren’t all of the same mould. I think maybe when you go to some of these other cities like Boston or San Francisco or LA or New York, there are comics that are so successful that they kind of almost unfortunately influence all the other ones. But I think everybody in Vancouver is working so hard they’ve had time to kind of form their own styles.”

Buck ended up taking both Simon King and Dave Nystrom to the HBO Festival in Aspen:

“That was kinda why we took both of them because there was a little bit of something for everybody that came to our festival. Like, here’s a sample of one guy from Vancouver; here’s another style from Vancouver.”

“That’s something that we’re really trying to make sure we have. What we’re doing is having one group of shows called Rising Stars, which is the guys we’re thinking that over the next few years will do really well. Right now we’re looking at different groups, and in each one of those groups, we want to have one Vancouver guy. There are plenty of comics that deserve to be on it. We want to find a way to kinda get them in to almost every type of show that we have. We have these TV sets that we’re doing where guys will do five minutes of TV-clean material for the industry people that are coming in. We’ll also try to get them to host other shows so whenever people from LA and out of town are driven to see these big names, they’re also getting a taste of what Vancouver is. We want to make sure that the Vancouver comedians are sprinkled throughout the festival.”

“What helps to draw people up there are some of the American names. We’re trying to say to the LA and New York executives and industry and agents and managers, ‘Come on up here and see Leno perform on this show, see Jake Johannsen perform here, Jim Gaffigan. And Zach Galifianakis is a huge Vancouver name that will attract attention. But on top of that, while you’re there we’re hoping that we can kind of influence them with all the great Vancouver comics and say, ‘Hey, this is actually a comedy Mecca and you should come here a lot more often.’”

Interesting that at the time Buck thought Galifianakis was a Vancouverite. Maybe that informed his opinion of the scene. Zach was filming up here and playing all the local rooms.

“Believe me, you can say that about comics in just about any city outside of New York, LA, Toronto and Montreal. Because none of those comics understand what goes into getting a deal or getting on a show or getting in a film or being able to perform standup on Comedy Now or any of those shows. It comes with experiencing, unfortunately, rejection or having someone from the industry tell you what the industry’s looking for. Because a lot of times it doesn’t always go to the funniest person, unfortunately.”

“It certainly helps to be in LA of all the US cities. But you don’t want to come here too early. You want to be able to come here so that people can see you and they know who you are, but at the same time if you come here too soon, if they see you too early, and you don’t do well, they’re going to write you off and never want to see you again. That’s the unfortunate thing. A lot of guys in the States make the mistake of ‘Okay, I’m the biggest fish in this pond so it’s my turn to go to LA’. And they go to LA maybe after performing stand-up for two years, which is the wrong thing to do. You almost want it to come to the point where you’ve got an agent or manager calling you to come to LA: ‘We need you here because I’ve got stuff that I want you to do.’”

“Vancouver’s such a perfect city for us to hold this festival. You want to get the people coming from LA and there’s no sense in flying all the way to Montreal when you can just go to Vancouver and see these comics.”

“I definitely see it becoming a major player, absolutely. And I think the timing is perfect because I think there’s been a lull over the past few years. Unfortunately it’s hard to sustain a festival for so long. I think people maybe are looking for something different. I definitely think it can become one of the top international festivals. We’ve definitely booked some great international acts this year. So I’m excited about that, too.”

And some advice for all comics:

“The worst thing a comic can do for himself when he’s peforming in front of a bunch of people from the industry is to actually comment on how bad the crowd is. You’ve probably seen it a lot where comics will be like, ‘Wow, you guys aren’t getting this stuff.’ If they could just plow through. It’s a lot easier said than done, but if they can make it through that often can speak volumes about them.”

So will this lofty impression of the city's talent translate to a Tonight Show appearance for one (or some) of them? It should, but we'll have to wait and see.

May 31: Nathan Clark

Wow, a whole week without a blog entry. Were you concerned about me? I had nothing to say this week, I guess. I'm not on hiatus, so keep checking back.

And the show marches on. Tonight we've got a newbie on. Not a newbie to the scene, but to What's So Funny? Nathan Clark isn't the garrulous sort who seeks out the spotlight, so it took some convincing to get him on. But he is funny. He's also a mainstay on the mainstage of the Vancouver TheatreSports League, an urbane member of Urban Improv, and one of the Canadians in Canadian Content.

Join us. It'll be fun. Kevin will be back, too, so if there are any calls they'll get on the air smoothly this week.

Maybe.

(Phone and station info are all there somewhere in the right column.)

May 24: Eric Fell & Shaun Stewart; more new podcasts

A few weeks ago we had the Urban Improv gang in for the show. Seven of 'em, two of which were Eric Fell and Shaun Stewart. We didn't get a chance to talk to any one of them in detail, so we invited them back. These two fellers have lots on the go. Along with their Monday night Justice Pals show at Chivana, they have a Justice Pals podcast, and host Behind the Scenes on the internet. Oh, and they also have taken over the monthly Anzabonanza pub quiz. If I know them at all, there's a good chance most of the questions will be about Star Wars and/or comic books. We'll find out more tonight.

***

I hope you're all caught up on the podcasts because there are eight more to whet your whistle. Check these ones out when you get a chance:

Drew McCreadie & Ian Boothby from May 4, 2008:


Kristeen von Hagen & Laurie Elliott from May 25, 2008:


Jack Showers from August 10, 2008:


Paul Anthony from September 28, 2008:


Jane Stanton from December 7, 2008:


Richard Kiss from December 14, 2008:


Riel Hahn from February 15, 2009:

Maron & Gaffigan

Hey comedy nerds, got a great clip for you. Two of my favourites sitting around talking about comedy, kids and other stuff.

Marc Maron is a host on Break Room Live (and former guest on What's So Funny?). He's also full of existential angst, self-hatred, brilliant and really funny. Jim Gaffigan is a comedic force. And a pale one. He's in films (Away We Go hits the theatres soon), sells out theatres all over the place and has hit CDs and DVDs. Of course, any self-respecting comedy nerd already knows that.

There's some great stuff here. The Caroline and Costaki they reference are Canadian comedian Caroline Rhea and her hubby Costaki Economopoulos ("the biggest name in comedy"), who recently created a human. Maron is a single, childless man while Gaffigan is a father of three. Maron has been putting off visiting the baby because, well, he's not interested in kids. Gaffigan says he should. They discuss.

As a father of one (in fact, my wife was pregnant with ours when we first saw Maron in concert), I'm gonna side with Maron on this one. While my child is endlessly interesting and fun to me, I could care less about other people's kids. I mean, some of them are cool, but I don't need to meet them or interact with them. And since many are far from cool, why risk it? I can wait until they're more fully-formed human beings.

Gaffigan spoke of how great it is to be a parent, even with all the worrying. It reminded me of what Louis CK told me just five days before my son was born. CK crystalized the parental conundrum for me. It's must-reading for anyone who doesn't get having kids:

Here's the thing about it: It sucks on paper. If you write down things you're going to have to do and the way your life is going to change, there's just no way to justify it. It's the dumbest thing in the world to do.

But it doesn't matter because you'll be happy to do all of it. There's nothing going to be imposed on you. You're going to completely, voluntarily change your life in a way that if you could look in the future and see it from now, you would say, "Why the fuck would somebody do that to themselves?" But that's how powerful a force it is to have a kid. And it isn't like, "Oh, but they're so wonderful" and you're paid off for every hard moment with them giving you a daisy and saying "I love you, papa" -- although that happens, and it's pretty great. It's just that it's so important to you. It's such a big deal to have a kid that it just changes your motivations. It changes everything.

You can read the whole interview with CK here. While we're at it, here's one I did with Gaffigan, too. And let's not forget Maron, who I first interviewed in February of 2004.

Now here's the Break Room chat: