Demetri Martin in Canada

This press release just came through the teletype machine in the office. Thought you should be the second to know:

DEMETRI MARTIN ANNOUNCES HIS FIRST CANADIAN TOUR EVER

Stand-up Comedian Demetri Martin Announces His

“Telling Jokes in Cold Places 2012 Tour”

Los Angeles, CA. – Tuesday November 29, 2011 After being alive for decades, American stand-up comedian Demetri Martin launches his first official tour of Canada on January 5, 2012. Martin’s tour, titled “Demetri Martin 2012 Telling Jokes in Cold Places Tour”, will take him to six Canadian cities, including Vancouver on January 7, 2012 at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

“I wanted to visit Canada during the coldest time of the year,” said Martin. “Canada excels at being cold, and I plan to take full advantage of that by seeing Canada at its best,” explained Martin from his warm and sunny apartment in southern California. “Sometimes you just get tired of enjoying very comfortable, pleasant, balmy weather,” he added. “It’s time to get my ass kicked by a Canadian winter.”

Martin’s live show will feature brand new jokes, drawings, incidental guitar playing and him walking back and forth on the stage a lot. “I have a lot of new material to share with the people of Canada – but just some of the people of Canada,” said Martin, adding, “This could end up being the best six-city-Canadian tour of the decade – if I don’t get screwed by weather delays.”

In the winter of 2004, Demetri visited Toronto as a staff writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien, for a week of shows. During that visit, Martin promised himself that, eight years later, he would return with his own tour. And now, true to his word, eight years later, Martin returns with his own tour. “I’ve been meaning to tour Canada for a while,” explained Martin, “especially based on the five or six requests I’ve received on my Facebook page.” Demetri added, “I love Canada. Some of my favourite people are Canadian, including The Kids in the Hall, Eugene Levy, Joni Mitchell and Tim Horton. Plus, I’m really excited to go to Calgary, because if you rearrange the letters in that city’s name you get ‘Racy gal’.”

While Demetri is excited to return to Canada, he realizes that as an American, he represents the country that is responsible for both McDonald’s and the near total collapse of the world financial system. “Sorry,” he offered.

Originally from New Jersey, Martin rose to relative obscurity when he started doing stand-up comedy in small clubs in New York City. Later he became a writer at Late Night with Conan O’Brien and then a regular performer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. After that, Demetri starred in his own series for Comedy Central called Important Things with Demetri Martin. Martin’s stand-up comedy special, Demetri Martin. Person. is considered by many to be his longest and only hour-long television stand-up special. He has appeared in movies as an actor, most recently in Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and most lengthily in Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. His first book, This Is A Book by Demetri Martin is a New York Times Best Seller, and it features a 500-word-long palindrome that is one of the longest in the English language.

Demetri has brown hair and he is allergic to peanuts.

DEMETRI MARTIN

LIVE AT THE CENTRE IN VANCOUVER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

January 7, 2012

Tickets: $39.50, $32.50 (taxes included plus applicable charges) go on-sale Friday, December 2 at 10:00 AM.

Tickets available at: Ticketmaster

by phone at 1-855-985-5000

online at www.ticketmaster.ca

For more details and a list of other cities, go to hahaha.com/concerts.

You can find Demetri Martin at www.demetrimartin.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/demetrimartin, on Twitter @demetrimartin, and in various places in the actual physical world.

-30-

Words of Wisdom

I've long marveled at the ability of beginning stand-up comics to ignore seasoned professionals. Even if they happen to be on the same show, you'll see the young'uns outside yakking with their fellow newbies while someone who knows what they're doing is on stage performing. And when visiting vets play a club in town, very rarely do the kids come and soak it in. There's lots to learn about crafting a set, working a crowd and even subtle physical movements. And you don't even have to like the pro's act because you can learn just as much in reverse, i.e. what you decide you don't want to do.

I was talking about this phenomenon a couple weeks ago with a comedy insider. The very next day I listened to WTF with Marc Maron, which itself is like a graduate study in comedy – any serious comedy fan needs to listen to every single one of his episodes, not just the ones with famous comedians or guests you like. The one that applies here is the Chris Rock episode. Early into the hour-long chat, Rock says essentially the same thing. And I quote (thus the quotation marks):

"I would get there early and watch all the comics. Kids today – because I'm that guy – I'm always telling guys, 'You guys don't watch.' When I go in the clubs, everybody's hanging out outside and shit. When I was coming up, whenever there was an empty seat... When the place got packed we got pissed because that meant some people had to wait outside. We watched every-fucking-body... Dude, I know so many people's acts. I know fucking every Dennis Wolfberg joke and every Joe Bolster joke and every Gary Lazer joke, and Mark Cohen and Jack Coen... I know all these guys' jokes, man. I know their acts inside and out. And I know Fred Stoller and Stu Trivax... I watched all these guys, just take it in, take it in, take it in."

Would Chris Rock be the comic he is today if he didn't absorb all these comics when he was starting out? We'll never know, but I doubt it. As Woody Allen's mom lectures him in Wild Man Blues, "Don't think for a moment that you are what you are by yourself. You're not. You had help."

And speaking of the Woodman, how great was it to hear Rock talk about him. You wouldn't think he'd revere Allen, but he does. He says, "He's my favourite. He's the best. Woody Allen's the best... He's the greatest comic mind in the last 100 years, since Chaplin. And who the fuck's been that funny that long? Who?!"

I posted a couple of videos here a while back taken from my VHS collection. I used to record any stand-up comic I'd see on TV. The first is a very, very young Chris Rock on Arsenio Hall's show. It was the first I'd ever heard of the guy. Watch it here: http://wsf1027fm.blogspot.com/2010/05/early-chris-rock.html

The second is of Fred Stoller, who Rock mentioned on Maron's show a couple of times, also taken from Arsenio. Here's the link for that one: http://wsf1027fm.blogspot.com/2010/11/vhs-vault-fred-stoller.html

Podcast episode 256ish: Jason Bryden

This podcast episode was a real yawner. But in a literal sense. It's just that Jason Bryden, father of a 22-month-old human boy, couldn't stop yawning. It was the latest he'd been up in a while. Or maybe it was the three gin & tonics. Either way, in this episode our hero bravely takes on an absent Doug Stanhope and relates how he told Marc Maron he was a dick. Plus we get to know the high school version of JB and learn what professional direction his own father tried pointing him in. It's a cram-packed, fun-filled WSF? you won't want to miss.

Your portal into Bryden's mind is at your fingertips below. Also at iTunes, where you can rate the show and leave a nasty comment. Don't be shy.

Nov. 27: Bob Robertson

Happy Grey Cup Day, citizens of Canada. If you watch the big game today, no doubt you'll be sloshed because football and drinking go hand in hand (it's the only way to get through the endless stoppages). So here's a plan for you: Get hammered while cheering on your favoured team, pass out on the couch for a few hours, and wake up in time to tune in to What's So Funny? at 11. I'm more excited about this episode than I am about the fortunes of some thousandaires I don't even know. Why? Because we are welcoming back Mr. Bob Robertson!

Millions know Robertson as the taller half of Double Exposure, which entertained the nation for years on CBC radio and CTV television (they even did a number of podcast episodes which you can download at iTunes or on their website). For me, though, Bob was the subject of my boyhood man crush. He was the funniest weekend deejay I've ever heard in my life. He did the Saturday-Sunday noon-six pm slot and I'd listen religiously to his hilarious segments, like Little Mansion in Oak Bay, the Mouldy Oldie Music Vault and his chats with the likes of Old Ernie and Pierre Trudeau. If he were still doing radio, I'd still listen to radio. That's how great he was.

Bob's back in the WSF? studio as a published author this time around. Rather than moping around for the final twelve months our planet has left, Robertson is cashing in on our fears and anxieties with a book about the end of the world. It's called Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012 (Anvil Press). Can't wait to hear all about it. And, of course, to reminisce. If we're lucky, maybe even his comedic (and personal) partner Linda Cullen – an author, too – will join us, too.

I'm not sure when the book is coming out but he's doing a reading at VIVO Media Arts Centre (1965 Main St.) on Tuesday at 7 pm and books will be available there. He might even sign one for you.

Meanwhile, tune in Sunday night from 11 to midnight to CFRO, 102.7 FM, livestream it online, or listen on Telus TV on channel 3718. So many options, so few excuses not to.

Podcast episode 255ish: Chris Gaskin

Here's an oldie but a goodie that dates back to all of two weeks ago. We missed getting it uploaded and on to your awaiting ears last week but it's here in all its glory for you this week. Young Chris Gaskin joined us in studio to talk about his youthful visage, his painful open heart surgeries, his foray into professional wrassling, and learning on the job in front of a national TV audience.

Nov. 20: Jason Bryden

Look who's back! Why, it's none other than Jason Bryden, who's been with us a few times before but never under his own name in the credits. One time he was on as himself but the conceit was that he'd be interviewing me as I called in from the Just For Laughs festival. The last time he was on as Bev PoCock and was breaking up with comedy partner David Milchard as Chris Wes. I could swear he's been on other times, too.

But tonight it's all Bryden all the time. We'll talk to him about being a new, and expecting, father, about doing stand-up, about his numerous web series (The Acting Class and The Staff Room), about his new room at the Prophouse Cafe on Mondays at 9 (1636 Venables – I hear Glenn Wool is on tomorrow), about his desire to leave this podunk outpost for the bright lights of America, about his addiction to Twitter, and no doubt lots more.

We hit the air running at 11 pm. And if you're on Telus TV, I just found out CFRO, 102.7 FM, can be heard on channel 3718.

Now I'm off to attend some big playoff football game the Lions are hosting. If there's a riot, I'll let you know tonight.

David Hasselhoff – comedian?

The Vancouver Comedy Festival should add a question mark to its name. While head honcho Will Davis brings in some great comedic names each year, he seems to be admitting that stand-up comedy doesn't put bums in seats. So he's perfected the art of the non-show show. Throw in a big-name celebrity with a sense of humour but no act and presto! – tickets sold! It all started with a disaster of a show featuring the Trailer Park Boys at the Vogue. Then a few years ago it was former stand-up Steve Martin sitting down and answering inane questions from an adoring crowd. Then former-sketch comic Carol Burnett did two shows two separate years doing essentially the same thing, sans act. This year he's got comedic actress Betty White, at 90 years of age, doing two "shows" the same night. I assume she'll be answering questions, too. The common denominator – buzz. Something stand-up comedy, apparently, can't create.

Well, the fest just announced another in a line of non-stand-ups: David Hasselhoff. No doubt he'll have a few jokes, maybe sing an intentionally horrible song or two. At least in this case he'll be surrounded by actual stand-up comics. The former YouTube star hosts the festival's Opening Night Gala, featuring an international array of comedians: Doug Benson, Howard Kremer, David O'Doherty, Vancouver's Paul Bae, Brad Williams, and Ian Edwards. It's all going down Feb. 16 at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

Nov. 13: Ryan Hamilton (repeat)

I'm away this week so we're running a repeat. Er, I mean a special encore presentation. There have been some really fun shows lately so it was hard to choose one. I decided to make it semi-timely. Ryan Hamilton is playing the Comedy MIX this weekend (and I'd totally be there if I were in town because the guy is hilarious). When he was here back in February, I dropped by his hotel room and recorded a show with him. So that's what we're running tomorrow night. You can go down to the 8 or 10:30 show at the MIX tonight, laugh at his jokes, then tune in on Sunday night at 11 to learn about the man behind the jokes and funny face. Oh yes, we talk about his face. Enjoy. We're back next Sunday with a live in-studio show when Jason Bryden drops by. Then the following Sunday we've got the legendary Bob Robertson back in studio!

Podcast episode 254ish: Steve Burgess

Last week's guest (and this week's podcast guest), Steve Burgess, was a real pro. The former radio deejay and current memoirist knows how to spin a yarn. So we talked about his new book, Who Killed Mom? (spoiler alert: it wasn't him), waxed poetic about reality TV in general and Jillian Harris in particular, discussed how bagels can be cute, and we touch on an old topic he was hoping would disappear. It's a bright and breezy hour with Greg Proops' doppelgänger.

Get this episode hot off the podcast presses right here by clicking on the link below. That'll play it for you immediately on your computer via a stream. But should you want to savour it, come and go at your leisure, you might want to head over to the iTunes store, search for 'What's So Funny?' and click on the one with my mug on it, then download the latest episode to your computer or iPod or MP3 device at no monetary cost to you whatsoever.

Nov. 6: Chris Gaskin

What time do you have? Did you remember to put your clocks back one hour last night? Hope so, otherwise you'll miss tonight's What's So Funny? at 11. Our guest is the youngest one we've ever had on. And if not, he's definitely the youngest-looking one we've had. But Chris Gaskin's no pushover, apparently. The kid is apparently a good wrestler and even "referees" pro-wrestling when not performing stand-up. We'll see if he can get out of my headlock. Besides being a young comic on the rise, he's also the publisher of the Gaskin Bugle. So we'll talk about all that and his health issues, comedy competitions and let him spew off on whatever's getting his goat these days (like all young men, he's known to have an opinion or two). Should be fun. Join us, won't you? We'll hit the air at 11 pm PST, or moments thereafter, at 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream the show at coopradio.org.

Oct. 30: Steve Burgess

On this All Hallow's Eve Eve, we've got the spooky Steve Burgess... Wait. What? Steve's not spooky at all. In fact, rumour has it he's going out as the definitely non-scary Greg Proops on Halloween. But I digress. We're not here to talk trick-or-treating; we're here to talk about Who Killed Mom?: A Delinquent Son's Meditation on Family, Mortality, and Very Tacky Candles. Burgess is a well-known award-winning writer and broadcaster (remember @the end on CBC Newsworld, the Canadian equivalent of Politically Incorrect?) and man-about-town, but this is his first book. That's kind of unbelievable so we'll ask him why it took him so long. And having recently finished Who Killed Mom?, I've got lots of other questions to ask. So tune in tonight at 11 to 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream the show on your computing devices at coopradio.org.

Canada Supposedly Reads

Our Sunday night guest this week will be author/broadcaster Steve Burgess, whose recent title Who Killed Mom? is currently fighting it out with 39 other Canadian non-fiction tomes on CBC's Canada Reads: True Stories list. Listeners (and book-lovers) can vote for up to five of the top 40 books listed on their website and the final 10 will be announced in February... Or something like that. Look, all I know is that the voting closes on Sunday at 9 pm PST and we hit the air at 11 pm so Steve won't be able to get the word out to the vast What's So Funny?-listening audience. So I'll do it here now.

I can (and will) personally vouch for Who Killed Mom? having just finished it yesterday. A finer book on matricide you will not read. Okay, it's not really about mother-murder despite its provocative title, but it is really good. If you haven't read it yet, you don't have time between now and Sunday (unless you're some kind of speed-reading freak of nature), so just trust me. Head over to the CBC site linked here and vote for it before Sunday night. Then tune in at 11 to CFRO, 102.7 FM (or livestream it here), to hear Steve and me talking about it. I've got lots of questions I've been scribbling down along the way.

Podcast episode 253ish: Sean Emeny

As I mentioned, there's no live show tonight on radio. But you can listen to last week's episode if you like. It's up now on the podcast channel. Sean Emeny made his What's So Funny? debut and revealed lots I didn't know. Like, frinstance, did you know he's a California surfer dude at heart? Did you know he used to work in the music industry? I sure didn't. Those are but two of the at least three nuggets of information you'll glean from the People's Champion of stand-up comedy in Vancouver. As an added bonus, you'll get to hear me talk about being ravaged by the e.coli virus.

Here's where it all happens. Or at iTunes. And a few other places. You know the drill.

The Comedy MIX

What's So Funny? is pre-empted this week due to CFRO's semi-annual membership drive (say, if you are a member, it may be time to renew your annual membership to help keep the station afloat; and if you're not a member, why not join? You can do it here online). But I thought I'd give a shout-out to the best damn comedy club in the city, The Comedy MIX (I have no idea why MIX is all in caps but I'm sure there's a reason).

I went to the early show last night to see Moshe Kasher from Los Angeles. I'd never seen the man perform before but have heard him on both Marc Maron's WTF podcast and Dave Shumka's and Graham Clark's Stop Podcasting Yourself. He's an intriguing character with quite a backstory but who knows how good he'd be as a stand-up. Or, more accurately, how I'd like him as a stand-up.

Well, I'm here to report he's damn good. And a real original comedic voice. He doesn't come out and tell obvious jokes in the sense that they're not jokes with a tried and true format (no set-up/punchline). He talks honestly (we can imagine, anyway, especially if you've heard him interviewed) about his life and thoughts but there's no meandering, no waiting for laughs. Practically every sentence elicits laughter. And every other sentence elicits groans on top of the laughter, which he thrives on. He'll pretend to be incredulous with the crowd at their reaction or non-reaction, but that's just grist for the old mill. It's part of his schtick. At no point in his show did he lose the crowd, yet listening to him kvetch about it you'd think he was bombing.

He's here for one more night (tonight, Saturday Oct. 22), two shows. I highly recommend you check him out. The whole show is top-notch. Charlie Demers hosts with his subversively intellectual material (masked as lowbrow to appease the great unwashed) and former local boy Phil Hanley flirts with the ladies and kills with his superbly-crafted one-liners and crowd work.

This type of show isn't a fluke at the MIX. I'm constantly impressed with their line-ups. They bring in great comics from afar and surround them with the city's best, who are headliners in their own right. As a comedy regular, I think that's the way to go. Vancouver's comics are, by and large, as good as LA's or New York's but the pool is much shallower, obviously. If you go see live comedy in town more than a couple times a year, you'll probably catch most of them. So it's refreshing to see new, polished faces from outside our area. And the locals get various weeks during the year where they get to headline, too. Win-win.

Two weeks ago Tom Rhodes headlined the club. Last week it was Chris Porter. This week, they brought in Kasher. On Thursday, Doug Benson does a special one-night show. Then November sees Ian Bagg, Ryan Hamilton, Tom Segura and Glenn Wool all travelling to town to play there. Then the hilarious Chad Daniels the first week of December. I think I'll be spending a lot of time there in the coming weeks. You should, too.

2012 Vancouver Comedy Fest names

A lot of people asked me what was happening with the Vancouver Comedy Fest (aka Global ComedyFest, aka Some Other Generic Sponsorship Name I Can't Recall). It usually happened in September. Didn't happen this year. That's because it's been moved up, for reasons unknown to me, to February. Sounds good. September's too busy with tons of stuff.

If you haven't heard, they recently announced a few names for the festival, which will take place Feb. 16-26. The biggest one is Betty White, who'll be 90 by the time her show at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts rolls around on Feb. 18. Festival head honcho Will Davis loves these types of non-performing shows, and so do the people. Carol Burnett started it here with a Q&A followed by Steve Martin. White has had one helluva career and is hotter than she's ever been right now. I recently saw her killing it in Bridesmaids and she's hosted Saturday Night Live in the past year, too. Think of all she's done: my first memory of her is from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I also remember her from Password, hosted by her late husband Allen Ludden. Then there was The Golden Girls, which I never got into but the show was inexplicably popular. And now she's on a sitcom called Hot in Cleveland, which is appropriate because she's hot everywhere.

The other two names announced for the festival are ones I thought might have over-saturated the market. Margaret Cho plays here (seemingly) once a year (although now that I look it up, I see she was last here in August of 2010). I first saw her live at Bumbershoot Lord knows how many years ago. That's when she was still a rising young alt-comic in the company of David Cross and Patton Oswalt and the like. Now she's a freakin' brand. She'll be playing the Centre the next night, Feb. 19.

And Jeremy Hotz, too, has been here more times than I can count. (Just checked: last time he was here was March 2010). He's always naturally funny and does great crowd work so even if he doesn't change his act, you'll be laughing even though you've seen him before. He's playing Lafflines in New West on Feb. 16, 17 and 18.

Can't wait to hear more names announced in the coming months. There'll be some good ones, some bad ones, and some you've never heard of who may fall under either category.

I also see that the festival has something to do with the surprise appearance of Doug Benson at the Comedy MIX this Thursday night, and that's a great thing indeed. Check him out. One night only.

Podcast episode 252ish: Ken Lawson

This here episode was a fun show. In some people's worlds (*ahem*Ken Lawson's*ahem*) that's showbiz code for not all that good, as you'll hear. But this ain't code; it really was fun. Ken was in fine form, saying, in effect, "yes and..." all throughout our one-hour improvisational interview. Because really, life is improv. We discuss whether "heavy metal" and "musician" even go together, learn what his nephew calls him, and he relates how Amy Poehler is a huge fan of his. So give this one a listen. I think you'll enjoy it.

Here it is for you, in all its glory. Take your shoes off, put your feet up and click below. Or download it to your iPod over at iTunes and listen to it repeatedly on your portable listening device.

Oct. 16: Sean Emeny

We've got another first-timer on the show tonight. But Sean Emeny's been around for a while now, winning contests and entertaining all with his oddball eyes-closed delivery and solid one-liners. What's behind the man in the visor? Is he an inveterate poker and/or tennis player? A golfer, perchance? Who knows? Not I. That's why we're having him on. He intrigues. Despite the short jokes, Emeny is also a master storyteller. Maybe he'll share a few with us tonight. We're live on the air at 11 pm, as usual (give or take a few minutes). Talk to you then.

Podcast episode 251ish: Diana Frances

Warning: This podcast episode could induce seasickness. Or just sickness. You see, Diana Frances talked about her experiences curled up in a ball on board cruise ships as well as an early sketch TV series she was involved in that her being impregnated by a giant omnipotent phallus. Other than that, though, it's suitable for children and small animals. Have a listen. It's her first solo appearance on the show after several guest spots with her comedy brethren and she managed to be not too creeped out by the whole thing.

Check it out here or on iTunes, where you'll be sure NOT to leave a comment or star rating (I'm going for the reverse psychology here).

Oct. 9: Ken Lawson

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Or, to our American friends, happy Sunday. Tonight we give thanks by offering Ken Lawson. The first-time WSF? guest is not only a top-of-the-line improvisor (he's improvved at festivals all over this great continent), a cast member of the legendary Second City troupe on board an international cruise line, a star on the Canadian sitcom Health Nutz, and a musician, the Jim Carrey look-alike is also, without a doubt, the worst Ping-Pong coach in the world. We'll talk about all these things tonight at 11 as you digest your turkey.

Podcast episode 250ish: Dino Archie

250 episodes?! Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. We've done more just on radio, but with today's installment, we've now got a cool 250 podcast episodes up and running. Impressive, no?

I left you hanging last week when I suggested Dino Archie would be our guest. After missing his first two scheduled appearances, I wasn't 100 percent certain he'd show up. But Archie was good on his word. He arrived early, even, and we had a grand old time on air. Here is the proof of that exchange. We get to know how the California native wound up in sunny Vancouver performing at stand-up stages all around town, learn about his irrepressible irrepressibility, find out about his days playing college basketball, and I dredge up a news-making gig he had at a UFC event in his hometown of Fresno. Good times.

Here's the episode for you. If you'd rather download it and listen to it on your commute, you go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you. Search for 'What's So Funny?' over at iTunes, if you will. All 250 of our episodes are there for the taking.