Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow Tragedy Plus Time on Twitter @TIAComedy!

COMICAL
Comedy Bar (Main Space), 945 Bloor St. W. (at Ossington)
Thursday, January 24th, 7:30 pm
$10.00 at the door, $8 pre-ordered (buy here)

COMICAL, produced and hosted by Michael Flamank, is easily one of the best organised comedy shows in the city. Occurring monthly in the comedy bar main space, Flamank procures Toronto’s favorite comics of both the established and promising-up-and-comers varieties. This month’s line up features:

BRIAN WARD (Top Shelf Comedy)

MOE ISMAIL (Goes Hard in the Paint!)

ALLISON DORE (Absolute Comedy, Comedy Network)

PAT THORNTON (Pat Thornton’s 24 Hour Stand Up, Comedy Network)

With Alex Pavone (Yuk Yuks, Comedy Network!) headling. Pavone is one of my favorites in the city. Many feel the same way. He is one of those comics who’s the same person on or off stage. He is completely raw. There is not a moment in any of his sets which isn’t intense. Raw, intense, mustachioed, Italian neurosis.

The room is set up for this show to seat perhaps fifty people. It’s a decent sized crowd as far as local comedy shows go while still being intimate enough that as the show goes on everyone begins to feel like a group and inside jokes develop. Last month Jordan Foisy drew attention to a benevolent heckler he accused of mild misogyny and being dressed too casually. That guy then became the misogynistic guy in sweat pants for the rest of the night. No hard feelings – he is now part of the show.

That’s enough from me. I will leave the rest of the promotion up to Flamank:

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Comedy Dance Party
822 Dundas St. W.
Friday, February 1st, 9pm
$10 

A “Comedy Dance Party.” Weird sounding concept, right? What’s the connection between these two activities?

The connection is: Evan Desmarais decided to smash them together. The vibe is something like that of a big house party where comics kick the night off and get everyone in a good mood. I would characterize it as a party supplemented by comedy. (Rather than a comedy show supplemented by a party.) That’s exactly how it should be done.

The comics tend to stick around to drink and dance. If you thought one of their jokes was particularly funny you can show your appreciation by grinding on them.

Desmarais is sort of the glue of the Toronto independent comedy scene. He founded I ♥ Jokes which is the production behind a few different comedy shows in Toronto including anything you see at The Central, his partial open-mic show in the cabaret room of Comedy Bar on Tuesdays, and their upcoming festival in March which you should check out. There are some big names. I personally can’t wait for Joe DeRosa and I know other Opie and Anthony listeners will feel the same. (There are still more names to be announced so stay tuned.)

The Comedy Dance Party comics this month are:

Jordan Sowunmi @jordanisjoso
- Vice Magazine
- The WA
- 2012 Comedy Brawl Finalist

Evan Desmarais @evndsmrs
- I Heart Jokes
- Funny Fest
- Video on Trial Audition
- MTV’s Losing IT

Chris Robinson @andmynameschris
- Ichannel
- Opened for Bill Belemy
- Host of Mondays at the Central

Daniel Woodrow @danieliswhite
- Video on Trial

Julia Hladkowicz @juliacomedy
- San Francisco Sketch Fest
- Laughing Skull Comedy Festival
- LA Comedy Festival
- MTV
- YTV

Nicholas Reynoldson @nicholasreynoldson
- Ichannel

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Back To the Future: The Improv Show
Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor St. W. (at Ossington)
Saturday, February 16th, 8pm
$8

Back to the Future: The Improv Show will be featured at Comedy Bar this Saturday, February 16th. That makes it a fun Valentine’s-Weekend night out for comedy loving couples.

Back to the Future: The Improv Show reenacts the action, adventure and romance of this 80s classic through the fun and choas of improv comedy. The ending will be happy, but between time-travel and the unpredictability of improv, who knows how they’ll get there?

“Audience response has been amazing,” said the show’s producer and director Quentin Matheson. “The cast and I are thrilled to perform a show that’s consistently made people cry from laughter.”

The cast includes some of Toronto’s most acclaimed improvisers: Sean Tabares (Canadian Comedy Award Winner for Best Male Improviser 2010), Julian Frid (Sex T-Rex), Jess Grant (Big in Japan), Janet Davidson (WDWMKR), Maria Hajigeorgiou (Beauty School Dropouts), Ken Hall (Throne of Games), and Isaac Kessler (CCA nominees for Best Improv Troupe 2011: 2-MAN NO-SHOW).

The show debuted at Comedy Bar’s Festival of New Formats. In the Fall, it was one of the biggest hits of the inaugural Big City Improv Festival.

A stand-out hit! The audience couldn’t get enough of this show! It was a crowd pleaser that I recommend everyone see! - BCIF executive producer Adrianne Gagnon.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

As Seen on TV
Second City 
Friday, February 22nd, 10:30pm
$18

This Friday Second City will be featuring the improv show As Seen on TV. The hilarious lineup includes Colin Mochrie (Who’s Line Is It Anyway?), Debra McGrath (Little Mosque On The Prairie), Sandy Jobin-Bevans (Life With Boys [Nickelodeon], Deal With It [W Network]), as well as producers Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus.

Photo: The Second City

Baram can be seen on City’s newest hit comedy series Seed. In 2012 he won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improviser.

Snieckus has been nominated in the 2013 ACTRA Awards for her role on CBC’s Mr. D. She has also been featured on Degrassi, Skins, Wingin’ It, The Listener, Alphas, Lost Girl, Haven, Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour (with the Trailer Park Boys), I, Martin Short Goes Home, and as a panelist on Stromboulopoulos Tonight.

Together they formed The National Theater of the World, a theater production company whose improv shows have garnered much acclaim since its inception in 2008.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Skin of My Nuts
Sonic Espresso Bar  
Tuesdays, 10-ish

A lot of open mics are depressing places full of nothing but comics impatiently waiting their turn to try out new material. One of very few exceptions is Skin of My Nuts, hosted by Vandad Kardar at Sonic Espresso Bar. Kardar’s alternative name for it – the Anne Frank’s Attic of Comedy – is more a reference to how small the room is and that it’s above the actual bar area.

The room started just under a year ago and was extremely disorganized. The name “Skin of My Nuts” is meant to capture the show’s ethos. It has stayed true to that, except these days the audience sticks around. This is in contrast to the old days when Kardar would clear the room multiple times with ten minute rants about how God hates women and his idea for marketing “17 year old” scotch (“it’ll be our little secret”).

The show has built a following who often stay till the very end, which can be late. Karder will put everyone on even if this means the last act is at 2 am. Comics will often show up at 1 to cap off their night with a set where they know anything goes and they can feel comfortable taking any risk. I’ve seen comics have full meltdowns, berate an overly sexually suggestive audience member to the point of nearly getting in a fight with her boyfriend who was tripping on acid, defend white nationalism, use the unique space to experiment with sharing their most intimate and painful stories, and bash the industry where they know there won’t be consequences. I have also seen countless traditionally great sets.

If seats are scarce in the cramped room, drinks are inexpensive and there’s a nice patio area. The audience is constantly moving in and out so hold tight and eventually you’ll be able to sit down.

April 30th will be the one year anniversary show and to celebrate Kardar is hosting a roast of himself. Many of the regular comics will be participating.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Toronto stand-up comedians Blayne Smith and Troy Stark have partnered up to create The Shit Hawks, a five episode web series. Smith and Stark play two candy eating, soda shotgunning, “chemically dependent,” tattooed VD fomites who decide they need to start a band to justify their lifestyle. In need of a singer they end up selecting New Zealander Guy Montgomery (“Bad Dog”) as he is the least-worst candidate available.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Toronto comics Jason Schlesinger and Peter Inskip recently started a weekly show at Mây every Wednesday (9pm). Mây is a kind of bar with a huge stage where you can sometimes watch plays and that sort of thing, but now you can also see comedy! Anyone unfamiliar with the comedy scene doesn’t realize the cachet that comes with an actual stage. A lot of rooms around the city just have the performer standing on the exact same tiles as the drunken, common spectators.

Schlesinger and Inskip co-host the show with one on the stage and the other chiming in from the sound booth. Co-hosted shows are always fun; the playful and occasionally antagonistic rapport is always more interesting than just one person trying to calibrate the room’s energy. This way it isn’t a lone guy one stage imploring the audience to care; it’s a double act whose energy exists whether we’re witnessing it or not.

I want to emphasize this room really allows for a “show” vibe. It doesn’t feel like a bar which happens to have comedy tonight. It feels a little closer to watching comedy in a comedy club than many bar-room shows around the city. All the seating is set up specifically to view the stage.

So far the line-ups have been good. Last week Darryl Orr (Yuk Yuks) headlined. The previous time I was there Matt O’brien (NOW and numerous other creds) dropped in for a set.

***

The other thing I want to share is on May 23rd Rebecca Kohler and Nile Séguin are both record DVDs at The Lot comedy club. The show starts at 8, doors at 7, $15 entry.

That may seem confusing. What I’m saying is: these are two separate stand-up comedians but they’re recording a show each, with a fifteen minute break between, ’cause they each want to release a DVD.

Rebecca Kohler has a cheeky style which sometimes gets real. She has has opened for Norm MacDonald, been at  Just For Laughs Festival, Hubcap Comedy Festival, Winnipeg Comedy Fest, Halifax Comedy Fest, had a special on CTV’s Comedy Now, toured with Mark Breslin’s Yuk Yuks across Canada and has plenty more impressive creds.

Nile Séguin just in 2012 performed to fifty sold out shows in Montreal with Sugar Sammy as part of the bilingual comedy show Youʼre Gonna Rire. Nile was also recently at Just for Laughs Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and the Halifax Comedy – all in the same year. He has twice been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival
Best of the Fest Encore Show

The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival was held during March of this year. The festival has been running since 2005 and is the largest of any independent comedy festivals in the country.  Featured artists and acts include Michael Ian Black, Sassy Gay Friend, FrankenMatt, Picnicface, members of Kids in the Hall, Falcon Powder and This is That Live.

The favorites of the festival are returning as Best of the Fest Encore Show.

The show is in partnership with NXNE which means 50 wristband or pass holders can make the rush line on the day for free admission.

The three favorite acts to be featured are She Said What, Deadpan Powerpoint and The Rocket Scientists. 

She Said What won the 2013 Second City Best of the Fest Award. She Said What have previously been nominated for Canadian Comedy Award.

Deadpan Powerpoint (great name) won the festival’s Now Magazine Audience Choice Award for the second time, previously having won in 2010. This award is more the audience choice award of the festival as opposed to the previously mentioned award which is determined by a jury. Democracy or philosopher kings? They probably both have their wisdom.

The Rocket Scientists won The Steam Whistle Brewing Producers’ Pick Award. This award goes to the troupe who, as well as presenting a great show, demonstrate enthusiasm in participating and promoting the festival.

More updates related to NXNE comedy to come. 

***

Also don’t forget to check out COMICAL tonight (Thursday) at Comedy Bar, 9:30pm, $10. Chris Locke, winner of NOW’s 2012 Best Stand Up Comic, is headlining. Locke has also been making hilarious sketches for MTV Showtown, such as this:

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Credit: Eric Andrews

Comedy has been featured in past years at NXNE but 2013 is the first year it’s officially being included as it’s own category. Appropriately, there is a fuck load of comedy, way too much for me to cover or recommend here. So I’ll just keep it to some combination of bigger names and local favorites.  And even then I’ll be missing out some comics who are totally worthy of attention.

I’ll start off with two of the city’s great stand-ups who are widely considered by fellow comics to be underrated:

Todd Graham – The Lot Saturday, June 15 @ 10:40 PM

Graham tends to set the vibe for his performances right from the beginning by stepping on stage and silently surveying the audience with visible strained discomfort then following it with,

“Let’s, uh, let’s keep that energy going.”

He then proceeds with a series of excellently crafted and often bizarre one-liners. His energy fills the room with tension which each joke puts further strain on and everyone can’t help but laugh. That’s the best way I can explain it.

Paul Thompson - Creatures Creating (Basement) Friday, June 14 @ 12:40 AM, The LOT Saturday, June 15 @ 8:20 PM 

Thompson is a regular in weed rooms around the city where is also sometimes raps. He is a self-proclaimed wigga but does it well and is one of the most naturally hilarious people around. He is known for his ability to riff on any subject for twenty minutes and improvise as many punchlines as he would have in a pre-crafted set.

He often gets real, but he’s always playful, even in these moments. Thompson is electric and most likely one we’ll be seeing a lot in the future.

Now for comics who are also great and fortunately rated more or less commensurately:

Chris Locke - Comedy Bar – Mainspace  Thursday, June 13 @ 12:30 AM, Comedy Bar – Cabaret Room  Friday, June 14 @ 8:20 PM,  Creatures Creating (Basement) Friday, June 14 @ 12:20 AM 

Locke has been mentioned here at Toronto is Awesome a few times now, because he’s great. He was voted Toronto’s Best Stand-Up by NOW for 2012. Lately he’s been making skits for MTV. Go check out Cool Judge.

Dave Merheje – The Lot Friday, June 14 @ 11:10 PM, Creatures Creating (Basement) Friday, June 14 @ 1:20 AM, Danforth Music Hall Sunday, June 16 @ 8:45 PM

Merheje is a high energy improviser. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him do the same set twice. He tends to just go off about whatever he thought was funny that day. Merheje was the 2011 winner of NOW’s Best Stand-Up award, as well as Just For Laugh’s Irwin Barker Homegrown Comic Award the same year. He is currently one of the hosts of MTV Live.

Another thing I want to give him props for is his self-branding. I’m not sure if it’s deliberate or not, but he has an unmistakable look, with his beard, glasses, cap, and usually a tank top. I always thought he looks like he’d fit in to the rap trio Das Racis’.

Graham Kay - The Lot Wednesday, June 12 @ 10:30 PM, Comedy Bar – Mainspace Friday, June 14 @ 10:50 PM 

With his deadpan style and talent for accentuating the tragedy in situations, Graham Kay has performed at festivals and competitions internationally which I won’t enumerate because that’s boring. He regularly appears on MuchMusic’s Video on Trial as well as Sirius/XM radio’s The Laugh Attack Show.

Mark Little - Comedy Bar – Mainspace Wednesday, June 12 @ 12 AM, Comedy Bar – Cabaret Room Friday, June 14 @ 3 AM 

Mark Little currently portrays science teacher Simon Hunt in the CBC sitcom Mr. D. He is a member of acclaimed sketch comedy group Picnicface whose videos have racked up nearly 50 million views on YouTube. He too won the Just For Laughs Homegrown award, in 2009. He also won the Yuk Yuk’s Great Canadian Laugh Off with a $25,000 prize. This is not an exhaustive list of his activities or accomplishments.

Matt O’Brien - Comedy Bar – Cabaret Room Wednesday, June 12 @ 9 PM, The LOT Sunday, June 16 @ 10 PM 

Matt O’Brien has also been mentioned here at Toronto is Awesome in the past, because he too is hilarious. He has won Canada’s Next Top Comic by XM/Sirius Radio, and Best Stand-Up at the LA Comedy Festival.

Sandra Battaglini – The Lot Saturday, June 15 @ 10:50 PM

Battaglini is great at making anything she talks about funny. There are no boring parts in her sets. Battaglini’s last solo show Hard Headed Woman won a Canadian Comedy Award in the category of best solo show.

Alex Pavone - Sunday, June 16 @ 11 PM, The Lot

Alex Pavone is kind of the male Sandra Battaglini in that he has an energetic and expressive story-telling style which I think is an Italian thing. Again, his sets never have boring parts. It’s just fucking hilarious from start to finish. Recently he headlined Yuk Yuk’s for a weekend, which was well received.

Mike Rita - The LOT Wednesday, June 12 @ 10:50 PM, Vapor Central Saturday, June 15 @ 11 PM 

Mike Rita never had to grind too hard to get anywhere, he seemed to just “have it.” He won Cream of Comedy in 2010, only two years in to his comedy career. He now tours with Yuk Yuk’s and is known for hosting one of the best rooms in the city, Stoner Sunday’s at Vapor Central.

Amanda Brooke Perrin - Comedy Bar – Cabaret Room Wednesday, June 12 @ 8:40 PM, The LOT Thursday, June 13 @ 10:10 PM,  Creatures Creating (Basement) Friday, June 14 @ 1 AM, The LOT Saturday, June 15 @ 8:50 PM 

Most of what I know of – Perrin? Brooke Perrin? Whatever – is from following her on Twitter where she is always hilarious. She holds the distinction, shared only with Twitter giants such as Rob Delaney, of having had a tweet plagiarized by prolific joke thief Prodigal Sam.

Dylan Moran!!! – Panasonic Theater Sunday, June 16 @ 9 PM

The headliner, it might be said, of the comedy portion of the festival is Dylan Moran. I don’t think they’ve officially referred to him as the headliner of the whole thing, but it’s what I’m saying. If you don’t know him, outside of stand-up he is probably best known for his BAFTA winning sitcom Black Books and horror comedy film Shaun of the Dead which Quentin Tarantino called one of his favorite twenty films since 1992.

He is at once rambling and eloquent; a classy bum. His style is romantically cynical. His monologues are reminiscent of a wino waxing poetic about a world in shambles, mostly because that’s exactly what he is.

Comedy at NXNE Interactive

Also worth checking out will be the comedy segment of NXNE Interactive, including: A Comedian’s Guide to Social Media on Wednesday, June 12 with Comedy Records founder Barry Taylor and three NXNE comics; Say “Yes” – Improv Supercharges Ideation and Creativity, a fun and hilarious interactive session which explores the fundamentals of improv comedy and how they influence creativity on Friday, June 14; then finally Comics & Day Jobs That Don’t Suck, a panel on Friday, June 14, about utilizing comics’ particular skills and talents in non-comedy day jobs.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Photo: The Beaverton

THE BEAVERTON LIVE

Canada’s most trusted news Source, The Beaverton, is putting on a live show this Saturday, June 22nd, to celebrate the release of their latest print edition. It will be at The Lot Comedy Club, 100 Ossington Avenue, 10pm.

The Beaverton has been steadily growing more popular. They encountered viral success last month with their hilarious article about Chris Hadfield’s unpleasant surprise upon returning home from space.

The Beaverton Live will feature some of the city’s most hilarious stand-ups including:

Jordan Sowunmi - VICE, the Wa, and Toronto Standard.

Monty Scott - XM Satellite Radio, The Oprah Winfrey Network, The Comedy Network, Bite TV and i-Chanel.

Todd Graham - who I raved about here, because he is terrific.

+ more! Hosted by The Beaverton’s head writer Luke Gordon Field. (Facebook event.) (Tickets here - $10.)

Follow @TheBeaverton.

COMIC VISION LAST CALL

On June 20, 2013, Comic Vision Last Call will host a stand-up comedy show in support of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Comic Vision Last Call will be held at the Steam Whistle Brewery, featuring performances by stand-up comics Geoff Mackay, DJ Demers and Jen Grant, and an appearance by visually-impaired Paralympic rower, Victoria Nolan, whose speeches are always inspiring. The evening will also feature fundraising games, live and silent auctions with prizes including trips to Montreal and New York City, then an after party with a live DJ. Hosting the night will be Derek Welsman from 102.1 The Edge.

Comic Vision Last Call has raised almost $5 million for vision research since its inception to help vision impaired people across the country.

“We believe a cure for blindness can be found in our lifetime,” says organizer Carolyn Hynds. “Comic Vision is a truly unique charity fundraiser that uses laughter and fun to raise awareness and money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which will eventually make new treatments a reality.”

Tickets are $75 and on sale now at comicvision.ca, or by calling 1.800.461.3331 ext. 226.

JORDAN STROFOLINO’S COMEDY CIRCUS

Again in partnership with Steam Whistle Brewing, Jordan Strofolino presents his Comedy Circus at TALLBOYS Craft Beer House this Sunday, June 23rd at 8pm. The show features Steph Tolev, who recently opened for Twitter star Rob Delaney, along with other local comics.

This is one of the more fun shows in the city. Strofolino is a party man who sacrifices his own dignity and liver to make sure you have a good time.

The show is PWYC.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Comedy Records presents Legends In The Making, the live stand-up comedy album taping, starring DAVE MERHEJE (MTV, Just For Laughs) and ARTHUR SIMEON (HBO, Just For Laughs) on Thursday, August 15 at the Randolph Theatre. (Buy tickets here.)

I interviewed Dave for the occassion:

(Dave) We got the same shirt.

H&M?

Yeah, mine’s lighter yellow though.

$6.95…

I like $6.95. A lot actually.

Alright…I want to start by asking – I’ve never seen you do the same set twice. Do you actually write down material?

I used to actually write everything down, I’d sit in a coffee shop and write everything. Then as I was trying to find my voice I wanted to be funny how I was off-stage, on-stage. So when I was walking around or on the bus or streetcar I would train myself to write in my head. I always wanted to be free on-stage.

I remember a bit of yours I thought was hilarious where you were talking about someone you knew who was smoking crack and claimed they could take a brick out of a wall. Is that a bit you still do, for example?

That’s actually a real story, I should do it again. Me and my buddies – I don’t want to say their names – we were doing drugs and we went from weed to ecstacy then one of our friends started talking about crystal meth. Me and the other dude were like “we don’t want any part of that, if you’re gonna do that just don’t call us.” And then we saw him after he did it the next day and he was like “you’re not gonna understand how awesome it is” and I’m like “how awesome is it?” Then he’s like “I could take a fuckin’ brick out of a wall.” And I’m like “that is not awesome.”

As far as I’m aware you’ve taken a more independent route in your career as opposed to the more traditional club route. Could you speak a bit about that?

I would do spots downtown but nothing really official where I was on tour or anything, then I drifted away from Yuk Yuks and started doing my own thing and I continued on that path.

Would you recommend that path if someone was coming up in comedy?

I would love to have worked with them at the time but it didn’t pan out. I would say to anyone just find where you’re comfortable.

So what’s happening with this upcoming DVD?

Me and Arthur Simeon did a tour last year and we had this concept; I read something about where Chappelle and Chris Rock were gonna tour together ’cause they were inspired by Watch the Throne, the Kanye West and Jay-Z album, and I thought that was super cool. I’d like to pair up with someone I really wanna work with in Toronto and tour around. We did Kingston, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto. We called it Legends in the Making. We had a lot of fun, we learned a lot. We worked well together, our styles are different. This year we wanted to do it again and focus on Toronto and also tape our DVDs.

I’m doing material about my family that I did at ZooFest. Kevin Hart’s Seriously Funny I thought was an awesome comedy special ’cause it’s about his family and his kids. I’ve always wanted to talk about my family for a 45 minute set.

Something I wanted to ask you about – this isn’t really comedy related – but you have a distinctive style. I’ve literally seen you from a hundred meters away down the street and I can immediately spot you. Is this at all deliberate? Because I feel like it’s perhaps a good marketing thing.

I would grow my beard out in the winter, or maybe when I was depressed. Then I just kept it one year and people dug it. Then I shaved it and people gave me weird looks and my friends were like “yugh, go back to the beard.” And I’m big in to fashion. I like clothes and shopping for them and building outfits and styles. Then I needed new glasses and got these Ray Bans so started looking like a hipster without trying to. I guess that’s where the style came from; kind of half on purpose and half not.

Toronto is one of the few cities in the world where you’re going to do weed rooms; it’s just part of doing comedy here. How do you find that?

Some weed rooms the energy is high, other’s it’s low. It’s cool, I’ve been a part of it since I’ve lived here. I remember rooms starting off with like four people and now they’ve grown to be huge successes. Bryan O’gorman does a great job, Chris Robinson, Mike Rita. It’s good vibes. I like certain ones for the energy of the crowd, some I don’t like as much. But I think it’s a really good thing for this city. It creates more rooms. But I don’t really smoke weed, I get too much anxiety.

Same.

Well thanks, Dave.

Thank you, man. And Arthur appreciates it. He hasn’t told me he appreciates it but I’m pretty sure he will.

He might get real mad and start sending you abusive tweets, “don’t speak on my behalf!”

Well I appreciate it! Thank you very much.

Follow Dave @DaveMerheje and Arthur @ArthurSimeon

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

When I was typing out the title of this post I almost wrote ‘Emmet Till’ then realized “no, that can’t be right.”

But on Tuesday, September 3rd this monthly at the Emmet Ray has a great line up. Hosted by Troy Stark and Blayne Smith – who has very recently taped his first TV appearance for No Kidding on ichannel - Classy Drunk will be featuring some noteworthy comics including:

Ali Hassan, who you’ll know as the lead comedy panelist on CBC’s George Stroumboulopolous Tonight.

Garrett Jamieson, co-founder of The Lot Comedy Club, which within a year of opening has hosted television tapings and many acts as part of the NXNE festival.

Heidi Brander, who has also been featured on ichannel’s No Kidding.

+ more acts and special guests.

And as if the comedy isn’t already enough to distract us from the inherent despair of existence, pints are $5 before 9pm.

***

ALSO, tonight, August 29th if you want something to do last minute is COMICAL once again. I’ve plugged this show quite a few times now because I’d say it’s the best independent stand-up show around:

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Photo by Andrew Strapp

Chris Locke is a Torontonian stand-up comic who will be featured at JFL42, Toronto’s Comedy Festival. He was voted Best Stand-up of 2012 by NOW magazine. He has performed at countless festivals around North America, opened for Todd Barry, Hannibal Buress, Pete Holmes, Todd Glass, Neal Brennan, and toured with Kyle Kinane. I would describe his style as absurd, fun, and a bit surrealist.

JFL42 commences this Thursday, September 19th. Buy passes here. Check out Chris Locke’s performance schedule here.

***

Is there anyone that you’re looking forward to watching at Just For Laughs?

A lot of shows, the whole festival’s freaking awesome. I think I’m doing one of Andy Kinder’s alternative shows again, which are the best. There’s this guy Brent Weinbach who I saw in Montreal this year, I really want to see how a full show of his would be. Bill Burr I really want to see. I love Kyle Kinane, John Mulaney. Sam Simmons, from Australia, who’s pretty insane. There’s a bunch.

You’re reasonably active on Twitter. Does that influence your comedy? Do bits ever start out as Tweets which you later develop? Or do you use it for promotional purposes, like promoting yourself just by being funny on there? Or is it just kind of its own thing that you do for fun?

I think you mentioned every reason I use it. Well, first of all I look at Twitter as a garbage dump for silly or stupid ideas that I probably can’t turn in to anything else. Like the other day I tweeted -

“Which one’s are dogs? Men?” “No, men are just men. Dogs are something else.” – Cat’s talking.

— Chris Locke (@chrislockefun) September 11, 2013

Where else would I put that? Also, why did I think of that? But if people respond to it then I like it beacuse I helps promote my sense of humor. So then every now and then I will tweet to promote a show that’s coming up that I’m excited about.

Is there anyone on Twitter that you like but isn’t really known for being funny outside of Twitter?

I would say, he’s already pretty successful as a humorist but not a stand-up, but Michael Kupperman. He makes these comics that are amazing. The thing that makes him different from other graphic artists is his sense of humor informs his art first, like his writing, and he’s a really good comic artist. His tweets are usually really good. I like absurd stuff like that. Sometimes you follow a lot of stand-up comedians and they’re not even really being funny on Twitter.

I’d say almost the majority.

Maybe the ones who are funny on Twitter are the ones who are still hungry.

Or maybe they don’t want to waste material?

Well, Andy Kindler is still funny on Twitter. So is Kyle Kinane; it has a tone to it that’s different to his stand-up. I like that too, when Twitter shows a comedian can be funny in a different vein.

I just ate at Big Smoke Burger. I remember you had a joke about sitting in the window there.

Big Smoke is one of my favorites. Everyone goes nuts for Burger Priest, but I would do Burger Priest second, maybe.

Someone just told me about how Burger Priest has a burger with two grilled cheese in place of a bun.

Yeah I heard about that. I don’t really feel like I need to try it, though.

It’s sort of like the equivalent of KFC’s Double Down.

Are you gonna try it?

I’m still debating it, I only heard about it a couple of days ago. I have to process that.

Take your time, man.

You recently did interviews for Just for Laughs with Marc Maron, Hannibal Buress – a bunch of people. So I wanted to ask: do prefer interviewing, or being interviewed?

I’d probably say interviewing, because every time I get interviewed myself I always think that I wasn’t funny enough and I was answering the questions too real, which is how I feel about this interview right now. Saying real answers feels kinda corny to me, but I always end up doing it anyway. What I like about interviewing people is I can pay attention to what they’re saying so I can get ready to ask them a question that they might not be expecting. I’m also just interested in what other people have to say. And also looking for opportunities to make jokes with those people.

I think it’s good though ’cause sometimes people can be too funny in interview situations.

Did you see my interview with Harland Williams?

Yes -

That was just a clip, but the real interview was like ten minutes long and he did not say one serious thing the whole time. I actually really liked it ’cause it gave my improv muscles a good work out ’cause I was matching him beat for beat, ’cause he was being super absurd non-stop. But yeah I guess it is sort of weird sometimes when you’re a fan of an artist and you’re trying to get to know them a bit more outside of their art, then in an interview they’re just being an enigma.

I remember an interview with him, I think it might have been with Adam Carolla, where he was trying to ask him personal questions and he just wouldn’t have it. It actually got awkward ’cause he was like, “I just don’t wanna talk about my family and that…”

The way he avoided answering anything real with me too was maybe awkward a little bit as well. I just played along though.

He must be a weirdo to live with, in his actual life, if he’s like that.

Maybe he’s ashamed of a weird way he eats a sandwich or something. He never wants that coming out. “I never want the world to know I eat a sandwich off my wife’s butt. And also I don’t eat at all.” It’s a weird detail he’s sensitive about. And the rest of us are like, “c’mon, Harland, it’s not that big a’deal, man, we don’t care about that. We respect you more for being honest.”

If someone were to search your name in YouTube, would you rather they click on your sketches or your stand-up?

Maybe sketches first. I like some of the stand-up clips but I never think they do justice to seeing me live.

Yeah that’s true.

I think the character stuff always does better online.

Do you have a favorite of the recent sketches you’ve made? Cool Judge, Meditation Man, Game of Thrones Bad Actor…

I really like playing Cool Judge, and I really like watching the Bad Actor. And I really like writing the Meditation Man. I feel like the Meditation Man is maybe a little too subtle for online. Cool Judge got a good response in Toronto.

Well, that’s everything I wanted to ask.

I hope I was funny enough…

It was a good balance between funny and informative!

Follow Chris Locke on Twitter @chrislockefun. Other info can be found here.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Bill Burr

JFL42′s most requested comedian. Popular opinion suggests Burr is quickly ascending to the throne of Best Comic, currently probably held by fellow redheaded Bostonian, Louis CK. Whether affirming a decidedly male perspective in an increasingly feminized world, or arguing that Steve Jobs wasn’t that great, Burr is always irreverently hilarious.

Ryan Belleville

Belleville, a Toronto resident, is know for being the youngest person to tape a Comedy Now! special back in 2001 and also a bunch of TV roles and appearances. I’m not going to bombard you with credits though. I’m simply endorsing him because he has made me cry laughing more than once.

Anthony Jeselnik

Jeselnik was propelled to fame, at least by stand-up comedy standards, by his ruthless appearances at the roasts of Donald Trump and Charlie Sheen. Anyone who knows him, though, knows that ruthless, brutal, dark one-liners are the style he has mastered unlike anyone else. He now has his own show on Comedy Central, The Jeselnik Offensive, which is basically dedicated to pointing and laughing at the most sacred of cows. On Marc Maron’s podcast he was asked where he thinks the “line” is. His answer, to paraquote, was that there isn’t one and if someone tried to tell him where the line is he would immediately cross it.

Hannibal Buress

Hannibal Buress is a great joke technician, which creates an interesting juxtaposition against his drawling Southern accent. He is proficient and absurd, which allows him to glide between the most everyday premises and the dark and dirty without it really occurring to you any transition has been made. Only 29 years old and already a classic comic.

Chris Locke

I already interviewed him just a few days ago so go read that.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Anthony Jeselnik

Anthony Jeselnik prowls the stage with the cold, measured gait of Michael Myers, intermittently sipping from a tall cup of vodka on the rocks. Instead of wielding a kitchen knife, he slashes with the most vicious one-liners found anywhere in comedy.

A giant rave was being held in an adjacent building at the Exhibition grounds. Everyone arriving at Jeselnik’s show had noticed the thousands of 20 year old ravers; a somewhat irritating and depressing sight. Jeselnik begins, “If you’re wearing a glow-in-the-dark necklace…you’re in the wrong building.”

And how great that would have been, to witness a group of rolling kids sipping bottles of Evian with giant pupils walk in on [paraquote]:

I used to use the N-word a lot. I used it all the time. Then I thought I should probably start changing up all of my passwords.

However his fans were only slightly less shocked. That’s what they’re there for. He makes fun of the audience, even when complimenting them:

This city is full of beautiful women. Despite what’s going on in this crowd.

He did more crowd work than I expected. A lot of it was funny in itself, and a lot of it he made funny by steering in to jokes he was planning on doing.

He also deviated from his usual one-liners in parts, taking it more personal and long form. He made an especially trenchant point recounting a conflict he had with executives at Comedy Central. He had written a joke for his show, The Jeselnik Offensive, about having taken an aptitude test at school which returned the results that he could be a “rocket scientist, run a laundry service – or stop cheating off the Asian kid.” Comedy Central took issue with the laundry service stereotype and demanded he replace it with something, anything, else. So he came up with “build a railroad,” which is clearly “a billion times more offensive.” The executive ignorantly OK’d it, proving that people who get offended by jokes are fucking stupid.

Chris Locke

Photo Credit: Andrew Strapp

Chris Locke bounces on to the stage and throughout seems fascinated by his own body, constantly striking bizarre poses and grabbing his gut. This is really a physical representation of his psychedelic comedy style. “Psychedelic” was the word he used to describe his own joke about being hungover and feeling like a “dumb guy trapped behind a dead guy’s eyes,” but it applies to his vibe in general.

This was his first of four shows, so he was still figuring it out and wasn’t as tight as I’ve seen him. He perceived the audience being a little reserved so did a lot of crowd work to loosen them up, finally getting them completely on board pointing out “I know why you’re holding back – because it’s 7pm; the only things going on right now are this show, and children putting on their PJs.”

He performed again later that evening as part of SiriusXM’s Next Top Comic which I thought he should have won. (Not that the winner, Pete Zedlacher, isn’t a great comic. He performs around Toronto frequently so check him out some time if you haven’t.) The only competitor for content would have been Rob Bebenek, and the only competitor for performance would have been Zedlacher, but Locke had everything.

Also note: the three comics I just mentioned are Toronto comics. We are a lucky city as far as comedy goes.

You can still catch Chris Locke this Thursday and Friday. 

Bill Burr

For many people Bill Burr would have been the sole reason they attended the festival. He has gained a large following which probably started with regular Opie and Anthony appearances in the mid-2000s, then with his podcast where he riffs on anything and answers listener questions (including a lot of sensible relationship advice), perhaps his portrayal of Kuby on Breaking Bad (I have no idea whether or not that sells stand-up tickets), and obviously his stand-up.

The aforementioned Anthony Jeselnik even said Burr appears to be the heir apparent to Louis CK’s throne at the top of stand-up comedy. There are comics with more fame than either of them, but this throne sits at the intersection of respect from fellow comics as well audiences.

He began by riffing on the opulence he expected of the venue based on the name “Queen Elizabeth Theater” then arriving to find an austere “very Eastern European” building.

He called out Canadians on the perception of moral superiority while he as a hockey fan knows that famous Canadian civility is sometimes abandoned.

I’m not going to attempt to describe his actual bits as they could not be done justice, and also in parts it was apparent he’s workshopping them presumably for a new special at some point. But it was literally the best stand-up I’ve ever seen.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Opening the show was Andy Kindler, who I had never gotten in to. It always felt like his relentless deconstruction of comedy – both others’ and his own – needs to be carried by some genius material. Sometimes he will attempt to deliver a joke, although never fully stepping out from behind his veil of sarcasm, and its crappiness is saved – of course – by the implication he wasn’t sincere in the first place.

It is an extreme form of comedic asceticism: I will hurt myself before you can; I’ll will my own failure before the world can foist failure upon me. Then when you point this out, I already KNOW that and hate myself MORE – ad infinitum.

But seeing him live warmed me up to him a little. He can barely get through a joke without pointing out everything hacky, awkward, or pointless about his own material or delivery; then he can barely get through this deconstruction without deconstructing that. And seeing it live is genuinely kind of funny. The audience was responsive to it. It brings to mind every comic seen anywhere and narrates everything ridiculous about it. Although everything sounds absurd when narrated out loud. But it would still be worth watching for a newer comic so they know how to avoid the hackneyed and superfluous.

Eventually he introduced Marc Maron, who began with some impersonations of Kindler, then Kindler joined him on stage for a moment and they did the impersonations together. Maron commented it had been the best set he’s seen Kindler have, vindicating his belief in him for “two decades.”

Maron then took a seat and admitted he has not prepared for this, and never does. He divulges it is a psychological defense mechanism where he can feel like a genius if he succeeds, and can excuse failure if he doesn’t.

This reminds me of a story about a guy who decided he will no longer plan his weekends and will instead live spontaneously from Friday evening through Sunday. The result? He didn’t do much. He had previously been more productive and had more fun when he made plans.

Now, on the whole the show was good. But it wasn’t great like Bill Burr had been a few days earlier. He was falling back on old bits and a lot of it felt over-crafted. Delivering the same 45 like Jerry Seinfeld for 10 years will result in a perfect act on a technical level, yet it will sound uninspired. When he brought up his relationship with his fiancee being “dicey” I was hoping he’d go in to more detail so we could maybe hear the rawness and honesty he is loved for. And there were moments! Even some bits he has presumably done many times before were terrific, especially his closer about Viagra making him so virile he looked down at his penis during the act and thought, “it doesn’t even need me!”

There is an extent to which Maron has to be appreciated like, perhaps, Henry Rollins. That is to say, a really funny, honest, and introspective raconteur and ideas guy. (Although still more comedian-y than that.) I listen to him talk and want to hear his perspective on things even when there’s no punchline. Which is just fine.

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Jesse Joyce is someone you may not have heard of, but whose jokes you’ve certainly heard. He has done a lot of writing for the Oscars and the Comedy Central Roasts. The brutal, merciless insults which inscribed Greg Giraldo’s name in the comedy-history books as Best Roaster Ever were actually written with help from Jesse Joyce; they were long-time writing partners.

He will be performing in Toronto November 6th through 10th at Absolute Comedy. (See site for specifics of each evening.)

Joyce was recently interviewed on Sirius XM’s Anything Goes with Dave Martin and Darren Frost, a podcast centered around Canadian comedy which is worth checking out. Joyce’s episode will be up in a couple of weeks.

He’s also great to follow on Twitter as he tweets all his Oscars and Roast jokes there weren’t room for in the final broadcast. Here are some from the James Franco roast:

James u did everything backwards-Ur a movie star THEN did soaps THEN went to college. Who the fuck’s ur agent? Benjamin Button? #FrancoRoast

— Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) September 3, 2013

James Franco is such a narcissist he has his girlfriends text him pictures of his dick. #FrancoRoast

— Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) September 3, 2013

Aziz is writing a book abt how social media makes dating hard. And another one about how looking like an Ewok makes dating hard #FrancoRoast

— Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) September 3, 2013

Seth’s Canadian so if he seems confused around Sarah, its just cuz he’s lookin for the cop who’s supposed to be mounted on her #FrancoRoast

— Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) September 3, 2013

Jonah Hill looks so uncomfortable up on that dais you would think he was sitting next to himself on a plane. #FrancoRoast

— Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) September 3, 2013

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

The Dark Comedy Festival is returning for its third year, presenting nine nights of the most tortured and brilliant headliners from across the continent including DAVE ATTELL (Comedy Central’s Insomniac, IFC’s Dave’s Old Porn), GILBERT GOTTFRIED (The Comedy Central Roasts) and THE ROAST OF THE IRON SHEIK.

The Dark Comedy Festival focuses on challenging and transgressive comedy. One of the darkest and dirtiest comics ever, Doug Stanhope, once described his act as being like fetish porn: it’s not for everyone, but those who are in to it are the most dedicated of fans. That’s the kind of comedy this festival is about.

The 2013 Dark Comedy Festival begins Friday, November 1 at the Danforth Music Hall with Dave Attell returning to Toronto for the first time in eight years. Attell is a favorite of both comedy fans and comics alike. He is preparing for a new one-hour comedy special on Comedy Central, where he will also premiere his new television series.

The signature event in the Dark Comedy Festival is the Annual Celebrity Roast. This year the Roast of the Iron Sheik from World Wrestling Entertainment fame will be a full contact event on Thursday, November 7 at the Royal Cinema. Roasters include: Gilbert Gottfried (The Aristocrats), Jesse Joyce (head writer for Comedy Central’s Roasts), Tony Hinchcliffe (writer for Comedy Central’s Roasts), and Brody Stevens (HBO’s Enjoy it).

Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. Follow @TIAComedy

Iconic former pro wrestling heavyweight champion The Iron Sheik is taking the stage for comedians, wrestling superstars & surprise guests bust his dick for The Roast of the Iron Sheik. The tour goes across Ontario (Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton) November 6-7-8!

Be a part of comedy history when The Iron Sheik faces his biggest adversaries in a hilarious no disqualification match. Come see Gilbert Gottfried, Brody Stevens, Jesse Joyce (head writer of comedy Central’s Roast series) and others celebrate this pop culture icon. This event has already had 2 sellout shows at The Comedy Store & Caroline’s on Broadway.

Buy tickets here.

It looks like The Iron Sheik is already gotten things started in his typically outrageously crude and doesn’t-know-what-political-correctness-is fashion…

Gilbert Gottfried you are a cheap jew son of a bitch you come to my roast http://t.co/j76gyaAQPw I going to break your neck fuck your ass

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) October 14, 2013

Matt Braunger, whose stand-up you might have caught on CONAN, The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, or his Comedy Central special Shovel Fighter last year, will be performing two shows at Comedy Bar this Saturday, November 16th. (8 and 10:30pm. Buy tickets here, $20.)

We interviewed him.

Are these shows you’re doing in Toronto part of a tour?

It’s nice to be at the point in my career where I can be picky about where I go, and I don’t have to be staying in a Holiday Inn off a turnpike in Southern Florida. You can call it a tour…I wouldn’t say I’m always on tour, but I’m on the road at least two weekends a month. It’s a tour that’s been going on with varying material for about six years, if you want to look at it that way. I’ve done specific themed tours, like touring with a friend of mine supporting his book.

Which friend was that?

We just wrapped up the East coast portion, we’re about to do the west coast portion – are you familiar with the Twitter character @dadboner?

Yeah.

Mike Burns, who wrote that Twitter feed and got a book deal out of it (Power Moves: Livin’ the American Dream, USA Style), he and I went on tour and he hosted it and we had a couple of local comedians who would go between he and I. Everybody reads out of the book at the end of their set, more often than not at random. We ask audience members to call out page numbers, and people invariably yell out “69!” and we have to say “no, not that one.” It’s a blast watching comedians of all different ethnicities and sexes reading as Karl, this ruined middle-aged man.

This has been an ongoing tour, kinda, but you’ve had a Comedy Central special in the last couple of years or so…

Yeah things are always happening along the way. I did a half-hour one in 2009, then an hour one about a year ago. Now I have a new hour that I’m gonna be making in to a special hopefully in the next four or five months.

There’s sort of this new industry standard that seems to have been set lately where everyone has to have a new hour every year. Do you conform to that or don’t you care about it?

I think we all create at our own pace; I’m a big proponent of the Ernest Hemingway adage, “it’s not what you leave in, it’s what you leave out.” I would rather have an hour in a year-and-a-half or two years that’s rock-solid than an hour that’s good but not great in a year. That was really set by Louis CK who’s the Superman of stand-up comedy; he pretty much owns stand-up right now and for good reason, he’s amazing. He makes it look effortless. The downside to him getting up there and talking and it being hilarious – not that he doesn’t workshop his stuff all the time – is other comedians think they can do the same thing. Louis can do that because he’s got it down to a science, it’s just a second-nature thing to him. But then I’m sure there are comedians who could come up with a new hour every six months, it just depends.

I want to get an answer to this question, cos newer comics might appreciate it: do you think there’s intrinsic value to talking in to a microphone, or do you think it’s a waste of time if it’s to a crappy room where nobody’s paying attention and you’re really just ambushing a restaurant of, like, six people? I mean for a comic’s own development.

I think anytime you get on stage, it’s always worthwhile. You never do not learn, whether it’s a great set or a shitty one, you’re better off than you would be if you were sitting on a couch and trying to write. I had a friend I did comedy with back in Chicago and years later he said he was thinking about getting back in to it, he lived in this rural area of Ohio, and he said there’s nowhere to go up so he was just practicing at home and I was like “that’s not doing it, man!” It’s about the give and take of the moment, and you kind of reading the audience. That’s one thing I love about stand-up is you can’t recreate it. Even like comedy specials, I love watching them, but it’s not as good as being there and seeing it live; with stand-up the audience is as much a part of it as the comedian.

They’re your instrument, nearly.

Absolutely. You can’t fake it, it’s not something you can imitate.

I’ve seen a few of your sets on late-night shows like Letterman and Conan. What is the difference between that and every other stand-up format? Because that is so old-school.

Sure, it’s so regulated. They’re like you can’t do more than four-and-a-half minutes. You have to submit it, you have to write the whole thing out, it has to go through Standards and Practices. It’s a nerve wracking thing, because you barely have enough time with the audience for them to know you and feel comfortable with you. It’s very unique, very different to doing a special or anything else.

That’s funny because a new comic doing five-minute sets every night would be so intimidated by the thought of doing an hour, but a comic who regularly does that is intimidated by the thought of having to do five minutes.

I think it can be tricky for anyone who doesn’t do one-liners. Like myself and a lot of people are very anecdotal, how do you tell a good story or two? I did The Tonight Show and started out with a quick joke then used the rest of the time doing this long joke I had. I don’t regret it, it went well, but looking back I kind of wish I’d done a couple of different things and not just had that one theme.

You don’t see that so much now, one-liner comics, the only one I can think of is Anthony Jeselnik. Are there any you know of you’d recommend who are working today?

Jim Hamilton. He’s pretty much all one-liners. He has an album out called Poems about the Sea. That’s very funny.

Thanks for chatting!

Thanks, take care!