Starting Out

Hey everyone, just letting you know I'm taking a little summer break from the pod. Thank you all so much for listening and supporting. Have a great summer and you'll be hearing new episodes soon. Follow us @startingoutpod Music by @debateson All episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1632913  Thanks for listening. Especially you...

This week is a special episode of Starting Out for me. You may not know him for his standup, but the impact he had on me is huge. He actually started the infamous Comedy at Ceili House in Hamilton, it’s Mr. Isi Commisso. Isi is a sensitive, emotional, bloated, Italian male comic - I have no idea why he resonates with me so much… I know there’s been a lot of nostalgia on this podcast before, but th...

My guest this week on Starting Out is a comic 20+ years in the game, and has the unique experience of being a booker at one of the prominent clubs in the country, the-oft talked about Absolute Comedy club here in Toronto, it’s Ryan Maglunob! Ryan talks about starting at 17-years old at a club in Kingston, where not only did his first time go great, he got to perform in front of a comedy club audie...

My guest this week on episode #121 of Starting Out  is the first guest I’ve had where I was a guest on their podcast. It’s Brockville-native, now Nepean-dwelling, host of the “Johnny Rogers Podcast”, Mr. Johnny Rogers. I ran into Johnny in Ottawa back in March when I was hosting at Absolute, and we agreed to be guests on each other's pods. I was worried we were competitors, but as you’ll hear...

My guest on Episode #120 of Starting Out is none other than one of the grinders, one of the hardest working comedians, it’s Mississauga’s own, Ricardo Mejias!! Ricardo talks about his two first times on stage, one at Yuk Yuks Toronto, and another where he met past guest Ernie Vicente and other legends from the Mississauga scene. We talk getting advice from Ron Josol, balancing being a graphic desi...

My guest this week on Starting Out actually reached out a couple months back saying he had just finished listening to every single episode of this podcast, like a goddamn true completist. That was such an honour to hear because I remember seeing him do standup before I did it, and I thought he was one of the best I had seen, it’s Richmond Hill native Nicholas Rizzi.  Nick talks about the Humber Co...

My guest this week on Starting Out, all the way from Whitehorse in the goddamn Yukon, it’s Emilie Lefrancois. I met Emilie at Comedy Kapow the first time I ever got to headliner a show, and she was on it and so nervous and in her head, and I tried my best to talk her down, and I think it worked because she went on to have a great set and I could tell she was an incredible writer. As you’ll hear on...

I do mostly have Canadian comedians on this show, because that’s who I know, but this week is different. My guest is a guy 21-years into standup, who started in his native Baltimore, it’s Larry XL on Starting Out! I did a week with Larry and Paul Myrehaug about 5 years ago at Absolute Kingston, and knew he’d be a thoughtful guest, so I was excited when I ran into him again and he agreed to come on...

My guest this week on Starting Out is world-traveler, professional squatter, and simply one of  the most unique, original, creative and fearless comics I’ve ever met, its Hunter Collins!! Hunter has graced the stage at festivals such as JFL42, The Halifax Comedy Festival, and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured extensively through North America, Australia and Europe. You’ve seen Hunter on sho...

My guest this week on Starting Out started standup at 19 years old, and has been at it 12-years with not one but TWO comedy albums under his belt - “Talking Reckless” and recorded during the pandemic, “I Am Their King”. It’s Alberta native-now-Toronto-resident Alex Fortin. Alex has one of the wildest first set stories I’ve ever heard and I’m so glad he told it as he had been embarrassed by it for...

Such an awesome moment in time for my guest this week on Starting Out - they are set to release their debut album “Inflammable Material”, it’s Bonez Poley! Bonez had so many creative endeavors that got dashed at an early age, and it was great to hear how they pressed through and did whatever they wanted first in the punk scene, and then in comedy. Please go buy Inflammable Material on iTunes, and...

What a get! I thought this week’s guest had quit comedy and I’d never get to have him on again, and that’s because he quit comedy! But thank god he is back, it’s amazing comedian and podcaster Pat MacDonald on Starting Out this week. Pat and I met when I was a new comic and he was a headliner, and I was too in my head to talk to him, so I didn’t. And then at the end of the show, he apologized to m...

This week my guest on Starting Out  is someone I am literally meeting for the first time. He is a young, up and coming comic that I describe here as seemingly being shot out of a cannon in the Ottawa scene, it’s Logan Brown! Logan actually sent me a voice memo, a very sweet one, saying when he started in standup one of his goals was to come on this pod, which was amazing to hear. As you’ll hear, L...

My guest this week on episode 111 of Starting Out is the very first guest I have ever had who has opened for Keith Urban - it’s comedian and country music star Rory Gardiner! Rory has been nominated for a Canadian Country Music Award. He’s been featured on Funny or Die AND  Ted Talk, and even in his 40s somehow has had over 50 million views on TikTok. Rory is headlining Yuk Yuks in Ottawa June 9/1...

My guest this week on episode 110 of Starting Out is my first actual doctor - it’s Ottawa-based comedian who also is a Chiropractor, Michael Friedman!! I ran into Michael at both Absolute venues we were performing at recently, and knew he’d be an awesome guest, so I had to limit the conversations we so wanted to have only to have it on this pod. Michael also was quite open and generous talking abo...

My guest this week on Starting Out is the cohost of one of the best comedy podcasts out there that he hosts with my former guest Rebecca Reeds called “The Villain Was Right”, it’s Craig Fay on Starting Out! I’ve always found Craig to be so kind, talented, and steady, and that’s a theme for this chat. He’s released two comedy albums, “Helicopter Rich” and “Performance Review” which was released in...

My long-awaited-once-anticipated guest on Starting Out this week, is none other than Matt Carter, yes, THAT Matt Carter! Matt and I recently ran into each other at Absolute Comedy in Ottawa and had an incredible talk about comedy that I needed to cut off so that we could have it here, and he did not disappoint. If you’re a true lover of standup, of the craft, the art, the politics, all of it, you...

I have a tight episode of Starting Out this week because my guest, besides being one of the best up and coming comedians in this country, is also a young, driven content creator who doesn’t have a lot of time and needed to go make more content, it’s Andrew Packer! Andrew is probably best know for being the host of Man News, which has a following of over +2.5M on tik tok. He’s toured this country m...

I don’t know if 5-weeks can really be considered a hiatus, but we’re back!! Well, I’m back, and what a guest to have on the return of the pod, then none other than Slim Tschritty himself, the cohost of the best comedy podcast in Canada (my two pods included), it’s Damonde Tschritter on Starting Out. Damonde and I have only ever interacted on pods, but where else could we cover ruptured spleens, sp...

It’s the rare occasion that someone reaches out and asks to be on the pod, but this week’s guest did and I am so happy to have the amazing comedian Desiree Walsh on Starting Out! Desiree recently recorded her debut album “Everybody Panic” on Howl and Roar Records, and it’s release is imminent. Desiree and I talk about how she found a community in Zoom shows during the pandemic, and that has allowe...

It’s another doozy of a guest on Starting Out this week. If you’re a Canadian sports fans you know the name of today’s guest. He’s been the hockey columnist for the Globe and Mail, the author of the books Tales From the Toronto Maple Leafs and Hockey Fight in Canada , it’s Dave Shoalts. I met Dave at comedy open mics probably 5 years ago, and like his counterpart Gare Joyce, I always felt it was w...

What an awesome guest I have for episode 103 of Starting Out. He’s another one of my comedy brothers, we’ve been doing it about the same amount of time (even though I learned in this episode he’s 18-years younger than me) it’s none other than Jesse Singh on Starting Out this week. Besides being an amazing comic, by day Jesse is also a youth worker and we spend a lot of time talking about that at t...

My guest this week on Starting Out - which is sponsored by the pandemic "COVID" - is Hamitlon-based comedian, and video game creator, Bret Measor. Bret started standup a little after I did, and we used to have many deep conversations like the one you’re about to hear. Bret has gone through some loss in the last year, and we talk about death and grief in the second half of this episode. ...

We’re keeping things going with just another incredible comic, one of the sharpest writers in the game, and one of the genuinely kind people on a sometimes unkind business, it’s Rebecca Reeds on Starting Out this week! Rebecca is perhaps the first guest I’ve had who went from a serving job in a comedy club to an actual comic, and what it was like to not do her first set in the best comedy club in...

Happy New Year! There was no other guest I wanted to have on to celebrate the 100th episode of Starting Out, than my best friend of almost 40 years, one of the most talented musicians I know, and for sure the most humble, it’s Dave Marcotte on to interview ME! Dave and I have been circling this episode for a while and I think we managed to deliver. Dave is an artist, a singer-songwriter and member...