Kinda Sorta Maybe Like a Podcast

K. Trevor Wilson -- the self-proclaimed Mountain Man of Comedy -- has a natural knack for brilliant and hilariously engaging storytelling, and held his own this past fall at Toronto's JFL42 alongside an impressive line-up of international comedy heavyweights. He's returning this year to the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, this time with the distinction of being the winner of the 2012 Homegrown Competiti...

Returning by popular demand to the Winnipeg Comedy Festival once again, John Wing has more than secured his reputation as a stellar performer and true renaissance man in the world of comedy. A seasoned vet of the stand-up world, Wing has long been one of Canada's most original and consistently irreverent comedic voices. Not only that, he has also inexplicably found time in his busy schedule to wri...

Shortly before Jeremy Hotz began his cross-Canada tour, Paul Little spoke with the comedian and actor about the place he is in his career, the significance of The Newsroom, his upcoming work on Call Me Fitz, and some interesting encounters he's had recently at The Laugh Factory. Unfortunately, as the interview intro will explain, there were some audio issues which made the first couple minutes of...

If you've ever been to Las Vegas, you are probably well aware of Cirque du Soleil. One of the mainstays of the Vegas strip and the originator of the big spectacle circus show, it has been delighting audiences for years. Formed in Quebec, Canada in 1984, it has grown over the years from one show to about 20 regular Las Vegas and touring shows, and at any given time employs upwards of 4000 people. T...

A week before heading down to Montreal for the 30th Anniversary of the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Paul Little speaks on the phone with stand-up comic Brendon Walsh about his early years touring with Doug Stanhope (whose career he admires and looks up to), connecting with fans via Twitter (@brendonwalsh) and podcasts (Brendon's is "The Bone Zone"), and why regardless of the rest of the option...

Toronto-based singer/songwriter Emma-Lee has been recording music for nearly a decade, and just released a new full-length album, Backseat Heroine. Over the years, while her songs have slipped into genres from jazz and pop to country and soul, her unmistakable and remarkable voice has stayed strong -- even through a couple vocal cord surgeries that put her singing future in doubt. Emma-Lee chatted...

Rebecca Kohler is incredibly funny -- which, oddly enough, is a great thing when making a living as a comic. Jumping between performing on stage and stepping behind the scenes to write for television, Kohler has appeared on CTV's Comedy Now!, Much Music's Video on Trial, and The Jon Dore Television Show while writing for children's program Scaredy Squirrel and CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Kohle...

David Steinberg is one of the most respected names in comedy. Besides being second to Bob Hope in appearances on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson", he's written or directed TV episodes spanning 45 years, such as "The Smothers Brothers", "Newhart", "Seinfeld", "Mad About You", "Friends", and "Curb Your Enthusiasm". With David returning to his hometown for his first show in Winnipeg in 11 years,...

Starting out his show business career in Ontario in the early 70s, Alan Thicke has gone from behind-the-scenes writer for top comics and performers, to writing some of the most iconic TV theme songs of all time, to appearing in one of the top-rated shows of the 80s (Growing Pains). In recent years, besides his many on-camera appearances (jPod, How I Met Your Mother, The Goods, and an upcoming Show...

Tim Gray speaks to Maria Bamford, a comic on the forefront of where stand-up comedy is heading, ahead of this year's Just for Laughs. Maria fits perfectly into the alt-comedy scene that's redefined the art form over the last decade, winning fans through the "Comedians of Comedy" series and making her a highly-sought-after performer. Knowing Maria can often be reserved in interviews, Tim begins by...

A beatboxer headlining shows at comedy festivals? That may seem a bit odd. However, once you see Beardyman (aka Darren Foreman) perform, you realize that the former back-to-back UK Beatboxing Champion manages to bring a lot comedy into his set. Much like U.S. comedian Reggie Watts, Beardyman brings you on a musical journey through his great beatboxing, looping, and improvisational skills, while al...

A short five years ago, John Hastings decided to enter the world of stand-up comedy, and he's already made quite the name for himself across Canada. While comedy was something he grew up enjoying, stand-up wasn't something he pursued until he was told it might be a way to make some money. Of course, that's not exactly the case when just getting started, but he fell in love with it and hasn't looke...

Darcy Michael is a comedian not easily categorized -- and he likes it that way. Essentially, he's just an incredibly funny dude who is able to translate real-life situations into gut-busting bits on stage, and we're all the better for it. Starting stand-up only a few short years ago, Darcy has already accomplished quite a lot, including being featured in a pre-taped bit on The Tonight Show, playin...

There's a new wave of Canadian comics living in and gaining success in the United Kingdom. One of the stand-ups doing quite well in the motherland, to the point where he now lives in London, is Pete Johansson. Beginning his comedy career at age 16 in Kelowna, BC, Johansson has spent the last 19 years gaining experience in Canada, the U.S., and abroad, performing along the way at the HBO Aspen Come...

Montreal-born Kevin McDonald founded the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall in the mid-80s with Dave Foley, whom he met while training at the iconic Second City in Toronto. They were later joined by Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch, who came to Toronto from Alberta with their own sketch troupe, and after shedding several members and allowing an incredibly persistent Scott Thompson into the...

Chris Gibbs, who 20 years ago began as a street performer in London, is a regular on the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit with a variety of one-man shows (such as "The Power of Ignorance" and "Gibberish") and made his Winnipeg Comedy Festival debut last year. Combining stand-up comedy with improvisation and a bit of theatrics, Gibbs has wowed audiences across the world over, appearing at London's...

When one is labelled controversial, it will usually bring with it a lot of attention. But while comic Darren Frost has frequently been given the moniker of "Canada's Most Controversial Comedian", he feels his reputation as an opinionated presence on stage has probably done more harm than good to his bottom line. Still, even with some events and clubs not booking him because of their pre-conceived...

Getting into graphic design -- originally comic book lettering, and later television design -- Pierre Bernard had no aspirations to be a television performer. But a few years after starting at Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the early 90s, he made a random appearance on the show sparked by a design of his on a "New State Quarters" sketch, which was a huge hit. This lead to writer Brian Stack to c...

Kevin Pollak has carved himself a very successful career as a top-notch character actor in comedies and dramas: The Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men, The Whole Nine Yards, Hostage, Grumpy Old Men, Casino, L.A. Story, and Willow, to name a few. He's also a longtime stand-up comic, and one of the best impressionists on the planet. Recently, Kevin has become somewhat of a New Media trailblazer, startin...

The Lonely Island -- the comedy collective featuring Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg and SNL writers Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer -- recently released an album featuring a mix of past SNL Digital Shorts and a host of new songs (many with guest vocals from stars like Jack Black and Norah Jones). That album, Incredibad, surprised many by debuting at #13 on the Billboard charts a few weeks...

Paul Little is a big fan of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, watching the show since its first episode. Like any long-running show, there have been ups and downs, but Conan and his team of writers and performers have been bringing some of the best comedy of our generation to televisions everywhere. So imagine how excited he was when he found out that on a recent trip to New York City, not only would...

Chester Tam met Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg at NYU film school, and when Andy rejoined his childhood friends Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer in L.A. to make videos together as The Lonely Island, Chester began working with the trio. He appeared in many of the group's pre-SNL videos (including "The 'Bu", "The Backseatsman", and "Anger Management"), continues to keep fans updated with everyth...

Chances are, if you're reading this, then you know who Andy Samberg is, or at least recognize him. One of the hottest young talents in the current crop of Saturday Night Live cast members, Andy is best known to many for his starring role alongside Chris Parnell in the "Lazy Sunday" video, a digital short that aired on SNL and then became an overnight internet sensation and one of the first viral v...