Starting Out

I had always been excited to have this week’s guest on the pod as I think he’s one of the best in the country, one of the most unique acts around, and an unbelievably self-made successful comedian, it’s Jeff Leeson. For those that don’t know him, Jeff is a crowd work comedian, who has basically no material. We really get into what it takes to have the guts to go on stage without a plan.  Jeff star...

This week’s episode of Starting Out is all about obsession, in a good way, as I have my friend and comedy colleague, Joe Vu on. When I first approached Joe to come on, he said “oh I’ve started so many things - professional video game player, video game designer, professional poker play, journalist, copywriter, day trader, and of course comedian”, so naturally we had to go into each of them. We sta...

I'm excited for you to hear this week’s episode of Starting Out, featuring the INCREDIBLY successful headlining comedian, my good friend, my golfing buddy, and simply one of the best people I know, Darryl Purvis. Right out of the gate Darryl and I have a lot of laughs, as we both share an obsession of standup from the early 80s, and golf at a young age. The pride of Antigonish, Darryl talks a...

This week’s Starting Out was a long time coming as I have wanted to have Patrick Coppolino on for a while now. You’ve heard Patrick’s name throughout this podcast, as he’s a Hamilton-based comic and now operator and manager of Levity Comedy Club & Lounge in downtown Hamilton. The theme of this week’s show is really chances, and taking the leap and just going for it, as Patrick outlines how a c...

This week on Starting Out is another banger, as I have the pride of Waterdown, Ont, Chris Jarvie on. I am so excited for you to hear this, as I forgot just how much I love sitting down with Jarvie and telling comedy stories. I didn’t even know how many parallels there were in our starting out stories, Chris also in Hamilton about a year before me. We talk about how much he benefited from hosting w...

This was one of my favourite episodes, as I had the incredibly hard-working comedian, producer and amazing dude, Jay Freeborn on the pod. Jay and I talk about the great job his parents did raising him, writing curriculum for substitute teachers in grade school that ensured he’d get to exert his comedy chops, being an artist of many mediums, and go into great detail, for the first time on this show...

This week on Starting Out we have Toronto mainstay and all around great guy, comedian Dave Martin, where we discuss starting in the burgeoning Toronto scene in the 90s, where there was really only 1 club and barely any mics.  We talk about how the pandemic only slowed Dave down a little bit, as his lack of fear mirrors his general approach. I’ve always admired Dave's demeanor, his healthy rel...

This week we have the legend of New Lowell, Arianna Pile on Starting Out. Arianna is an amazing comedian and show runner who produces shows with episode 30’s guest Marc Trinidad. You may recall Marc referring to his "white wife", well this is Arianna. We have an excellent conversation about saying “f#@$ it” and diving into standup, what it’s like being the only woman starting out in a ne...

This week on Starting Out it’s comedian, musician, and actor Jeremy Dobski. We talk about being immersed in the entertainment business at a young age by his maternal grandmother, who used her extensive talents to escape Russia in the second world war. Dobski is a self-described maniac, and he walks me through how his parents needed to reign that in somehow, so they pushed him into improv and actin...

There are moonshot guests, and then there are moonshot guests, and this week is a moonshot guest. Somehow, probably because of his immense generosity, Mike Wilner is on this week's episode of Starting Out. Mike was the longtime broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays, hosting the postgame radio show Jays Talk for years, after being in the booth with legendary broadcasters Tom Cheek and Jerry Ho...

Marshall Bureau is one of the most talented artists I know, and I know a lot of artists. We first met in grade 7, though our paths didn’t really cross until we became great friends and bandmates in Toronto in the mid-2000s. Marshal is a simply unbelievable drummer and musician, and we document his entire story, from being dissuaded from pursuing music by our music teacher Ms. Langevin, to stumblin...

This week on Starting out is Bradford comedy legend Greg Enwright. Greg is someone I consider my comedy brother as we both had real jobs, both started standup in our late 30s, and both are sensitive men who worry too much and have a tendency towards self-doubt. We have an awesome conversation about what it was like growing up with a twin and an older brother, and how that started to shape Greg’s a...

This week’s guest on Starting Out is the incomparable comedian, actor, and writer, Phil Luzi. Phil got a lot of play in Episode 7 with Sandra Battaglini, as they met while Sandra was performing and Phil was in the audience for a Tony and Tina’s Wedding performance. It took Phil’s childhood friend Betty to need to pee to set a new course for Phil’s life in entertainment, one he is still pursuing to...

My guest this week on Starting Out is Kev Sheeler’s contemporary, aka comedian Michael Moses. Moses is a fixture in the Hamilton and Toronto comedy scenes and he’s come up a lot in this podcast because of his drive and work ethic that is unmatched. Moses starts by talking about his ongoing Ex’s Benefits tour, finding comedy in college on YouTube which led to a stint in Vancouver where he did a tot...

This week was somewhat of a first in that I knew next to nothing about my guest, Josh Elijah. Save for a ringing endorsement by episode 19’s guest Monty Scott, Josh and I hadn’t met, which made it super cool of him to reach out and want to share his story. As you’ll hear, it’s a unique one in that Josh decided that to get into standup he’d better create, produce, and host his very own weekly show...

My guest this week is someone I consider a comedy contemporary (even though she pointed out she is guest #34), the talented Fiona O’Brien. Born and raised in Ireland, Fiona had always had a leaning towards standup, spending her time not as a fan but more analyzing the what's and how's. She got her start by writing jokes for a comedian in Ireland, but it took a move to Canada, a failing m...

Jen Grant is an incredible comedian and keynote speaker who I had the distinct pleasure of working with one week at Absolute Kingston. Jen currently resides in Wakefield, Que. where my family has a cottage, so we start reminiscing about the Ottawa area. As an accomplished comedian of 20 years, Jen has achieved virtually everything you can in the world of stand-up comedy in Canada. She has appeared...

My guest this week on Starting Out is my talented friend, Luther Griggs. I met Luther when we started standup around the same time in Hamilton, but as you will hear, Luther very much does not define himself as a standup comedian. He does many things - he’s a musician, a visual artist, self-described standup hobbyist, and filmmaker. Luther talks about what it was like growing up with two artistic p...

Joe Tuccitto is the founder, owner, and operator of The Corner Comedy Club, one of the best independent comedy clubs in the country, and you’re goddamn right I’m biased. Joe spent years dreaming of being involved in comedy while doing construction, and a major life change resulted in him having the chance to pursue his dream. But he didn’t rush into it. As you’ll hear he spent 5 years producing sh...

Welcome to episode 30, yes 30 of Starting Out. Excited to share this week’s episode with you, as it features comedian Marc Trinidad. Marc started performing at a young age in his native Trinidad and Tobago, through costumed character, to theatre, and sketch, but there was no comedy scene so he and his wife moved to Toronto to pursue standup. He made history as the first Canadian to have appeared o...

My guest this week is the incomparable comedian, Clifford Myers. If you’ve ever seen Clifford live you know him for his free-ranging style and self-described “misplaced self-importance”, and also for his loudness. Even in podcast form Clifford was loud and made me a little quiet, so apologies if there are audio issues. Clifford and I have a wide ranging discussion on sobriety, religion, divorce, a...

If you’ve been paying very close attention, you may recall episode’s 3 guest Dave Brennan and I gushing about our profound fondness of this week’s guest, Paul Myerhaug. Paul and I talk about his start as a comedian at 18 in Edmonton, how generous classmates helped him through university, and then how comedians helped him after he moved to Toronto. There’s a lot of talk about the generosity of othe...

This week’s guest on Starting Out is the incredibly talented comic, speaker, and writer, Dena Jackson. We get kind of heavy right away, delving right into mental health issues, which has always drawn me to Dena. Her writing has been featured on CBC Comedy and the Beaverton and she’s delivered several talks for university and corporate audiences including a TEDx focused on mental health and mindful...

This week’s guest, Faisal Butt and I had plans to go on a Western tour together, and all it took was a global pandemic to keep us apart. I’m still getting to know Faisal, but in a way we’ve already decided in a few times hanging out that we’re cool and are going to be friends moving forward.  We had already started talking about the sad passing of Toronto comedian Danny Freedman as I started recor...

Tyler Shazma is many things - an incomparable standup comedian, filmmaker, standup comedy special director and now TV director. Tyler really is a “one of one”, and as a self-described Canadian comedy nerd he’s been a big supporter of this podcast. Even before Tyler started standup, he had already made connections with some of the country's great comics as a filmmaker, videographer, and produc...