Saturday night and another great line-up of comedy, this time at the Comedy Bar on the Danforth, near Victoria Park. It was nearly a full house for the second night of the brand new Danforth Comedy Festival and I was thrilled to be introduced to headliner Nathan Macintosh who blew the roof off the place!
First off, MC Azfar Ali (below) warmed up the already pumped crowd, spritzing with several individuals who were very into the show. He set the tone perfectly for all the comics and maintained the high-energy in the room throughout the entire night.Azfar first intro’d Simone Holder (below) who I had seen the previous night at a different venue. She did not disappoint, unleashing a series of stories on being a “lady of a certain age”, sex and life seen thru the eyes of being single. Simone rocked it!Then Akeem Hoyte-Charles (below) took the stage – well, he actually “took” the room. His fast-fire commentary on being the best boyfriend in the world had the ladies swooning and the guys a little nervous…LOL. Imagine Kevin Hart meets Eddie Murphy and you get the idea how talented this guy is.Next up, Luke Lynndale (below) who had the crowd laughing in recognition when discussing the pro’s and con’s of supermarket self check-outs and the dilemma of shopping when there are no carts available. And his bit on socializing in the dog park, well…if you have a dog, you’ll understand completely.Then came the big guy! Nathan Macintosh knocked it out of the park. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a stand-up’s set so much, applauding and cheering, begging for an encore. Nathan is the real thing. I ran Yuk Yuk’s Komedy Klub back in the 80s and always loved discovering brilliant comedic talents over the years, and seeing Nathan headline was like the first time watching the acerbic delivery of New Yorker Ritch Shydner (true comedy fans should recognize that name).
Tonight, Sunday Aug.6 I’m heading back to the Comedy Bar to see another cool line-up with headliner Efthimios Nasiopoulos – perfect for Greektown! Hope to see you there.
For show line-ups, dates & times, visit: www.danforthcomedyfestival.com
Follow your favourite comedians via Instagram:
@nathanmacintosh
@adventures_of_azfar
@_simonecomedy_
@akeemgramz
@lukelynndale
@comedynuggets
Last night (Fri. Aug. 4) the first annual Danforth Comedy Festival (Aug 4-6 & 11-12) launched with two rockin’ shows at Socap Comedy Theatre (Danforth & Broadview) and Comedy Bar (Danforth & Main). I attended the Socap showcase featuring some of the funniest stand-up comics I’d seen in years. The fest’s first showcase “The Best Stand-up Comedy Show” was MC’d by Max Ross (pictured below) who grabbed the audience from the get-go with his observational humour, and kept the show running smoothly throughout the night.Max intro’d the first act, Vishal Ramesh (pictured below), whose understated personal reflections on the immigrant life had the crowd laughing and nodding in agreement as they recognized versions of themselves.I was looking forward to seeing Simone Holder (pictured below), who won last year’s “Prove You’re a Comic” contest. The audience loved her and it didn’t hurt that she had a slew of fans who came out to support her. Simone was a hard act to follow but Sandra Battaglini (below) proved unstoppable, the audience was almost in tears with her high-energy, quick fire comic jabs. Made me wish I was Italian, too!After Sandra, it was Glen Foster‘s turn to light a fire under the audience seats. He ignited a slow burn, taking the predominantly 20 to 30-something audience through the “wonderful world of wokeness” sharing his views on life and culture from a decidedly mature POV.Mary Kennedy (below) then took over the stage and she killed it. A professional comic for over 23 years, you may have seen her acting on tv, film or theatre, too. Originally from Boston, she just flew in from LA for the festival.MC Max kept the energy high throughout the night, introducing the final comedian with flair and a flourish – the handsome Akeem Hoyte-Charles (below) who many recognized from his appearances at Just For Laughs. Born in Montreal on Valentine’s Day, the audience gladly showed the love to Akeem as he closed out the night.And if that wasn’t a hot enough line-up, Festival founder and established stand-up Luke Lynndale himself dropped in for a killer, energy-filled set mid-show, thanking the audience for their support. Bravo, Luke, and congrats on launching the festival with a bang!So that was last night’s show…tonight I’m off to the Comedy Bar at 2800 Danforth (just E of Main) to see another great line-up featuring Nathan MacIntosh…see you there.Details of shows, tickets, directions: www.danforthcomedyfestival.com
Follow all the comedians on Instagram: @maxrosscomedy @vishalanegondyramesh @_simonecomedy_ @sandrabattaglini @fosterfunnycomedy @mkennedycomedy @akeemgramz @lukelynndale @comedynuggets @danforthcomedyfestival
Thanks to an introduction from “That Canadian Guy” comedian Glen Foster, I recently connected with LUKE LYNNDALE, a fellow stand-up comic and the Founder of a brand new comedy festival taking place over 2 weekends next month (Aug.) on Danforth Avenue in Toronto’s Greektown.
The Danforth Comedy Festival line-up of exciting and hilarious comedians includes many who you might have seen on Canada’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Conan, Comedy Central, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as Just for Laughs, Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Halifax Comedy Festival, CTV Comedy Channel, and CBC Comedy. See full line-up, shows dates and times at www.danforthcomedyfestival.comI recently spoke with Luke to learn about his roots in the comedy scene, his Comedy Nuggets comedy agency and, of course, this inaugural laugh fest spanning two weekends in August….
What first drew you to a career in comedy? Did you start off studying to become a medical professional, accountant, stockbroker, auto mechanic? My father was a professor at McGill University in Montreal and saw a posting for a comedy competition. I went and won $50. I was hooked! In university, I studied mathematics but I didn’t have any specific direction. Later, I did lots of work as a digital product manager.
You first worked as an improviser – what propelled you into stand-up comedy? Well, actually, I started in standup. In Montreal, I did standup for two years before moving to Toronto to take courses at The Second City. Then, I did both for two years before taking a long break from comedy. I started back doing improv in 2010 and standup back in 2017.
How did you become a finalist in 2020’s Comedian of the North competition? And what is that contest all about? I first competed in the Comedian of the North competition in 2019, when I didn’t place. I went back in 2020, and finished third. The competition is in Thunder Bay, ON. It no longer runs but was produced by Incidents Comedy – Miki Hughes and Carole Cunningham.You’ve worked in the States in festival and club environments – how do US audiences differ from Canadian ones? For me, I haven’t found many differences at all. My material isn’t Canada-specific, except for one or two, so most of material works well in either country.
You created Comedy Nuggets, an agency/promoter securing gigs in clubs and corporate venues for fellow comics, and most recently founded the Danforth Comedy Festival here in Toronto that launches August 4th and runs for 2 weekends. What drives Luke to succeed in such a capricious business? First, I want a great show for both performers and audience. I’m a performer first, so I want there to be lots of audience and good audience – those ready to laugh and looking for a good time. This inaugural Danforth Comedy Festival means lots of balls in the air…how good a juggler are you? In my corporate life, I worked at times as a project manager. So, juggling and prioritizing are strengths. I don’t get stressed. I do my best, make decisions and go with it.Who are the comedians (or shows) we should look out for at the Fest? Any improvisers or stand-ups we’ve never seen before but should? This is a loaded question because they should all be seen or else they wouldn’t be in the festival. Some of our headliners are Nathan Macintosh, who is a Canadian living in New York City, has been on late night TV. He’s a favorite in Toronto. We have two Greek headliners – Efthimios Nasiopoulos and Manolis Zantonos, both hilarious and must-see. We also have Rob Haze – one to watch. On the improv front, we have HERE: The (Improvised) Musical. They are a duo from Columbus, OH – Tara DeFrancisco Rance Rizzutto, ask the audience for suggestions and then create a 45 minute musical, all improvised.
Legendary rock icon, Carole Pope, has been very busy over the past few years working on a passion project that will bring the story of her brother Howard, also a musician, as well her legendary Canadian band Rough Trade to the musical stage. She’s currently promoting a new round of funding that will move the production forward and closer to staging. Two years ago I spoke with Carole about another project, the single “World’s a Bitch” an impressive collaboration with Church of Trees, Rob Preuss &Jordon Zadorozny, that was released mid-Covid crisis and which received worldwide airplay and streaming. She hinted at the new musical and now I’ve managed to reach out to her online for an update and a quick chat about “Rough Trade: The Art of Rock” ….Carole, this project has been brewing for many years and is based largely on the life of your brother, Howard, a New York-based musician who died of AIDS in 1996. As an activist and longtime icon of the LGTBQ+ community, why is this story so important in 2023? This story is still relevant because HIV AIDS is still an issue. People need to have their stories told to help them heal. We just went through the COVID pandemic which triggered a lot of people who went through the AIDs pandemic.
Rough Trade is such a ground-breaking band in Canadian music history and is still gathering new fans. Do you think this theatrical project will inspire and encourage a younger generation to not only embrace the original philosophies of your music but also remind them that AIDS has not disappeared, and we are all still vulnerable? Rough Trade’s music is as relevant today as it was in the eighties. It will speak to a whole new audience. Many of the issues I wrote about in the eighties are still being dealt with: censorship, sexuality, corrupt government, and freedom of expression. HIV/AIDS is a pandemic we’re still dealing with.Over the past few years, you’ve workshopped and refined the material, and performed live concerts featuring the music that will become the soundtrack – will you continue to hold workshops after this round of funding? And do you already have musicians/actors attached to the project? We are looking for funding for two more workshops, one in New York this fall and another in Canada. We have several people attached. Chilina Kennedy is playing me, Robert McQueen is directing, and Debra Barsha is the music director.
If funding is generated to complete Rough Trade: The Art of Rock musical, when would you like to present the first show and where? Hopefully here in Toronto. We’ll present the first show wherever a theatre and producer(s) commit to making it happen.
If you would like to contribute to the production, please log onto: https://gofund.me/02d1d8f9
You can also follow Carole and the project at: http://www.carolepope.com
IG: @carole_pope
Twtr: @carolepope
And Facebook.com/pages/Carole-Pope/138723746204488
Yes, I admit it – I am a film junkie! Growing up in the bush in Australia back in the 60s & 70s, I didn’t get to the cinemas in the big cities as often as I wanted to; I did, however, get to see Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen which changed my life – I had to be…needed to be…a part of the cinema world. Thank goodness for the local library (Kalamunda, just outside of Perth WA) where I devoured all the books on film stars, filmmaking and the history of Hollywood (years later, I taught Film History at a film school here in Toronto so all that geeking out paid off in the end). Back then everything was all about Hollywood, Tinseltown, the centre of the film industry universe. But now, thanks to everything being online, the biz has changed…well some of it has. There are still barriers for emerging writers, directors, producers to get their work shown in cinemas or on tv – it’s all about the $s and access to the suits. Sure, there is a global market for film with active film communities in just about every country – ever heard of Nollywood? Nigeria is second only to Bollywood (India) for annual production output leaving Hollywood in the dust but people still think California is the place to conquer professionally.
For the past few years, I’ve become so homesick for Australia that I’ve searched for Aussie-based platforms for films and tv series that we just don’t get up here in North America, apart from the odd Indigenous show (eg: Mystery Road, Total Control), thanks to channels such as APTN in Canada and PBS in the US. Every time I clicked on videos or film industry news broadcasts, I always got the geo-blocked message on screen: “not available in your territory”. Urgh! Isn’t the world wide web supposed to give us access to stuff from around the world?? Then I discovered VIDIVERSE, a streaming platform out of Australia created by award-winning filmmaker ALEX PROYAS (pictured below) best known for directing I, Robot, The Crow, Dark City and numerous music videos including those by Sting, Mike Oldfield and one of my fave Down Under bands Crowded House with whom I worked when they toured Canada.Alex realized there was a huge online opportunity for indie short filmmakers whose work is often the stepping stone to feature work and big-time careers. He knew he could make a difference when he launched Vidiverse and saw the audience numbers grow exponentially along with a loud buzz within the film community – there was suddenly a greater respect for short films, especially those in the specific horror/thriller/chiller genre. I became a member and have spent many hours viewing a variety of shorts – some make me laugh, some scare the bejesus outta me, others illuminate issues I’ve not had to confront up here in Canada. I knew I had to talk to this talented filmmaker to learn about his decision to step up and kick open the doors for all who share his passion….
Alex, you’ve enjoyed much success throughout your career as a filmmaker, director and writer, both critically and at the box office, so why get into the streaming biz with Vidiverse? The mainstream of film is broken right now – and less accessible to brave new voices than ever before. I wanted to encourage indie filmmakers and more importantly filmmakers who are attempting to build a new way forward. I was writing and directing my own short films and I found the only place I could share these films was on YouTube, a site that pays a pittance to anyone who doesn’t have millions of subscribers or views, and where great work is at the mercy of the algorithm and can get lost, buried beneath so much rubbish. What hope is there for up-and-coming filmmakers if they have nowhere to showcase their work, so they can continue to create? Vidiverse is my attempt to change that.What excites me about your streaming platform is that it’s not geo-blocked here in North America like most, if not all, of the Aussie platforms (incl. the tv networks and festival outlets). How did you manage that? I feel that to improve the situation for indie filmmakers it needs to be a global effort. We don’t just want to showcase Australian filmmakers to Australian audiences. Vidiverse is evidence that across the world there are unique, rich, unheard stories from filmmakers that deserve to be shared globally. We simply can’t claim to champion indie filmmakers if we’re limiting their potential audience. A few of our films are blocked in some territories due to existing licenses already arranged by the filmmakers, but these are very few indeed.Many of the films listed on the site maybe “cool” but are definitely outside of the norm (or “genre” films) and would probably never make it into traditional cinemas – why is it important to support and champion these films? We are about diversity in film. Whether that be in style, content, structure, ethnicity or culture. Filmmakers grow and learn and change. When you provide a platform for their work, they can build their fan base, they can earn money, they can develop their unique style of filmmaking and ultimately add more value to their own brand. Nothing changes if nothing changes and by highlighting different films, we open up an industry that is trapped in a cycle of using the same actors, filmmakers, directors, stories, etc, told from the same perspectives. It’s a monopoly of sorts, that is almost impossible to break into without the finance and the connections. Vidiverse is about building an alternative.
Since its inception, I’ve seen more and more indie filmmakers add their films to Vidiverse, how did you reach out to them and convince them this was the most ideal & targeted platform for their projects? And how difficult is it to curate specific genres or subjects? I, fortunately, have very committed followers, many of whom are filmmakers themselves, and it was with their help that we initially launched Vidiverse and secured our first lot of submissions. Additionally, blogs like yours, podcasts, social media, etc. are how we generate further submissions. In terms of ‘convincing’ filmmakers it’s the most ideal platform, I’d say that little convincing was necessary. We offer a place for them to showcase their work and generate potential financial return to put back into their craft. It will also increasingly function as a way for them to build their own individual brand – we are ‘creator-centric’, we don’t boost individual videos like Youtube – we are about encouraging and rewarding those filmmakers who have a body of work on Vidiverse. On top of that, our contract is non-exclusive. We don’t want to limit our filmmakers and if they want to share their work on other sites and streamers, we won’t deny them the potential opportunities they might find through those sites. Though I hope they will increasingly view Vidiverse as the best possible way to showcase their work. Again, at the heart of Vidiverse is the desire to improve the situation for all indie filmmakers, and though we have a long way yet to travel I hope we’ve already shown we can and will succeed.Like the “big boys” (Netflix, Prime, etc,) Vidiverse plans to help finance and produce projects for indie filmmakers in the future. How difficult is it currently for filmmakers to get their projects from page to screen Down Under? Hugely difficult. Funding for shorts is almost non-existent, or out of reach for most filmmakers. Here in Australia, we are very much an entire industry built on the indie model – we don’t have studios here, and the number of streamers or TV concerns that are in a position to finance content are limited and often produce extremely conservative stuff for mass consumption. It can be difficult to engage investors for anything challenging and ground-breaking, even in the ultra low budget indie world of Aussie movies. Australia has some incredibly talented filmmakers with great ideas but it’s a long road to improve it. But this can all be applied to the larger indie world – as I say, the model is pretty much broken worldwide. A good film is always a kind of miracle, every film has odds it’s trying to beat – but in Australia a good film is a very special kind of even more rare miracle. We need to pull together as filmmakers, and build our own alternative model – one that services the artists as well or better than the commerce.Your website’s “Hope” page says…We want to represent the broadest spectrum of voices possible. What we lack in deep pockets to stream the mass-market and narrow-minded, we make up for with embracing the open-minded, the challenging, the brave, the original. What advice can you offer to indie filmmakers around the world who want to showcase their work on Vidiverse, and are there any specific submission protocols for doing so? The only submissions requirement is that the submitter owns all rights to the film. In terms of advice: get out there and make something! It’s films made with passion and dedication that capture our hearts. You don’t need to have lots of money to make a great film, you just need to work at your craft. And make the films you want to see, not the films you think others want to see. Creating with that mindset will give you more clarity in your decisions, and no doubt create a better film than if you made it with the hope of external praise. Just start, make a film, and keep making them no matter what anyone tells you, whatever negative criticism you might get. Passion is all you need.
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Thanks, Alex, good luck as you build your portfolio of short films produced by talented filmmakers from around the globe. And a big THANK YOU for being such a patron of the artform and emerging fellow filmmakers. So, attn all filmmakers around the world – if YOU have a project that needs to be seen by audiences, why not reach out with a submission?
Growing up in Australia, I was aware from an early age how important horse-racing is to the country, along with cricket and footy. Every year on the first Tuesday of November, the entire nation shuts down and listens to or watches the run of the Melbourne Cup, one of the World’s richest turf races. The legendary Phar Lap mesmerized the country back in the late 20s and early 30’s before dying mysteriously in the U.S.; I had the opportunity to see him (well, his skin really) preserved and on display in a shrine-like case in the big state museum in Melbourne (pictured below)Since moving to Canada, I’ve followed racing and the annual quest for the Triple Crown so it’s no secret I am a huge fan of the late, great Secretariat, and have had the honour of meeting his equally legendary jockey, Ron Turcotte. When I learnt of the new book, The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty by author Curtis Stock, I knew I had to read it and with a little bit of luck, have the opportunity to interview the author for my entertainment column in The Rider (Ontario’s “voice of the horse”) newspaper. Talk about great timing – 2023 is the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown victory.Yes, fifty years ago, Secretariat, a horse so powerful and fast that many of his records still stand today, completed his historic Triple Crown campaign – his win was so popular with race fans that many winning $2 tickets were never surrendered to claim winnings. Secretariat’s rider was Ron Turcotte who grew up as one of 14 children in the small town of Drummond, New Brunswick, noted for its timber industry not horse racing! Four of Ron’s siblings – Noel, Rudy, Roger and Yves – followed their older brother onto North American racetracks and into the winner’s circle.This new 360 page book is the story of the family’s journey from their little corner of the Canadian woods to the pinnacle of the thoroughbred racing world. Each Turcotte found outstanding success, collectively winning a staggering 8,251 races for purse earnings just shy of $60 million. But the jockey’s life takes a toll; each brother was in a never-ending battle to maintain his riding weight, while Noel, Rudy and Roger constantly fought the bottle. And then came the losses, the injuries and the crushing heartbreaks: the unlikely triumph of one of horse racing’s greatest families was not without tragedy. Drawing upon over 30 years of reporting and interviews, author Curtis Stock takes readers on an unforgettable ride through the major players and race days of thoroughbred racing. (author Stock, pictured below)Part biography and part oral history, the book is a true underdog story and a sure bet for any sports fan. The 25th chapter, in particular, is an exciting telling of Secretariat’s Triple Crown campaign, each race written from a stride-by-stride perspective. It will leave you breathless!I asked Curtis about the process of writing his book and he was kind enough to share the following with me….
Apart from the obvious successes enjoyed by the Turcottes in the horse-racing world, what inspired you to write this biographical story, warts and all? It was simply a fascinating story of five brothers from Drummond, population 700, out of a lumberjack town all being jockeys and all very successful. And then the tragedies that followed.
Did the family endorse your book and open up to you with tales from childhood to the winner’s circle? Yes, the family (pictured below) was very accommodating. I spent three days in New Brunswick with Ron three years ago. At that time, I also visited Rudy who was in a group home in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. I also talked extensively with Rudy when I tracked him down in Florida and before he came to Alberta. Yves, lives in St. Albert which is a suburb of Edmonton where I live. He was extremely helpful. We spoke at least once a week. I met Roger many, many times when he rode in Alberta. Noel was the only jockey I never met.How long did the research for the book take? Were you given full access to the racing industry’s archives, news footage and historical reportage (much of which I’m sure you wrote yourself!)? The research and writing took 3 years but I actually started thinking of writing this book 20 years ago and I began accumulating their histories. I went through countless statistics at that time. Daily Racing Form manuals and archives from the stories I had already written as a sports writer with the Edmonton Journal for some 30 years and when Roger and Yves rode here in Alberta. So, yes, a lot of the information came from one-on-one interviews from that period.
You previously joined a syndicate that was successful with running winners – how did that feel, being on the other side? I have owned shares of horses for some 30 years. Not many but usually with a group of friends. I currently own one horse, a three-year-old, that is just getting started with five friends. I covered horse racing for the Edmonton Journal for about 25 years so I was inside, as you say, for a long time. As for being on the inside, there is nothing more thrilling than watching your own horse run.
So 11 Sovereign Awards plus numerous other sports writing awards and kudos – is there any other writing goal(s) to which you aspire? I have no future plans at this time. I would like to see the book become a movie. There was a very successful movie on Secretariat, the greatest horse of all time but nothing on the Turcotte family.How can fans follow you on social media? Follow me on Twitter: @CurtisJStock
(Pictured below – Ron in wheelchair alongside the statue of him aboard the great Secretariat, located in Lexington, Kentucky)Thank you to Firefly Books who kindly sent me a preview copy. The book is available from Amazon and Indigo Books for $35.00 (ISBN: 9780228104247)
At least year’s One of a Kind Show, I discovered this talented jewellery designer and immediately understood her unique vision and use of precious metals and organic materials. JENNY GRECO creates very wearable rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings that compliment any outfit from jeans to evening gowns, all at affordable prices and that guarantee lots of ooo’s and aah’s.Born and raised in Italy before coming to Canada in her mid-teens, Jenny’s sense of style and luxe shines clearly through her designs. She originally attended University of Toronto in the Science program but soon realized microscopes and Petri dishes were not for her so a switch to a more creative life via OCAD brought her to a life surrounded by bling and glitz! Upon graduating, she started her own line of jewellery and her imagination ran wild, incorporating all sorts of metals, precious and semi-precious gemstones, wood and leather.
I asked Jenny to share her story, her inspirations and her craft in a number of videos….
Being a pearl lover myself, I can’t wait to see how this large necklace works out. Jenny showed me where all the magic happens – her workbench and the little room where all the fire and casting goes on.
With Mother’s Day is coming up soon, why not drop in and pick up something pretty for your favourite lady? Does she like earrings? A gorgeous necklace or a fabulous ring?
She also creates fab jewellery for men, too, so if you’re looking for something special for that hunky dude in your life, check these out…
So many lovely, sparkly, sexy wearable works of art – you gotta go visit Jenny’s studio located at 374 Danforth (2nd floor) which is the n.w. corner of Danforth and Chester just around the corner from the subway station. Follow her on social media IG: @jennygrecojewellery or Facebook/jennygrecojewellery. And you can see more of her work on her website: www.jennygreco.com
Jenny invites custom orders – she’ll work with you to design your one-of-a-kind piece, and can also recommend beautiful gems for bridal gifts, presents for the bridal party or custom anniversary and birthday gifting, too.
In June, Jenny moves her studio/store to the Distillery District (15 Casegoods Lane) so watch for social media posts announcing her new location. Until then, see you on the Danforth!
Anyone who survives 40 years at the same job deserves a prize, and stand-up comic & writer GLEN FOSTER has certainly earned kudos and bravos for building and maintaining a career in the comedy business. Glen has been touring for the past four decades and has become a mainstay on the Canadian comedy circuit – he didn’t just work the road, he’s one of the comics who built it! His comedy is clever and intelligent, combining reflections on his own personal experiences with razor sharp commentary on current events and popular culture. I’ve known Glen for all his 40 years of funny, representing him first during the 80s as part of Yuk Yuk’s Komedy Klub and its in-house agency Funny Business, then working with him again several years ago when he launched a series of independent comedy showcases featuring the best of the best of Canadian comedy talent. To give you a little background on Glen, he got a “Cinderella” start in showbiz – after several months grinding away on amateur nights, he found himself part of a Yuk Yuk’s tour out west in 1982. When he took the stage in Winnipeg that first night, suddenly Glen was a “professional stand-up”. As he tells it, “Things progressed quickly from then on. I was barely six months off amateur night when I was flown to Los Angeles to appear on “An evening at The Improv” with movie legend Tony Curtis as celebrity host”. He has appeared eight times at the world-renowned Just For Laughs festival, had his own TV specials on the Comedy Network, is a frequent guest on CBC Radio’s “The Debaters” and a club and corporate event favourite across the country. I spoke with Glen recently and he shared his thoughts on his long comedic journey, navigating his way through one of the most volatile entertainment sectors (stand-up comedy), sharing tales of survival and the shenanigans along the way….
So Glen, has it really been 40yrs? I remember when I was booking you through Yuk Yuk’s back in the 80s and I knew I could always rely on you to deliver a killer set wherever I sent you. November 4th, 2022 was the actual fortieth anniversary of my first Yuk Yuk’s Western comedy tour, which kicked off in Winnipeg in 1982. This past November I returned to Winnipeg to do a special show to commemorate that event, almost forty years to the day of the original show. For years, I’ve kept an old Winnipeg Free Press article about the 1982 tour and now I have a matching one from 2022 as well.I’ve actually been doing comedy for more than forty years, although two years of Covid lockdowns and club closures does kind of mess with the math. I started performing at high school variety shows (1977-78). Soon after that, I did my first “real” comedy club set at Yuk Yuks, which had just opened in Toronto. Unlike today where there are hundreds of comics scrambling to get just a few minutes of stage time, there were only a handful of us and we were working all the time. As a result, I was able to progress very quickly. I was barely six months off amateur night when I was flown to Los Angeles to appear on “An evening at The Improv” with movie legend Tony Curtis as celebrity host, no less. So no matter how you do the math, I am quite confident saying that I have been a “professional comedian” for at least forty years.Your stage personae and material appear to have changed considerably as your career has developed. How would you compare the comedy themes or styles of 1980s Glen with today’s Glen? I always admired comedians like George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Bill Maher and others who were actually saying something with their comedy. So at a point, I decided that it wasn’t enough to just be funny, I also wanted to be relevant. I started doing material about all of the things that frustrated me as a Canadian: High taxes, government incompetence, the sad state of our armed forces and especially, what was known at the time as “political correctness”. That material really resonated with crowds and got big laughs as well. I even created a very popular t-shirt (shortly after the first Quebec referendum) that featured a “puzzle” map of Canada held together with band-aids and stitching with the caption, “My Canada includes every bitching whining Province, Aboriginal, Feminist, Minority and Special Interest Group.”
Recently, I’ve been going over some of my old videos and like many comedians of my era, there are definitely a few “cancelable” offenses to be found. More than once I have said to myself, “There is NO WAY I could do that joke today”. On the other hand, there is also material that I wouldn’t WANT to do today because, like society in general, my attitudes have changed and my comedy has evolved.
Jerry Seinfeld famously said that he won’t play colleges anymore because younger crowds are too easily offended. These days, comedy seems to be all about diversity, “safe spaces”, and inclusivity. As an older white male, are you still able to remain relevance? And are you able to entertain “the kids”? There is no question that audiences, especially younger ones, have become much more sensitive and far more easily “triggered” than in the past. The smart thing would be to just avoid certain topics altogether, but for some reason, I can’t seem to do that. My style has always been to poke the bear, but I have had to become much more nuanced and creative in my approach, so the bear doesn’t rip my head off. I’ve become quite adept at dancing around hot button topics and of getting very, very close to the line of offense without going over. As a result I’ve discovered a rather unique style of saying things without actually SAYING anything at all, to the point where many of my punchlines have become blank spaces that the audience has to fill in themselves.
Fortunately, I think we are finally starting to see a turn around. People are waking up to woke (pardon the pun) or at least becoming weary of some of the more extreme examples of cancel culture and the very real dangers that it poses to free speech and artistic expression. For me, it’s a vindication, though it does feel odd to be behind the times and yet, ahead of my time… at the same time.
Since the 80s, you’ve appeared on numerous tv shows and even had two of your own 1-hr TV specials on the Comedy Network – do you and other comedians receive royalties on those shows? I mean, they play them over and over on the various CBC or CTV networks…surely you must be “that wealthy Canadian guy” by now? The short answer is no, and the long answer is not much. It depends on the show. I do get a small amount for re-runs of CBC shows, but other shows are a single payment “buy out” situation. Certainly no one I know is getting rich off of the television royalties from Canadian stand up. It’s interesting, every now and then I’ll get a call from someone who will say “We’d like you to do this gig. It doesn’t pay a lot of money, but it will be great for exposure!” And I always joke, “This is Canada, people DIE from exposure.” But if you think about it, because there is very little money, just about every show you do in Canada is for exposure. And you do get that. If I perform a set at Just for Laughs, for example, they will take that and sell it all over the world in every medium you can think of: TV, satellite radio, DVDs, CDs, streaming and even in-flight entertainment. The trade off is that the producers wind up making exponentially more money than the actual talent.
Speaking of “That Canadian Guy”, how did that nickname come about? And, despite the fact that you have not been on television for a while now, is it still something that comedy fans recognize and respond to? I have an advertising background (I was copywriter) so I’ve always understood that in order for people to remember something, you had to make it easy for them. So beginning with my first comedy special “That Canadian Guy” that is exactly what I did. I even joked that the viewers wouldn’t be able to remember my name, but they would remember “That Canadian Guy”. I also included a line about my website. Sure enough, the morning after the special aired, I received a pile of e-mails from people saying “I couldn’t remember your name, but I remembered “That Canadian Guy”.
Remember when I talked about exposure? Well, the curse and the blessing of Canadian television, is that everything I have ever done has been repeated and repeated… and repeated! In fact, someone messaged me just the other day to tell me that my original “That Canadian Guy” special from 2000 was going to be on again!
An interesting thing has been happening recently. People are coming up to me after shows saying things like, “I was so surprised to see you here.” and “I’ve been watching you since I was a kid!” Of course, these fans are now in their late thirties and forties. A few are even younger than that, which makes me think that their parents may have been a bit too permissive, or just abandoned them to the electronic babysitter, as my parents used to call the tv. It’s all very gratifying and it makes me ponder whether there could be a larger, as yet undiscovered group of fans out there somewhere. I even have some ideas on how I might actually do that. I’ll let you know how it goes.Apart from your television appearances, you’ve also produced four comedy albums. Any plans for a fifth? And what about podcasting? A lot of comedians have gone that route and many have become quite successful. I’m actually working on my new album, tentatively titled Unsafe and Unnecessary right now. It’s kind of an extension of my last album Unchecked (a reference to all the “boxes” I don’t check as an older white male). It’s a bit of a challenge with four previous albums out there; I don’t want to repeat myself, so I have to structure my live sets in such a way that I can develop and practice the new stuff, while keeping enough of the old stuff to have a cohesive set. Plus, I have to maintain a certain comfort level for myself and still entertain the crowd, so I can’t do too much new stuff all at once. As for doing podcasts, I have a few ideas, but I have so much to do and I am chronically disorganized (my To Do list remains “unchecked” as well). If I find something that excites me, I could happen…..I will keep you posted.
Thanks for sharing, Glen.
Glen also publicly shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel on the recent Bill C-11 which has since passed, and the slippery-slope it creates with its proposed limitations and censorship of the ‘net
Follow Glen on social media: Facebook.com/thatcanadiancomedian or Twitter.com/fosterfunny
and visit his website: https://glenfoster.com/
Towards the end of my 2-month Down Under odyssey, I took a day trip to the fabulous gardens overlooking the city of Perth, Western Australia, and although it was only just the start of Spring, the flower beds and meadows were filled with colourful wildflowers and trees indigenous to Australia.Many years ago, as a child, we would often take family Sunday drives through the acres and acres of bushland in the heart of the city. This time, I got to go with my kid sister, Jenny, and traveling companion Suzi, reliving so many memories and realizing how much has changed over the past 50+ years. There used to be a massive fallen tree trunk, either a Jarrah or Kari tree (Australian hardwoods), where we would pose in front for photos but it had long disappeared from the park. There used to be a giant flower clock as well as a fancy-schmancy restaurant where my father would often host business dinners that I actually attended as a well-behaved (!) little kid. But my memories of school trips from up in the hills down to the park every ANZAC Day (April 25) to pay respects to all the fallen & wounded old Diggers (Aussie soldiers) from WWI and II came rushing back. I remember standing to attention as WWI veterans marched by, some on crutches some in wheelchairs and some a little bent over but marching proudly.
The trees were magnificent, especially the Queen Elizabeth II tree she planted as a sapling on her first visit back in the 50s. Look at it now…So many plants and blooms to view…and the fragrances were heady and exotic, too.We also visited at night to view the spectacular city lights and skies….wow!Just typing this brings back memories of the scents and sounds, as well as the views I saw a few months back. I really hope I can make it back to Perth again…such a beautiful city – clean streets, mostly graffiti-free, friendly and welcoming. Am buying more lottery tickets this week…I just got a feelin’. LOL
During the 2yrs of Covid lock-down here in Toronto when there were no film, tv or theatre productions for me to promote, I got hooked watching Outback Opal Hunters on TV’s Discovery Channel. Turns out, that was a good thing ‘coz when travel restrictions were lifted last year, I booked my ticket home to Australia and headed out to the opal fields in Queensland to buy a pair of opal earrings. I’m obsessed with the stunning ancient gems, as well as pearls (yes, I purchased a really big pearl in Broome, WA, too). For the uninitiated, opal is formed from a solution of silicon dioxide and water. As water runs down through the earth, it picks up silica from sandstone and carries this silica-rich solution into cracks and voids caused by natural faults or decomposing fossils. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind a silica deposit. This cycle repeats over very long periods of time, and eventually opal is formed. Below is the gorgeous pair of earrings I bought in Winton, Qld, direct from Opal Hunters miners Joe and Tash.Another team of miners from the international hit show is known as “The Young Guns” and they are comprised of 3 mates, young fellas who are not the usual grizzled, snaggle-toothed old miners like most of the other teams featured on the show. In fact they’re really cute and the show has taken viewers from their early days down their mine, learning as they go and discovering all sorts of amazing treasures. We have also witnessed their frustrating days of no finds or machine break-downs that have set them back thousands of dollars. I reached out over the Christmas holidays and spoke with team leader Jaymin Sullivan who kindly shared stories with me of great finds, hopes and dreams for the team…..
Jaymin, what first inspired you to head out to the opal fields with your mates to dig for treasures, fame and fortune? Honestly I was living a pretty average life working 9-5 at a local hardware store paying rent and mortgage and just felt I was getting nowhere and that there had to be more to life. I remember thinking about dream jobs and what I really wanted to do and that lead me to “treasure hunter”, a job that’s hard to do in Australia as we don’t exactly have Viking hoards of treasure or maps leading to ancient ruins. Luckily however my father was an opal miner and I decided to look at mining in a new light as treasure hunting. And it really is when you uncover something precious that’s been hidden for millions of years and you are the first human being to ever see it and on top of that it can be worth thousands even millions, it is treasure and it is definitely exciting to say the least. There is also something to be said for the fact you can, as an opal miner, be poor in the morning and rich in the afternoon that’s a strong motivator for wanting to do the job! As for the fame, I didn’t really go there for that hahaha that just sort of happened along the way.Did you recruit your mates Noah and JC once the idea took hold or were they in it with you from the beginning? And what special skills do you each bring to the team? Noah and JC where in a similar boat to me, JC was working as a lawn mower and Noah worked at a local fast food place. Not, I guess you could say, living life to its full potential. Initially, I invited all of my friend group to come out and give it a go, of the 8 guys only Noah and JC where willing to make the 14hr drive out to the opal fields and see what I was up to. I think JC brings to the team a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, Noah has a lot of perseverance and a willingness to learn new skills and me, well I’m obsessed which means I’m pretty full on with every aspect from the work itself to filming and editing for our YouTube channel to opal cutting and marketing. What was it like the first time you discovered opal? And what was the biggest haul you pulled in? There’s nothing like your first time, when you uncover opal that’s actually worth money…worth thousands…and that it’s there sitting in your hands; it’s incredible to know your hard work had won something so beautiful and precious is a really cool feeling and when it keeps on coming out of the wall and you’re onto a big find your hands can literally shake. I think our biggest find in one afternoon was around $80-90k in the rough; we didn’t end up selling rough, we mostly cut it and made it into jewellery which ends up going for around 5-8x the amount. It’s a long game, trying to sell the finished product and we have still got a lot of the material and jewellery, but with all the hard work to find it, it’s important to make as much money off the opal as possible and the best way is to sell direct to the customer and cut out all the middle men. It is always going to be cheaper purchasing opal direct from the miner whether it be jewellery or rough stones as oppose to buying it in a shop or from resellers.Selling your finds to local specialist buyers can be nerve-racking….do you, as young miners, feel you’re treated fairly or do you think buyers in the big city are a good option? How does it work? We do some deals of rough opal though that is quite rare, you never get a good price for rough opal so we tend to avoid it…. when we aren’t desperate for rent or food or fuel. We live in the age of technology and we have the ability to reach thousands of people online so we have a pretty good understanding of how to market our opal online and sell direct to the customer which allows us to get a fair price as well as the customer.Do you enjoy cutting/polishing the opals yourselves or do you only deal with rough or partially polished stones? I love cutting opal – I actually do a cutting demo in White Cliffs (in the state of New South Wales) every morning for tourists who come to town. I take a rough stone and walk them through the whole process until we have a finished polished stone. Cutting opal is super relaxing and it’s amazing to see it go from a rough state to a finished piece, you see it transform in your hands! On average, how much does it cost to run all the equipment, house, feed and water the team each season? The costs vary depending on the set-up, but we probably spend anywhere from $20-40k per season which is only 6-8months (in the cooler months) in order to run our mining business.How long have you all been working the opal fields now? Any goals for future explorations – any new claims you have your eyes on? We have been out here for the last 4 years now and loving every minute! Future goals would be to get an operation set up in Lightning Ridge in NSW, and in the Queensland opal fields. We love White Cliffs but want to do some more work on the other fields we have visited also. When did you join the cast of Outback Opal Hunters and has the fame brought you more secure income from sales and/or any sponsorships? Opal Hunters was definitely an experience and was actually a lot of work. We joined the show because we thought it would be fun and for the most part it was. We met some incredible camera men and we learnt a lot watching them film us. The show is great in that it’s helped the opal industry a lot internationally and definitely helped us initially get our name out there.
If you take a look at all the other teams on Opal Hunters none have the same sort of following we do and the simple reason is if you want to be a real presence you have to create your own content and promote yourself. Which is why we started our YouTube channel and why we use Instagram, Facebook and TikTok – these platforms allow us to better connect with our audience and grow a meaningful community. We are super reachable which we pride ourselves on; we reply to 90% of messages sent to us and are more then happy to help serious newcomers to the industry.
One of our biggest goals has always been to promote opal mining as an alternate lifestyle, not everyone is meant to fit into a standard 9-5 work life and we have seen the positive impact it has on your life first hand once you do follow your dreams and work for yourself. We hope more people find in life the thing that makes them happy and can turn it into a job that gets them paid enough to support themselves and family. As for sponsorships we weren’t really allowed to have them while working on Opal Hunters though we have been pursuing this more now with our YouTube channel, and if all goes well we may have something exciting to share in the future. As for the impact of Opal Hunters on our sales, the show definitely helped give us credibility and helped customers purchasing opal online feel secure in the fact they’re buying direct from miners and from a source they know.
Discovery Channel is very popular here in N. America, esp. the Outback Opal and Gold Hunters shows – do you have a good fan following home and away? Ever get asked by fans for a “ride along”? We love that so many people around the world have become so interested in opal and the process of mining it, I was actually a fan of the show before we joined, but since joining, however, I no longer watch it hahaha as it’s too weird seeing yourself on tv. The most common thing people will reach out and ask us for is a job. I would love to say yes but at this point we only really make enough to keep us in the game. One day if we can scale the operation or get really lucky, I hope to open up some more opportunities for those who are really interested. In the meantime, we’re actually working on setting up a mine where fans will be able to come out and do some mining for a day or so and give it a shot! We hope to have that up and running by 2024.
If you couldn’t mine any more, what profession would you choose to pursue (and JC and Noah)? I think opal mining is in our blood now forever haha we all do have a taste for adventure and if it wasn’t opal I know we’d love to go for gold and may very well some day. Outside of mining, I’d love to explore creating other YouTube content and we do have some of that in the works.
As for Noah, he’d love to continue exploring/adventuring for a living – I’m not sure what form that would take but there is always a way.
JC recently got himself a new dream job raising baby Ziah his son. He’ll still be mining with us but right now he’s loving every minute of being a dad!Thanks, Jaymin, now I can really appreciate all the hard work & long sweaty hours spent underground as well as the millions of pesky flies and the inherent danger of working in unstable conditions. I will happily spend the $s for a piece of their glory…and so can everyone else. If you love opals, you can purchase rings, pendants or earrings (and even vials of opal chips for your own jewellery making) directly from the Young Guns and they will ship around the world.
Azfar first intro’d Simone Holder (below) who I had seen the previous night at a different venue. She did not disappoint, unleashing a series of stories on being a “lady of a certain age”, sex and life seen thru the eyes of being single. Simone rocked it!
Then Akeem Hoyte-Charles (below) took the stage – well, he actually “took” the room. His fast-fire commentary on being the best boyfriend in the world had the ladies swooning and the guys a little nervous…LOL. Imagine Kevin Hart meets Eddie Murphy and you get the idea how talented this guy is.
Next up, Luke Lynndale (below) who had the crowd laughing in recognition when discussing the pro’s and con’s of supermarket self check-outs and the dilemma of shopping when there are no carts available. And his bit on socializing in the dog park, well…if you have a dog, you’ll understand completely.
Then came the big guy! Nathan Macintosh knocked it out of the park. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a stand-up’s set so much, applauding and cheering, begging for an encore. Nathan is the real thing. I ran Yuk Yuk’s Komedy Klub back in the 80s and always loved discovering brilliant comedic talents over the years, and seeing Nathan headline was like the first time watching the acerbic delivery of New Yorker Ritch Shydner (true comedy fans should recognize that name). 
