Many of you will know that I host a weekly podcast called “CATP”, an unfortunate acronym standing for “Comedy Above the Pub”. We’ve had a ton of great successes and we’re closing in on the end of our fifth season. We’re pretty happy. In fact if you go to this posting on the podcast website, you’ll see the official written post on a great partnership we have with BiteTV

You can find our page on BiteTV HERE.

This partnership is still in its infancy and I couldn’t be happier with our ability to provide content for this already burgeoning comedy channel that provides original content on their television channel and fantastic web series. To be able to lend our support and provide them our audio is wonderful.

I’d like to personally thank BiteTV for this opportunity and I am totally looking forward to working with BiteTV on this and other projects in the future.

Not a bad start to 2013!

This of course came out on the same day that I was moderating a symposium on podcasting for the Canadian Comedy Awards. An honour and a pleasure to meet so many of the people that do great work in the podcasting field was mine. Truly great and truly an honour. We dropped a special episode of the podcast that was that symposium HERE.

Having people like Emmett Hall from ‘A Beautiful Podcast’, and Adam Christie from ‘Hold Your Applause’, as well as former guests such as Graham Clark (‘Stop Podcasting Yourself’), Sean Cullen (‘The Sean Pod’) and Nug Nahrgang (‘Illusionoid’) was truly uplifting and validating. I couldn’t have been happier meeting and reconnecting and talking podcasting with peers putting out amazing creative content in this new medium. It was truly humbling and I am so appreciative of the opportunity.

It also put me in mind of the great people that I’ve had the opportunity to talk with, and it’s truly breathtaking when I think of the amazing people I’ve met that are now friends and the friends I already have that have brought their talents to the show to make it the great thing that it is.

We’re now in our fifth season and we opened with Greg Behrendt who is a talent that seems to have no end to what he is able to do creatively. From his stand-up, his work with the Reigning Monarchs and his book “He’s Just Not That Into You”, to be able to converse, laugh and debate is a wonderful opportunity.

Season five of CATP is looking great and thanks everyone who listens who makes it possible. You’re all awesome.

I will now cry tears of satisfaction.

Recently I did a couple of what was described to me as “needing to be squeaky clean corporate comedy” shows. Suddenly I pictured a room full of my grandmother, her friends, and members of the Sunday School Teachers Union Local #79. Not the case. One was at a full-on theatre with balcony in a small town. The other was under a tent at a blueberry farm.

Steve Levine, the fantastic comic that I was working with on these shows, and I were talking about the things at corporate shows that you try to remove from the equation in order to make the show good. Typically corporate shows have a ton of obstacles thrown at you that interfere with your ability to make laughs:

- You’re caught behind a podium with no ability to move from it with the mic feeling like a dog in an SPCA commercial
- Everyone is around tables so widespread it looks like the wedding from “The Godfather”
- The audience is any of “sunburned from a day of drunken golf”, “full of roast beef”, “old”
- They have a moment of silence to mourn the death of several who passed just before bringing you on as “the entertainment”
- Performing in a tent on a blueberry farm

And of course, you need to be “clean”. As if comedy itself wasn’t subjected t to opinion enough but now we throw “clean” into the mix. People more poignant than I have debated the “which is easier, dirty or clean” issue and both are hard. Comedy is hard. Crap comedy, now that is easy. Comedy is subjective. So are the aspects of good clean or good dirty comedy. “Who is the better comic: Brian Regan or Bobby Slayton?”

Both are awesome and different.

Going beyond the “not just dropping ‘f-bombs’” but picking material that’s not going to offend is wonderful. I find myself in this position of constantly auditing what I’m saying, what I’m about to say, reading the audience for reaction to make sure everything is okay and no one’s offended. I feel like a chef with ADD and a coke addiction lifting the lids of all the pits on the stove making sure nothing’s burning. When the show itself is labeled as “No Foul Language”, you have to deliver. But i still knew deep down I was not performing for myself, allowing for freedom of thought and language, but doing it for them, the set-up-to-not-be-offended audience.

Yes, having the daemon running in my head scanning each word I was about to utter for filth was somewhat exhausting, but it was a fun exercise. It’s nice to know I could react and in a tethered manner still spritz and converse with the audience, and still deliver the comedic goods. It’s a pivot from the usual course of language and theme that allows you to find confined creativity.

And it was no less of a show. Not unlike any other “themed” show out there. “Dirty”. “Clean”. “Urban”. “Blue Collar”. “Asian”. “Female”. “Four Guys Who All Kind of Look Like Susan Boyle”. The one thing they have in common, they have to be funny to succeed.

After the show, we were approached by a couple probably my parents’ age. “Thank you so much for the show. It was so nice to have a show without so much foul language.” Cute. I expected to get milk and cookies to follow. But that comment still showed that there was a market for this style of show. Like the “Dark Shows” that set up the audience to be ready for any content whatsoever, there are shows that can tailor to the opposite. Neither is strictly right. It’s a matter of taste. That show was the taste for that mom&dad couple and they went and enjoyed it. Yelling at someone for not liking foul language is like yelling at them for not liking cheese.

Actually screw the non-cheese lovers, it’s delicious. I used to hate cheese and eventually saw the error of my ways. If you’re complaining that you can’t have it because you’re lactose intolerant, that’s God’s way of punishing you for some evil thing in your past. And only you know what that is. Shame on you.

Special thanks to Denis Grignon for helping make this article possible.

So proud am I to be a part of what’s happening this weekend. In from LA, one of the best in the business is hitting the sweltering shores of Toronto. Jimmy Pardo is doing shows Friday, July 13th and Saturday, July 14th, 2012, and I will be hosting the shows!

The host of the Never Not Funny podcast as well as the opener for the The Conan O’Brien Show will be performing at Comedy Bar in Toronto for stand-up shows on Friday, July 13 for two shows and one show Saturday. As well, we at Comedy Above The Pub are pleased to announce that we are recording a live episode of “Comedy Above the Pub-LIVE!!!” with Jimmy for the late show Saturday, July 14 at 10:00pm. Tickets for the stand-up shows or the podcast recording are $20. For more details go to the Comedy Bar website.

As if that isn’t cool enough, look who’s on the shows:

- Friday @ 8:00pm: K Trevor Wilson & Ryan Belleville
- Friday @ 10:00pm: Chelsea Manders & DeAnne Smith
- Saturday @ 8:00pm: Fraser Young & Jon Schabl

See you there!

Few shows coming up, most importantly a fundraiser show on Thursday, June 21/12 @ 8:00pm @ Cadillac Lounge in Toronto. The show is called Laugh & Live’r which is a fundraiser for comedy legend Mike MacDonald who is in desperate need of a liver transplant. You can donate to the cause directly by clicking HERE.

For my performance dates, simply go to the website and look at the ‘Upcoming Shows’ column on the left, including a live ep of the podcast at Comedy Bar with Jimmy Pardo.

As for the podcasts, we most recently were invited to NXNE to “rapid podcast” where we would go in and interview people at the conference centre and then post the shows that night. And we did that and it was absolutely awesome. We’d like to thank NXNE for having us down there and talking to some great people. In total:

- Jon Mick, The Futureless, K Trevor Wilson, Evan DesMarais and Mark DeBonis
- Patrick Joseph, The Vibrating Beds, and Ben Miner
- Paper Lions, F&M, and Rhiannon Archer

As well, we had some others including some live shows you should check out at Comedy Bar in Toronto. Namely:

- My vocal doppelganger Kerry Griffin
- Comedian and magician David Acer
- “Stop Podcasting Yourself” podcasters Graham Clark and Dave Shumka
- Long-time friend and funny fella Denis Grignon
- “Top Chef Canada” contestant Todd Perrin
- Live show with Ryan Belleville
- From the US of A, comedian and fellow mathie Myq Kaplan
- Another live show, this time with the fantastic Lauren Ash & Leslie Seiler
- Derek Forgie confirms why he’s a regular guest

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

And please make sure you come to our recordings of ‘CATP-LIVE!’ at Comedy Bar the last Sunday of the month!

Check back here for regular updates to my performance dates as well.

Thanks all!

tva

Also, a quick shout out to Larry Miller who I had the opportunity to see in Richmond Hill last week. He was and still is one of the guys that I looked up to when I was starting out and to finally see him live was a brilliant achievement for me. Having drinks with him afterwards was just way more cool awesome. Thanks for the great night, Larry.

For my performance dates, simply go to the website and look at the ‘Upcoming Shows’ column on the left.

Now, time for some podcast updates. Here’s what we’ve been up to.

- The return of podcast fan and fave Nug
- Toronto actor and improvisor James Gangl
- PicnicFace member and super-funny Mark Little
- A phoner with another of my childhood idols Thomas Dolby
- Our first member of Canadian parliament Andrew Cash
- CATP-LIVE!!! taping at Comedy Bar with Kristeen von Hagen & Christina Walkinshaw

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

And please make sure you come to our recordings of ‘CATP-LIVE!’ at Comedy Bar the last Sunday of the month!

Check back here for regular updates to my performance dates as well.

Thanks all!

tva

Firstly we’ve got a brand new season of Comedy Above the Pub!

We’ve pretty much run the gamut of the different types of episodes we do, so here’s the sampling from Season 4!

- A brilliant phoner with Dylan Brody
- Terrifying in-studio tales with DeAnne Smith
- Live recording from Comedy Bar in Toronto with Fraser Young and Ian MacIntyre

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

And please make sure you come to our recordings of ‘CATP-LIVE!’ at Comedy Bar the last Sunday of the month!

Check back here for regular updates to my performance dates as well.

Thanks all!

tva

I’ve got some dates coming up in the next while that you can see in the left panel of THIS WEBSITE, including trips to Sudbury, hosting ‘Sunday Night Live’ at Comedy Bar, a SPCA fundraiser in Milton, travel to Bobcaygeon, and both Absolute Comedy clubs in Toronto and Ottawa. Hope to see you there!

As well, the live show of ‘Comedy Above the Pub’ has been so well received, that we’re going to continue! We’re going to be doing live recordings of “Comedy Above the Pub” with different guests each month. These will record the last Sunday of the month. Go to Comedy Bar or Comedy Above the Pub for details.

Speaking of the podcast, we closed out Season 3 in style!

- The triumphant return of Kevin Brauch
- The wonderful Andy Kindler
- ‘CATP-LIVE!!!’ with Debra DiGiovanni and Nile Seguin
- From Second City Toronto, Nigel Downer and Matt Reid

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

Hope to see you soon!

tva

Firstly there’s a ton of shows in the coming days, which you can see on the schedule here. Just look to the left.

One show in particular that I wanted to make you aware of a great show that’s going on this month. My podcast ‘Comedy Above the Pub’ is doing a live show! We are going to be doing a live show on Thursday, Jan 19/12 @ 9:00pm at Comedy Bar in Toronto. The guests for this great show will be Debra DiGiovanni and Nile Seguin. They are no stranger to this show and it promises to be great.

Click HERE for more details.

Speaking of the podcast, we’ve got some great episodes have have brought us into the new year!

- ‘Beards of Comedy’ member Dave Stone
- Double-dose of comedy with Carolyn Bennett and Winston Spear
- Comedy critic, author, and educator Andrew Clark
- Canadian comedy original Evan Carter
- Improv impresario Colin Mochrie

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

Hope to see you on the 19th at Comedy Bar!

Hope the holiday season isn’t making you examine the rafter beams to see if they’ll take your weight. Relax. Take a breath. And above all, soothe yourself with a half-pint of whisky.

We’ve had some great guests slide by the studio and you should check them out!

- Funny man and Ian-Curtis-of-Joy-Division-Look-a-Like John Hastings
- Phoner with ‘Chelsea Lately’ regular Mo Mandel
- “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star and brilliant performer Greg Proops
- Friend and funny man Arthur Simeon
- Brilliant comic and writer Fraser Young

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

As well, two of our new sponsors are offering you some sweet holiday deals!

From Wed, Dec 14/11 to Fri, Dec 16/11, Best Buy is offering you great deals for their three-day sale.

As well, TheSource.ca is offering free shipping to our listeners. Go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and look at the banners on the right-hand side of the page.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Sparkly Kwanzaa, or Happy Nothing if you’re athiest.

And above all…enjoy!

Firstly, I’d like to draw your attention to my Movember site. I’m raising money and awareness for prostate cancer by making myself look creepy…moreso. You can find my site HERE. Feel free to join and/or donate!

As well, we’ve had a few great podcasts happen over the past while:

- Darryl Pring and former guest Ian MacIntyre join us as members of Dr. Whom
- Ottawa DJ Rise Ashen spins a spell
- Canadian movie reviewer Richard Crouse talks moving pictures
- Musician Allan Lewis lets us in on what all of his projects are that he’s working on
- K Trevor Wilson and Sean Jordan (aka WordBurglar) join us with Smells Like the 80s

These episodes and more can be found at COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB.

Enjoy and hope to see you at the live shows!

Thanks for listening and to all the folks that made themselves known when I was out in Ottawa. Had a great time and have you all to thank.

As an FYI, I’ll be heading to Montreal next week at the ComedyWorks. Hope to see you there if you’re in town!

As for Comedy Above The Pub, the season’s been going great with some brilliant episodes and great guests.

Here’s who you can enjoy…

- A phoner with the very funny Dan Levy
- Great friend Trent McClellan
- Old friend Robert Cait from Just for Laughs
- Great comic and podcaster Jackie Kashian
- Going all 613 with Andrew Johnston
- Most awesomely funny Pete Zedlacher
- The voice of “The Ongoing History of New Music” and music nerd Alan Cross
- Funniest fellow math major I know, Jamie Lissow
- Ian MacIntyre returns with Darryl Pring to discuss their show Dr. Whom

I’d also like to thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Don’t like ListenBooks? Get free comedy (or music…) from eMusic.com. Same deal. Click to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get Free Comedy or Music”.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Aaaaaaand, click HERE to bring one of the best acts in the world JIMMY PARDO to Toronto.

Thanks, all!

Just a quick note to mention that I’m heading to Ottawa for two weeks at Absolute Comedy!

The first week I’ll be hosting with headliner Jamie Lissow. I worked with him in Toronto and it was fantastic. You’re in for a treat!

The second week I’ll be co-headlining with great friend Carrie Gaetz with K Trevor Wilson. This week will be 18 shades of awesome. Hope you can make it out!

As for the podcast, we’re back at Comedy Above The Pub and into Season 3 now! If the initial recordings are anything to go by, it’s going to be a brilliant season.

What’s on tap right now?

- The first part of our TWO PART episode with Todd Glass
- Our phirst phoner of the new season with Tig Notaro

I’d also like to thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Don’t like ListenBooks? Get free comedy (or music…) from eMusic.com. Same deal. Click to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get Free Comedy or Music”.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Aaaaaaand, click HERE to bring one of the best acts in the world JIMMY PARDO to Toronto.

Thanks, all!

So, I don’t know if you heard what Toronto mayor Rob Ford suggested that we do, but he came up with a fantastic plan to battle Toronto graffiti. He suggested that people call ’911′ to report it. “That wouldn’t cause any bother at all,” I thought. So I sent the tweet ‘”I don’t like the song that’s playing on the radio!”‘ and set up the new hashtag “#new911calls”.

I had no idea that it would have the traction it did. Suddenly the hashtag is trending nationally on Twitter. Then The Grid magazine in Toronto picked up on the story.

Next thing I know, I got a call from The Torontoist for an interview on social media. I was shocked and honoured. The results can be found here.

Thanks to both TheGridTO and Torontoist for their time and shout-outs, and in particular Jaime Woo for reaching out.

As well, thanks to all the folks who showed up for the following recent episodes of Comedy Above The Pub:

- Sharilyn Johnson slides by to talk about comedy, blogging about it, and her Fringe show, “An Inconvenient Truthiness”
- Nick Beaton and Steve Scholtz come for a chat before they take off for shores anew
- Food Network star Massimo Capra comes over for a great chat on food, comedy, and arses in restaurants

I’d also like to thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Don’t like ListenBooks? Get free comedy (or music…) from eMusic.com. Same deal. Click to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get Free Comedy or Music”.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Aaaaaaand, click HERE to bring one of the best acts in the world JIMMY PARDO to Toronto.

Thanks, all!

- We had some outtakes available from the Jason Deline episode
- David Pryde slid by in a moose shirt from Europe
- His Honour the former mayor of Toronto Mayor Miller slid by for a chat
- I hosted at Absolute Comedy for the very funny Jamie Lissow

What’s up this week? Well, more podcastery to be announced, and I’ll be co-headlining at Absolute Comedy in Toronto with the lovely and talented Carrie Gaetz! Check out the schedule on the left side of the web page to come see us!

I’d also like to thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks, all!

Voice actor (and regular-kind for that matter) Jason shows up for a fantastic episode. We had a great time with this one. I blame the booze.

Grab the episode here!

I’d also like to thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks, all!

Even though I was away, there’s still tons of podcastery to listen to with some fantastic guests!

Before that, let’s again thank Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

Here’s who has graced us with their presence!

- Nile Seguin and our conversation on freedom of speech on stage
- Mother’s Day Love with Precious Chong and Erin Keaney
- Full Count with Darryl Purvis
- Hometown Festival Action with Peter Anthony
- A House of Lies with Brendan McKeigan
- Dealing with hecklers with Steve Hofstetter

They’ve been fun and I hope that you enjoy them.

Make sure that you check out all the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks, all!

It’s been quite a while since I posted what’s going on, so I’m sorry about that. But over the course of this season of the podcast things have been happening.

Firstly, again thanks to Audible.com for offering you the listener a free ListenBook by taking their 14-day free trial. Simply go to ComedyAboveThePub.com and click on “Get a Free Book”.

The last time I posted, we mentioned that we had the organizers of “WooHoo Trivia” the Simpsons Trivia night in Toronto. We’ve had quite a few guests since.

Check out this list:

- Musician and Performer Henry Rollins
- Comedian and Author Michael Showalter
- Half of ‘The Doo Wops’ John Catucci
- Actor Tracey Hoyt
- Comedian Darrin Rose
- Comedian Brian Lazanik
- Comedian and Actor Aaron Berg
- Actor Christian Potenza
- Comedian and Actor Alan Park
- Comedian Andrew Schulz
- Comedian Jason Blanchard
- Comedian Shelley Marshall
- Marc Rigaux, producer of the movie “Textuality”
- ‘Just For Laughs’ Booker Zoe Randall and Comic Tim Rabnett

They’ve been fun and I hope that you enjoy them.

Make sure that you check out the episodes and also leave us a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks, all!

In episode 2, we’ve brought in booker for the Montreal Zoe Randall and comic Tim Rabnett as well. We talk what about the ins-and-outs of booking the world’s most famous comedy festival.

In the most recent episode, we welcome voice actor and funny man Christian Potenza who takes us through what it’s like being not just a successful toothbrush, or having the Toronto Rock beat up guys for you, but what life as host on “Total Drama” is like.

Also, we’ve got sponsorship through Audible.com! You can get your free audiobook as well by CLICKING THIS LINK!

Enjoy!

Thanks all for listening to Season One and the new season promised to be equally awesome.

Starting off, we’ve got Andrew Ennals and Amanda Factor who host the extremely popular “WooHoo!:Classic Simpsons Trivia” night here in Toronto. Very fun and very entertaining.

Give it a listen, and welcome to Season 2!

Just a quick word about the upcoming Season 2 of Comedy Above the Pub. We’re back on Friday, Feb 4th with a great pair of guests.

We closed off strong as well with great episodes with Kevin Brauch, Dave Paterson, Nile Seguin, and Ryan Belleville. Make sure you go back and check it out.

Couple of other pieces of news. Firstly, we’re still waiting for the renovations to be completed at McVeigh’s, so it looks like the end of February/beginning of March before we get going on anything again. Stay tuned and I hope to have normal service resuming soon.

As well, with Mike Reid moved to mornings at the Drive-FM in Kingston, the TVA Radio Replay is on haitus for a while. If and when we get back, we’ll fire up the feed and get you some new content.

Else, hope to see you soon at the live dates!

It seems that Now Magazine in Toronto has given our show COMEDY ABOVE THE PUB a shout-out.

If you look at their Best and Worst of Comedy section, the ‘Comedy Above the Pub Podcast’ is listed as “Best Comedy Podcast“.

Thanks all for the support. We truly appreciate it.

To get to the podcast, click HERE.

For the list of previous guests that we’ve had on “The TVA Podcast” you can CLICK HERE.

Oh, and also according to Now Magazine, apparently I use Twitter a little bit.

This is the last Drive spot of the year with Mike Reid on 98.9 The Drive. We talk about winter snow, breakups, and take a wikileak.

As well, long time friend of the podcast KEVIN BRAUCH who has taken time away from Iron Chef America to join us. He’s on the latest hilarious episode of Comedy Above The Pub.

Also, while we’re at it, we’ve had a few great episodes of the Comedy Above the Pub show. Check out the episodes with Carolyn Bennett, Christina Walkinshaw, Cash Cab Canada’s Adam Growe, Kristeen Von Hagen, host of CBC’s “The Debaters” Steve Patterson as well as Nikki Payne and long-time friend of the show Derek Forgie

Thanks for listening!

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No Drive spot but we’ve got something special for you. A sample of the Christina Walkinshaw epiusode on Comedy Above The Pub.

Thanks for listening!

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A double radio dose with Mike Reid on 98.9 The Drive FM. Many topics covered. Like the Pope and condomry.

Plus there’s a preview of the great episode we had with host of Cash Cab Canada Adam Growe coming up this week on Comedy Above The Pub.

Thanks for listening!

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