CringeHumor

Over the past eight years I have been performing stand up comedy in Canada sharing the stage with many of the best comedians our country has to offer in festivals, clubs, bar gigs, anywhere we can get a crowd. During that time frame the Canadian comedy landscape has exploded with talent, the citizens of Toronto majorly reaping the benefits of having top notch performers on multiple shows every night of the week. Part of this is due to the majority of Yuk Yuks clubs (Canada’s largest comedy club chain) being located in the Greater Toronto Area, and secondly it is due to Humber College’s Comedy Writing and Performance Program drawing in several aspiring comedians from all over the country> many from small towns who are able to walk into Canada’s comedy capital and be a part of a vacuum of creative people with similar goals.
With Toronto churning out a high speed conveyor belt of talented young comedians that would make Lucille Ball shit bon bons all over the assembly line, performing comedy every night it is easy to put your blinders on and get lost in the shuffle. With so many comedians performing in a small industry it has helped make the scene very competitive to pay the rent.

I was fortunate enough to be able to start my own comedy festival outside of Toronto which gave me an outsider’s perspective but with an insider’s knowledge. A fresh set of eyes to view my comedy peers without getting caught up in the vortex.

Having performed in the Boston Comedy Festival at a young age I was able to learn a lot about what I call The American Comedy Machine. At 21 years old it was a real eye opener to how hard hitting the American comics were compared to the Canadian comics who were ‘getting the push’ from our industry and it was apparent that the laugh per minute comedy that was a driving force for American comics was lacking in Canada which was rich with storytelling comedians. Since then the scene is a bit different. Many comedians without viewpoints being expressed through their craft are rising to prominence and political correctness is still something of a road block amongst comedy crowds. With this in mind I have decided to profile some of The Great White North’s most refreshing comedic voices for Cringe Humor.

DARREN FROST

Darren Frost from Brantford Ontario is a comedian who I have been a fan of for several years. When Frost takes the stage make no mistake about it his goal is to make heads roll. With an amplified voice that can cut through glass, the tension he builds before the payoff at the end of his well written material is unparalleled in Canadian Comedy. It is as if he is a man possessed on stage and anyone on the ride who is scared is even more scared to get off early. His pace is incredible especially in a bigger audience where his sometimes gallows humor goes over better due to the anonymity a large crowd is afforded. They always laugh at things they shouldn’t laugh at more in a big group. What I like the most about Darren is that it does not matter what the audience reaction is to what he is doing, he is on a mission to clear cut right through the show, there’s no hesitation and no grey area when it comes to his performance. It is a performance and you get what you paid for. A metal tested veteran he has tons of credentials at this point including The Nasty Show at Just For Laughs, The Sudbury LOL Comedy Festival, CTV’s Comedy Now, and CBC’s The Debaters. What is even more impressive than the credentials is his dedication to writing new material. If you buy a Darren Frost DVD chances are you will not be disappointed as it is bound to be laced with tons of new content (almost 3 hours of footage). His new DVD “Dead Inside”  just dropped the first weekend of October and boasts the coolest DVD Jacket and Cover artwork I have ever seen for a comedy DVD. I have no doubt that this will be a must have for any comedy fan. Darren is also now hosting one of the best comedy radio shows on XM Satellite Radio’s Laugh Attack Channel “Anything Goes” with Darren Frost, Dave Martin, and Kathleen McGee so check it out!

Career Highlights: Just For Laughs (set record for most performances in one JFL festival by an individual) Edinburgh Fringe Festival, CTV Comedy Now

Website: www.comedywhore.com

BOBBY MAIR

Bobby Mair is Justin Beiber’s evil cousin… seriously his mother’s maiden name was Beiber, only Bobby has crowds screaming for different reasons every now and again. This young comedian from the London area (now based out of Toronto) has a penchant for edgy material and fervent rage that can be turned on and off like a switch. A smaller comedian with intensity rivalled by few, he draws from a background of pain unmatched by most comedians. He is able to carefully take his audience further and further with his brutal honesty and clever writing ability. Looking like he would fit in well with Malcolm McDowell’s gang of misfits in A Clockwork Orange Mair is definitely not a mainstream act but with opportunity and timing has the ability to tap into a Sam Kinison like adoring fan base. A Canadian Comedy Award nominee for best new stand up, he has worked hard cutting his teeth in the Toronto underground and it is starting to pay off with appearances opening for Doug Stanhope at his Just for Spite Comedy Festival and back to back slots (headlining one) on my Culture Shock show at The Cottage Country Comedy Festival. At our festival he blew the roof off of the place with what could be argued as the set of the fest. My favourite Bobby Mair bit is one he doesn’t do regularly but involved finding a gay online dating site on his dad’s internet browser history. To find out if his dad was gay or not Bobby made up his own fake gay profile on the site trying to bait his dad. If you know Bobby you will know he isn’t making any of this up. Bobby has no reservation sparring with hecklers, he has been attacked at least once on stage but I have never seen him lose a war of words, even though he is more self deprecating and personalized in his comedy. A favourite story I have from Mair is when he was living with comedian Jeff McEnery (below) in a rat infested apartment, he once brought home a rather obese girl from the bar. Jeff’s response: “Did you bring her home to eat the mice?”

Career Highlights: Canadian Comedy Award Nomination, Finalist on Bite TV’s Stand Up and Bite Me
Website: www.myspace.com/bobbymair

Dark Horse Pick:

JEFF MCENERY

Jeff McEnery, a comedian many would be quick to pigeon hole as ‘Blue Collar’ because of his down to earth country presence is someone whose darker material I greatly admire. Unlike potential ‘blue collar comedy’ comparables, Jeff transcends that particular genre and has one of the darkest and most honest acts I have ever seen. If you never saw Jeff before he won the Yuk Yuks Great Canadian Laugh Off then you may be surprised because you are used to seeing him on CBC Galas for almost every major festival in the country where he works clean (to pay the bills as one of the top head liners in Canada). If you remember the shy white kid from Acton, Ontario with an afro then you will definitely know what I mean when I say this kid can be raw. He has humble roots from a small farming community but it becomes very clear when he takes a swing at something that this 25 year old is not afraid to say anything on stage and it is always from a place of truth.

With a classic delivery that never feels like it is forced traditional set up-punch he puts the smack down on topics such as small town cancer benefits and spousal abuse without taking a backwards step. One of his early bits about living in a battered women’s shelter with his mom and hooking up with one them was always a touchy subject with Canadian audiences. “The ladies in women’s shelters are like dented cans, they come a lot cheaper when they’ve been thrown to the floor a couple of times.”

His material is mostly personal but sometimes he will reach into pop culture, a personal favourite being his joke about Canadian country songstress Shania Twain. To segue, he pauses for a sip of water before delivering the deadpan blow: “So Shania Twain’s parents died in a car crash…Oh well, I’d still fuck her.”

Career Highlights: Winner of Yuk Yuks $25,000 Great Canadian Laugh Off, Winner of the Comedy Network’s Cream of Comedy, CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival TV Gala, World Leaders of Comedy Gala at 2010 G8 Summit

Website: www.jeffmcenery.com

There are several Canadian up and comers who are blazing a trail to the top of their game, and a handful of established pros that have firmly solidified their spots at the top of the chain, but these three comics are guys that I truly felt represent my country well and their live shows can be enjoyed by fans of Cringe Humor around the world.

Tyler Morrison can be seen regularly on Dan Speerin’s Truth Mashup on Rogers TV (episodes will be available online)

The Cottage Country Comedy Festival will be returning in 2011 on June 24th and 25th www.cottagecomedy.com for details