What's So Funny?

Shirley Gnome and her guitar return after less than two months after her previous appearance. That's how good she is. She's got more new dirty ditties to sing. It's a seemingly endless supply of smut. It was totally hot. Possibly because the studio was a sauna on that night, hitting 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Donovan Patrick Mahoney wasn't afraid to venture into our Downtown East Side studios. It's a neighbourhood he spent a lot of time in during his years as a heroin addict. He tells us his harrowing tale, from childhood to OD'ing to getting clean and getting into comedy. This episode brought to you by 9Lives.

Ross Dauk has been a long-time listener to What's So Funny? dating back to his days as a park ranger. But Ranger Ross is a standup comic now and a legitimate guest in his own right. Once Dauk spilt a full beer on me at a show but all is forgiven. We talk about Saskatchewan babes, encounters with grizzly bears, and overcoming shyness. This episode brought to you by Graham Clark's beard.

Shauna Johannesen and James Danderfer are the husband and wife team behind the hit Crazy8s short film, Bedbugs: A Musical Love Story. Shauna wrote the script and lyrics as well as starring in it, while James came up with the story and wrote all the music. In their separate lives, Shauna is an actress (she was the "Shut the front door!" lady in the A and W commercials) while James is one of the country's top jazz musicians. In this episode, we get to hear all four songs from the movie.

John Cullen is a man with passions. He loves standup comedy, curling, teaching and music equally. And it shows in this episode. We review Bill Burr, talk about Shakespeare, sweeping, bad poetry, good magic, his comedian uncle, and first dates gone wrong. Joining us in studio is teacher and curling fan Jack Showers to translate for me.

Mounties paid us a visit in this episode. Not the RCMP, but the Canadian supergroup featuring Hawksley Workman, Ryan Dahle, and Steve Bays. We talked about funny dads, memorizing comedy routines, the ugly side of the music business, Hall and Oates, boogie-woogie, the name 'Squamish', and growing up in the '40s. Rock on.

Kwasi Thomas joins us to talk about growing up black in Canada. He also lists what he misses and doesn't miss about his hometown of Montreal, reminisces about the idyllic Trinidad, discusses performing drunk, and he proudly trumpets his love for Celine Dion. We also play a track from his hero Montreal comic David Pryde's album, Googly.

Shirley Gnome returns, this time with Dino Archie asking the questions. It's just like the old days of The Tonight Show when guest hosts would occasionally take over. Shirley and Dino break out the booze and have a rip-roaring good time, taking jabs at the sick regular host who wasn't there to defend himself. And Shirley brings her guitar and serenades us all.

Mike Storck returns for his third visit to our studios. It's a long way from Baltimore. He missed us in 2013 for some unknown reason. The whole year was a bit of a haze for him. He talks about being at a crossroads in his career, the difference between doing racial material in Canada and the U.S., and, of course, Rob Ford.

Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson, aka Peter'N'Chris, are our first guests of 2014. The sketch duo talk about auditioning for theatre school, creating sketches through Skype, preparing for the upcoming (now past) Vancouver Sketch Festival, and brainstorm a documentary called Peter'N'Chris and the Search for MacGuffin.

Harry Doupe returns for his fourth – or is it fifth? – appearance on What's So Funny? He's also returned home to his beloved British Columbia. In this episode, he tells stories about Paula Poundstone, Mike Bullard, Robbie Robertson, Burton Cummings, Stan Mikita, Norm Macdonald, and David Foster. He also discusses writing for awards shows and the Olympics, ageism, and takes a sports and music quiz.

Ed Hill has two masters degrees and a performance degree in piano, yet chooses to schlep himself all over the map performing standup. It's like he's on permanent vacation. But that's something that was instilled in him early. Listening to him describe his family, it's no wonder he got into comedy.

Marion Grodin has been through a lot: drugs, cancer, divorce. But she's also had lots of fun. The New York standup talks about it all, and about growing up the daughter of beloved actor Charles Grodin. To get the full story, though, you'll have to buy her book.

Alex Nussbaum wants to blow this popsicle stand of a country for the land of opportunity down south. The unilingual Toronto standup who has supplied silly voices for cartoons and written for children's television in Los Angeles talks about disappointing his mother and growing up a nerd in the truest sense of the word.

With Dave Martin, usually anything goes. But on this episode we find out what's so funny when the Toronto comic visits What's So Funny? to discuss his own radio show/podcast, Anything Goes. Get it? See what we did there? We also talk about the great job Mayor Rob Ford is doing, sniffing glue, and playing to the back of the room.

Ian Harris can impersonate the most obscure celebrities... and doesn't! At least not anymore. He's got more important things to talk about, like why people are so damn gullible. We talk rationally and skeptically about psychics, ghosts, UFO's, and religion. His sidekick mother was not on hand to give her side of the story, though.

Adam Ray is one lucky dog. Once a self-described fat kid feasting on Kit-Kat bars and burritos, now he's getting studly roles in major motion pictures motor boating the likes of Sandra Bullock. It's a far cry from his job giving tours at Universal Studios. We talk about all that and more in this episode.

Godfrey takes issue with comedy critics in this highly entertaining episode. Once that bit of nastiness is resolved, we bond over a fondness for old TV series and Rich Little. And Godfrey does his best Rich Little, impersonating more than a dozen celebs along the way. Bonus points for identifying the 10-second musical intro – no Shazzaming!

Michael Gelbart got his big break on Speaker's Corner...okay, that's not true but I'd like to believe it. The Toronto comic has been living in Los Angeles for a while now where he writes for TV, pens novels, performs standup, and unsuccessfully dates starlets. But don't expect any dirt; the guy is just too positive for that.

Alan Zweig is more than just a man in a mirror. The Toronto filmmaker talks to us face to face about his unsuccessful life making movies and how he stumbled upon his successful life making documentaries. His latest, When Jews Were Funny, just won Best Canadian Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival. Turns out talking to old Jewish comedians wasn't as illuminating as he thought it would be.