What's So Funny?

Johnny Perrotta has been on the Vancouver comedy scene for ages but this is his first time on our little program. But he did have the honour of being the first guest in our new/old studio. Johnny talks about making the big move from Old Italy to Prince George, tells us how he worshipped Tony Manero, and discusses his embarrassing acting roles.

Chuck Byrn is a real Vancouverite, going back generations. But he's been living in Toronto since forever. Byrn has got stories and opinions and he's willing to share them. He talks about the early days in standup, being the Pillsbury Toaster Strudel boy, hanging up on Jim Carrey, and vacationing in Hawaii with Kerry Talmage and Irwin Barker.

Christina Sicoli loves her sleep but she managed to stay up late and talk with us. The actress and improviser's earliest credit was Detroit Rock City, where she played "Foxy girl" sitting on a toilet. She's also tap danced with Gregory Hines. She's a woman of many talents and we talk about them all.

Bob Robertson was a good friend to What's So Funny?, having visited us three times with his wife and comedy partner Linda Cullen. Together they formed Double Exposure, Canada's beloved political satire duo. Bob's career extended at both ends of his Double Exposure fame and we talked about it all over the course of their three appearances with us. Robertson passed away in March 2017 and in this extendo-episode pay tribute to the man by relistening to his story, as told to us over the years.

David Beckingham drops by the doorless studio to talk about his band's reunion. Hey Ocean! (with exclamation mark) is coming back with a tour and a new album. This after each of the three main players released their own solo work. David tells us why the band needed to take a break, does an impression of his 8-year-old British self, and reminisces about life in Kenya. He's too young to remember the movie or song Born Free, though.

Diana Frances is a Vancouver gal at heart but she lives in Toronto now, where she mostly makes her living writing for TV, awards shows, and radio. But she still finds time to do the odd bit of performing. It's mostly improv these days but we talk about her early standup days, why she's such a good podcast guest/lousy softball player, a bit about her crazy childhood/life, traffic and linguistic complaints, and vagina jokes.

Kevvy, from the bands Fake Shark and Die Mannequin, has real comedy credentials. As a producer, he's recorded, by the latest tally, twenty-four standup comedians. He talks about his brand-spanking new Fake Shark album, Faux Real, getting kicked out of the Langley School of the Arts, his pink hair, his famed tattoo artist, working with Carly Rae, and opening for Marilyn Manson. And we put his jazz knowledge to the test.

John Cullen was voted Most Likely to be a Comedian in his Grade 7 gifted class. So what better name for a comedy album? We play a couple tracks, and we put John to the gifted challenge. He also tells us about his many podcasts (two) and his experience drumming in bands, teaching high school, and sponsoring a Little League baseball team.

Ryan Gunther is a button-down comic with a wild past. He's worked in Fortune 500 companies and grew up in the wild. Basically, anyway. He talks about overcoming massive stage fright to take to the standup stage in his mid-30s. Now he performs his one-man PowerPoint presentation at Fringe festivals all over the world, skewering office workers everywhere.

Garrett Clark isn't just a boner comedian anymore. No, he's got a new album out (Night Danger) making him... dangerous at night? He tells us about his adventures in Los Angeles and how many degrees of separation between him and Kevin Bacon (it's closer than you think). He also talks about creepy-crawlies in Australia, we over-analyze his commercials, and he does a few impressions. A full show!

Colin Lamb doesn't play a lot of comedy clubs, but he should. His songs are hilarious, truly original, and he performs them with a commitment that makes them even funnier. They're also very naughty. Lamb brought his guitar into the studio and serenaded me throughout the hour, maintaining creepy eye contact the whole time.

Brad Upton has been entertaining audiences for 33 years. And he still kills! The Seattle-area comic talks about the best way to deal with hecklers, how standup and teaching 10-year-olds are intertwined, playing mind games in athletic and comedy competitions, and dishes the dirt on the likes of Rodney Dangerfield, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, Smokey Robinson, and George Jones.

Joel Plaskett went from a power pop rocker with his band Halifax-based band, Thrush Hermit, in the '90s to a "nationally adored" singer-songwriter. In this episode, we talk about me fake-kissing his wife in university, Jimi Hendrix's high school career, getting heckled on Twitter, and John Candy's van. And, of course, Anne Murray.

Camilo the Magician is... you'll never guess... a magician! He's also our first guest with a pop song written in his honour. It's a good one, too, by the band Said the Whale. In this episode, Camilo Dominguez (that's his given name) talks about growing up in Bogota before moving to Victoria at the age of 15, scaring religious old ladies on airplanes, and even performs a card trick for me. Nothing like magic on a podcast!

James Kennedy burst onto the Vancouver standup scene and became a headliner in short order after spending most of his 20s in a band. He's never met a competition – be it in comedy or music – that he hasn't conquered. Not bad for a kid who never finished high school. Oh, and he also loves monkeys.

Harris Anderson and I first met sharing a bowl of alcohol. Now he's in studio talking about his comedy and music. He also talks about his love of Jonathan Winters and Victor Borge, quotes Milton's Paradise Lost, says why jazz makes him nervous, and expresses his love of dogs.

Barry Crimmins... the man... the legend. The great political satirist joins us despite having a love-hate relationship with podcasts. Despite industrial work being done right outside his hotel room window, we manage to talk for an hour about the best and worst US president of his lifetime, the problem with Hillary, his experience on Air America (or Err America, as he calls it), and the early days of comedy in Boston.

Fred Ewanuick teaches me how to pronounce his name and then we get down to business. The professional pretender talks about his time as a bad theatre student, performing improv in his mom's coffee shop, his role as Hank on Corner Gas, and his regrets about his starring turn on Dan For Mayor.

Lori Gibbs returns after a 5-year absence. Or I return to her hotel room, is more like it. She talks about getting hit on in comedy clubs, how she got her nickname "the human antidepressant," her radio career, being a keynote speaker, the art of crafting, and we settle, once and for all, who has the bigger head.

Part two of our 2016 highlights, with guests Steve Bays, Graeme Duffy, Jy Harris, Ed Hill, Chris James, Richard Lett, Brett Martin, Efthimios Nasiopoulos, Scott Patey, Nancy Robertson, Ari Shaffir, and Sam Tonning.