HD version below

Living with a phobia of yawning (known as Yaundis), Dan has been isolated in his own house for the past 9 years.  He’s insured that he has the up-most amount of sleep necessary to never get tired, and hence forth, never yawn.  This is his story.  Check out more behind the scenes photos here.  This short film has been entered into Still Motion’s short film contest. Click here to vote for us! Thanks to the team at At First Sight for creating, directing, and producing this short film. More behind the scenes here.

Since then I brought to the Comedy Loser stage a couple more songs. Comedy seems to be the only context I can bring an instrument on stage and pretend like I know what I’m doing. Every once in a while I might be able to pull off something that sounds like I know what I’m doing, but if you’re a legit musician you’ll notice that I have very poor timing. The finest example would be the “Dear Death” song I wrote for Comedy Loser. The plan was to record myself doing the rhythm guitar and then I’d play the mandolin and harmonica live and in sync with the “live feed with Tim from 6 hours ago”. It’s a concept I’m still playing with and want to explore further. But, as you’ll see from this video I really need to work on my timing. Sorry the audio and video quality sucks.

I still find that song rather eerie.

When Comedy Loser announced that it was going to be discontinued after this season I thought I better take this last chance to get on stage and pretend to be a musician. You see, I figure if I get on stage and pretend to be a musician at a comedy show, people will be more obliged to laugh at my self-delusion than stare in awe at it. This is the most recent attempt at being comedicly musical:

Someday I’ll finish writing a song before I perform it… Or I won’t go on a tangent about my asthma half way through the first verse…

This last little gem is the audio recording of a song I did back in December about the Free Laughs Comedy Series at the Kings Head Pub. I only recorded the audio and I had this footage kicking around from a camping trip, so I decided to arbitrarily combine the two and make this masterpiece (of shit).

WHAT’S THAT? BONUS TRACK!! Susan Nisbet sings the hits? Yes:

WHAT? COULD IT BE? A SECOND BONUS TRACK THAT’S MORE SUSAN AND LESS MUSIC?

I found a 94 year old joke book in my room! I remember when my Grandpa died many years ago he left me some old books that I just threw onto a shelf and neglected until last night. I decided to pull them all down and make reading them my summer project. I picked up “The Sunny Side of Life” first, flipped to the first page and saw these words, “Current Humor Gathered From Many Sources.” The only thing written on the third page is:

Copyright, 1916
by
Shrewesbury Publishing Co.

Followed by a singular quote on the fourth page – “What Should a Man Do But Be Merry?” – Hamlet

There is no explanation as to where these jokes came from, or who gathered them, but it serves as a great insight into how people approached humour 94 years ago. If you hold any faith in the old adage ‘art imitates life’ and you’re willing to play along and call joke writing an art, then this book could also serve as a gauge to what was on the world’s mind at the time.

The following is a list of ‘The Sunny Side of Life’ jokes that tickled me. Enjoy

Doubtful Assurances
“Do you think that they approved of my sermon?” asked the newly-appointed rector, hopeful that he had made a good impression.
“Yes, I think so,” replied his wife; “they were all nodding.”

Definitive
The schoolmaster was trying to explain the meaning of the word “conceited,” which had occurred in the course of the reading lesson. “Now, boys,” he said, “suppose that I was always boasting of my learning-that I knew a good deal o’ Latin, for instance, or that my personal appearances was-that I was very good-looking, y’know-what should you say I was?”
Straightforward Boy-”Sure, sir, I’d say you was a liar, sir!”

Rapid-Fire
A frivolous young English girl, with no love for the Stars and Stripes, once exclaimed at a celebration where the American flag was very much in evidence: “Oh, what a silly-looking thing the American flag is! It suggests nothing but checker-berry candy.”
“Yes,” replied a bystander, “the kind of candy that has made everybody sick who ever tried to lick it.”

(this one just sounds way dirtier than I’m sure it was intended to)
The Greater Calamity
Two or three urchins were running down a long and very steep flight of steps, when the foremost stumbled and fell headlong twenty to thirty feet, and was only stopped near the bottom by doubling backward around the newel-post. It looked as though his back was broken, and that he was a dead small boy, but he gathered himself up, thrust his hand anxiously in his trousers’ pockets, and ejaculated:
“B’gosh, I b’le’ve I lost a cent.”

No Place Like Home
A Bostonian died, and when he arrived at St. Peter’s gate he was asked the usual questions:
“What is your name, and where are you from?”
The answer was, “Mr. So-and-So, from Boston.”
“You may come in,” said St. Peter, “but I know you won’t like it.”

April Fool on Mamma!
Little Willie had a very pretty governess, and on April first he rather startled his mother by rushing in to her and saying:
“Mamma, there’s a strange man upstairs who has just put his arm around Miss Wilson’s waist, and hissed her several times–”
“What?” said the mother, as she jumped up to pull the bell for the butler.
“April fool, Mamma!” said Willie, in great glee. “It wasn’t a strange man at all. It was Papa!”

Why He Wanted To Go
“Would you mind if I went into the smoking-car, dear?” asked the bridegroom in a tender voice.
“What! to smoke, sweetheart?” questioned the bride.
“Oh, dear, no,” replied the young husband; “I want to experience the agony of being away from you, so that the joy of my return will be all the more intensified.”

What Surprised Him
Two Irishmen were crossing the ocean on the way to this country. On the way over Patrick died. Preparations were made for the burial at sea, but the lead weights customarily used in such cases were lost. Chunks of coal were substituted. Everything was finally ready for the last rites, and long and earnestly did Michael look at his friend. Finally he blurted out sorrowfully:
“Well, Pat, I always knew ye were goin’ there, but I’m hanged if I thought they’d make ye bring yer own coal.”

After a year and a half of doing sketch comedy with Dan Huen and venturing into the open mics to take a crack at Stand-Up comedy I put together this show called “Sketches and Doodles” that featured Susan Nisbet, Dan Huen and myself doing Stand-Up in the first half and Toby Hughes, RobYn Slade, Mike Trakalo, Dan Huen and I performing sketches that I wrote (with lots of help from the cast).

Stephen Gray, Luc Desjardins and Dan Gwozdz were nice enough to film the show. I’ll be editing and releasing some clips over the next few weeks as the Gray Area of Comedy prepares for Season 2.

Irwin Barker is one of the most revered comics to ever come out of Winnipeg. He has an incredibly witty word play in his stand-up act. When Irwin’s on stage he not only captures the attention of the overwhelmed audience, he has all the comedians lined up at the wings of the stage clinging to every set-up. Irwin is currently a writer on the Mercer Report. Surf over to his website to check out some videos and buy his DVD – www.irwinbarker.com

…

I posted this on May 9th, 2009. At the time I interviewed Irwin the only thing I knew about him was every comedian praised the ground he walked on. It wasn’t until I saw him perform that I understood why. I’d liken to watching his skills with wordplay on stage to watching Ronaldinho do kick ups mid-game. It was remarkable to watch, I think everyone leaves his show with a few more sparks ignited in their minds. We truly missed one of the most bestessess.

Make sure you also check out the interview Bruce Clark did on CBC radio.

A clip of the infamous Dan Huen has surfaced on youtube. This is what happens when you try to heckle Dan Huen…

My Bradford (Blues) Part One:

My Bradford (Blues) Part Two:

Watch in HD:

You want a car? We want your business! Auto List of Canada is a group of 60 professional sales teams that have 25 years of sales pwnage experience. No credit, bad credit? Junior needs braces? We’ll send you home with some cash in your pocket! We need your business this week!

View the high-res HD version here:

I recently had the chance to sit down with world famous dog howler, Kahlua Q. Fast. She is just shy of spending a decade in the music industry and has seen endless success. Some of the monumental shows she’s played have been at venus such as Carnegie Hall, The Oscars and the NBC Radio Hall. Shes got the hottest voice in the singin’ industry and never fails to wow audiences. Her music is said to heal the blind’s arthritis.  Not their vision however.

BONUS ROUND!