Category: Podcast

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News Podcast

Ep. #333: Kevin McDonald

Kevin McDonald is an ingenious comedic performer and writer currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Originally from Toronto, McDonald is best known as a member of the hugely influential Canadian sketch troupe, the Kids in the Hall. This August marks the first anniversary of McDonald’s inventive variety show podcast, Kevin McDonald’s Kevin McDonald Show, a mix of sketch comedy and conversations and musical performances, which has featured guest turns from Mike Myers, Wallace Shawn, Rachel Dratch, Ted Leo, Michael Showalter, Craig Finn, Susanna Hoffs, Rob Corddry, and his fellow Kids, Scott Thompson and Dave Foley, among many others. McDonald and I had a chat recently about living in Winnipeg, his idiosyncratic approach to comedy podcasts, John Lennon’s perfect rock ‘n’ roll life, the new wave of sketch comedy, news about the Kids in the Hall and their upcoming appearance at a benefit show featuring Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, and many members of the original SCTV cast, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts.

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News Podcast

Ep. #332: Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg is an iconic musician, songwriter, singer, and activist who lives in and hails from the United Kingdom. An active and outspoken artist for 40 years, Bragg has pledged his life and livelihood to making a positive change in this world and urging others, particularly younger generations, to hold authority figures and politicians to account for their decisions. He speaks of empathy and political engagement and he has been speaking of such things long before the likes of Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump. On July 7, 2017, Bragg released a new song called “The Sleep of Reason” and he and his collaborator, Joe Henry, are appearing at the Hillside Festival in Guelph the weekend of July 14 to perform songs from their acclaimed 2016 album, Shine a Light: Field Recordings From the Great American Railroad. They’ll be playing some other songs too, I’m sure. Billy and I caught up this week to extensively discuss “The Sleep of Reason” and its lyrics, the current political landscape, travelling in trains on the American railway system with Joe Henry and cutting their record along the way, Gordon Lightfoot, his future plans, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #331: Kliph Nesteroff

Kliph Nesteroff is a comedy historian and expert who currently calls Hollywood, California home. Originally from South Slocan, British Columbia, Nesteroff made a name for himself as a stand-up comedian and then a journalistic writer. In 2015, Grove Press published Nesteroff’s remarkably comprehensive book, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy, which was lauded by critics, readers, and comedians themselves. Nesteroff’s latest project is a tv series for VICELAND called Funny How?, which examines aspects of comedy like bombing, breaking in, comedy classes, and niche comedy from the LGBTQ community and Christian comics. Funny How? is utterly fascinating and runs on VICELAND from July 10th to July 14th at 11:30 PM. Kliph and I had a chat recently about life in Slocan and loving MAD Magazine, the book he wrote about the secret, salacious oral history of Hockey Night in Canada that was ultimately blocked from being published, the importance of The Kids in the Hall to Canadian comedy, why and how he wrote The Comedians, why there might be so much general interest in how comedy works these days, the drug LSD, Funny How?, and more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.