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News Podcast

Ep. #269: Baroness von Sketch Show

Baroness von Sketch Show is a very funny sketch comedy TV program that airs on CBC. This edgy yet grounded show is written by and stars four very talented and hilarious human beings: Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne, and Jennifer Whalen. They’re just wrapping up their first season on CBC with the finale airing on Tuesday July 19 at 9:30 PM ET and you catch up on past episodes and sketches at cbc.ca/baroness. I recently met up with Carolyn, Meredith, Aurora, and Jennifer at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto to chat about a roll call, Aurora’s action figure name, capes and tools, superhero skills, meeting and working at the Gladstone in Toronto, Junction Triangular or West Bender, different Canadian cities, getting to know Baroness von Sketch and where it came from, better origin stories, the Patton Oswalt George Lucas/prequel bit, spending a chunk of time talking about the Justice League, parenting and childhood nostalgia, questions about robbers, nerd lines, 20 years to BVS, TVO Kids is awesome and is often spearheaded by edgy, Canadian comedians, writing for kids’ cartoons, Odd Squad, local comedy coverage by Canadian publications, brain drain, eh, Canada’s confidence complex, America is much weirder than us, community support, people like Jon Dore who maintain their roots in Canadian comedy, the Mars One sketch Dore’s improv, beards, David Letterman’s beard, positive and negative feedback, a male shipwreck, the Fuck, Marry, Kill sketch, making your parents uncomfortable with your comedy, the fart lighting sketch, my wife, trying to describe the show and its shorter vignettes, relatable and grounded sketch, rich details, learning at Second City, Smack the Pony, The Muppet Show, 9 to 5, Monty Python, The Kids in the Hall, Amy Schumer, The Office UK, Not the Nine O’Clock News, SCTV, Superjail!, Rick and Morty, parameters and working with CBC, not a bucket of jizz, Seinfeld and saying things without actually saying it, an all-female sketch comedy show, perceptions of political undercurrents, a feminist recruitment tool, being women working in comedy, political correctness and privilege, all the stuff have white man have done, the strange responsibility of having to explain what it’s like to be a woman, just wanting to talk about the work, we’re not post-gender, comedy control, the future of BVS and oh the places you can watch the show on Tuesdays at 9:30 PM ET and Sundays at 9:00 PM ET on CBC, BVS hasn’t done it live, the Book Club sketch, and then we said good-bye.

Related links: cbc.ca/baroness vishkhanna.com

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Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #199: Rhys Darby

Rhys Darby is a talented stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and ex-soldier in the New Zealand Army who currently lives in Los Angeles. Best known for playing the well-meaning but inept band manager Murray Hewitt on the HBO show Flight of the Conchords, Darby has shown remarkable range as a vocally and physically dynamic film and television actor, in his own stand-up specials, and in his bestselling 2008 novel , This Way to Spaceship! He brings his latest stage show, I’m a Fighter Jet!, to Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival on July 22 and 24 and here, Rhys and I discuss shooting an episode of the new X-Files in Vancouver, digging holes in a forest, hush hush, on-set injuries, long-term promo, New Zealanders and Canadians have a lot in common, rugby might be over emphasized, leaping and parents and breakfast, I’m a Fighter Jet! and Top Gun, sheep rescues,  climb a single mountain, rocket retrieval, worried about Indonesia, joining the army and getting into show biz, John Clarke and Billy T. James and Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson, Michael Winslow and noises, doing stand-up on Letterman, what’s up with Flight of the Conchords coming back, missing but also transcending Murray, doing a new TV show called Wrecked on TBS, figuring out Montreal, and our meeting was finished.

Related links: rhysdarby.com hahaha.com vishkhanna.com

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