Even though we’re on our annual summer hiatus, we never stop working over at the Am I Write office tower. So, here’s a special summer bonus episode with one of our absolute favourite comedians, Mr. Evan Carter!

Evan has been a part of the Canadian comedy scene for almost 200 years (his words). In truth, Evan was doing comedy before standup comedy was really even a thing in Canada. He is one of the true pioneers of the industry and has insane stories about his small band of funny-men working their craft in strip clubs and music venues.  And that’s not even the amazing part – what’s amazing is he is still one of the nicest, classiest gentleman in the game – simply unheard of in this industry!!

In addition to being a much sought after performer, he also teaches a comedy course at Second City in Toronto. We spend a lot of time talking about his course and his students. We also talk about what it was like starting out in comedy back in the day and what it was like touring around for a black comic in rural Canada.

Evan Carter is so down to earth and so interesting – we just know you’re going to love listening to him.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re gonna get back to lounging by the pool with our daiquiris and fighting over who gets to put the sunscreen on West African Sara, while at the same time, fighting against putting sun screen on Pete.

Please enjoy the great Evan Carter and enjoy the remaining days of your summer!

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Evan’s Facebook!!

You like BoJack Horseman? Community? Up All Night? Outsourced? Playing House?? Of course you do – you’re not ridiculous. Today on the podcast we have the hilarious, Vera Santamaria, who has written on all of them. Vera lets us know what it’s like to be a player in some of the biggest writer’s rooms fancy Hollywood has to offer.

She’s insightful, brilliant, funny, and has the patience to deal with three ass-faces as they try to speak to her in full sentences. Treat yourself to this awesome episode!!

We’re back! This week’s guest is hilarious comedian, east coast swashbuckler, and sitcom writer, Nick Beaton!

Nick recently completed writing on the second season of Canadian sitcom, “Spun Out”, starring Kids In The Hall great, Dave Foley. But in addition to that, Nick is an accomplished standup comic and a regular headliner in Canada and the U.K. (that’s the United Kingdom, not the University of Kentucky)

If you notice something different this episode, it’s probably the fact that Producer Pete was away at a conference, so there’s wayyy more swearing and slightly less long windedness.

So, sit back and relax as Mark, Darryl, and Nick reminisce about their good old days coming up in the comedy scene together. And, more importantly, we finally get some hockey talk on this episode… when Pete’s away, the hockey will play!

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You’d think having a former life coach on the show would help the three of us, but after this episode, you’ll see, we can’t be saved.

This week on the show we have hilarious comedian, actor, and writer of her own web series, Aisha Alfa! Aisha has had quite the life and she is just getting started. The former professional soccer player is now making a big name for herself in the entertainment world. She has appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Royal Canadian Air Farce, The Second City Project, Video On Trial, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and was a finalist in NBC’s Stand Up For Diversity.

When not travelling around North America performing stand-up, she’s busy working on a new web series Open Engagement, about a couple working through being in an open relationship.

This episode goes off the rails, maybe even more than usual, but the result is pretty hilarious. As an added bonus, you might learn more about us than you ever really wanted. You’re welcome!

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Check out her web series!!

Last night, Alberta elected an NDP government. In honour of that historic vote, and by total coincidence, we have native Albertan, the one and only, Amanda Brooke Perrin!

If you don’t know Amanda already, you’ll know her soon, and not just because you listened to her on our podcast. She’s poised to take over the Canadian comedy world. Not only is she a hilarious comedian who will be appearing at Just For Laughs this summer, but she’s quickly becoming one of the most sought after writers in the TV business. She talks about her time writing on “Mother Up””, “Spun Out”, and the new show she’s working on for CMT, “Almost Genius”.

We tackle a lot of subjects in this episode as she discusses her time in LA, training at the UCB Theatre there, her own podcast called “We’re Doing It”, and what it was like doing shows in Alberta with Darryl. Hint… it was terrible.

So do the right thing and elect Amanda Brooke Perrin as your NDP candidate! (Need to Download Podcast…yeah, we know, that was a stretch)

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It’s time for another episode and this week we have Now Magazine’s arts critic, Mr. Glenn Sumi!!

Glenn gives us the ins and outs of what it’s like to be a reviewer. He tells how he got his start, what’s it’s like to deal with backlash from somebody he’s critiqued, and how he has basically given up his social life, as he’s forced to watch upwards of 45,000 performances per year. Ok, “45,000” might be a slight exaggeration, but still, this man sees a lot of shows and probably knows more about the theatre, dance, and comedy scenes in Toronto than even the people who make a living in those professions. Ok, “make a living” might be a slight exaggeration…

There’s an added bonus if you stay till the end of this episode!! We finally figure out why Darryl drinks and yells at strangers on the street. Here’s a hint: it’s his mom’s fault.

Enjoy Glenn… and pity Darryl!!

P.S. Click here to check out Glenn’s latest reviews in NOW magazine!!

The description of this episode should be just two words: GAVIN CRAWFORD!

Gavin, who got his start as a cast member at the famed Second City in Toronto, has twice starred in his very own television series. First was The Gavin Crawford Show, and the second was Gavin Crawford’s Wild Wild West. You’ll find them in links below – watch them, they are absolutely hilarious. In between those shows, he just happened to be one of the stars and writers of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Those three shows really proved what many of us who watched him come up in the Toronto comedy scene already knew, that he’s probably the best comedic character actor this country has ever produced. He shouldn’t just be a household name in Canada, he should be a household name everywhere.

In addition to being a sought after actor-extraordinaire, he has also hosted the Canadian version of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? And, of course the reason he’s on our podcast, he’s a Gemini Award winning writer. Those ridiculously funny characters that he plays, oh yeah, he’s also the person who writes them. In this episode, we talk about his shows and where he draws his characters from. We also get in to what it was like to write on 22 Minutes and the frustrations of making television in Canada.

So, sit back and enjoy the talent that is Mr. Gavin Crawford!!

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ANDDDD…. Check out Gavin’s Awesome YouTube Page to watch his Wild West Pilot and his viral “Snape” video!!

David Benjamin Tomlinson is a well known Toronto sketch and improv performer, but what he might not be as well known for YET, is his incredible comedic writing. He’s our guest this week and you are welcome! David is a very funny man and a gifted performer. He basically carried Pete through their early improv classes. He’s written his own play called Gash that was a big hit at the Summerworks Performance Festival. He’s written sketches as one half of the highly acclaimed duo Glyph. He also helped write Matt Watt’s fantastic radio drama Canada. Today he’ll talk about how close he came to getting some tv shows on the air, and he would have, if it weren’t for bad luck and you meddling kids!

Regular listeners… and quite frankly, you all should be regular listeners… will know that he also has written a web series with the aforementioned friend of the podcast, Matt Watts. That series is called, The Writers Block, where three writers have to create a series based on a ludicrous pitch one of them gave while drunk. There’s a link below, go watch the series, right after you listen to this episode, and any other episodes you haven’t listened to yet, seriously, listen to those, you’re trying our patience over here! 

David really wears his heart on his sleeve and the result is very honest and highly entertaining podcast. Do yourself a favour and have a listen to Mr. David Benjamin Tomlinson.

http://www.thewritersblockseries.com/

Today on the Am I Write Podcast, the “not-so-intelligent-us-guys” interview the very intelligent Jenn Engels!! Darryl and Mark have known Jenn for over a decade through standup, but she has gone on to achieve more than Darryl and Mark could ever possibly achieve combined.

Jenn Engels is an award winning writer and producer, writing for a variety of networks including TMN, HBO Canada, CBC, CTV, Space, Rogers, Hulu, Teletoon, the CW, and SyFy. With a background in acting and stand-up comedy, Jenn has contributed to many of Canada’s top comedies, most notably all four seasons of the critically acclaimed Less Than Kind, Seed, SATISFACTION, InSecurity, Dan For Mayor and MoTHER UP! for Rogers/Hulu. This season marks her debut in both the one-hour and genre worlds, serving as a Writer/Consulting Producer on BITTEN for Space/SyFy. Jenn is a born and bred Montrealer but pays taxes in Toronto.

Please, sit back and enjoy the lovely Jenn, as she tries to explain basic life concepts to three well-meaning idiots.

Podcast!!

If you search famous people from Chatham-Kent Ontario on Wikipedia, just a few spots below a guy named Geoffrey O’Hara (famous for a song called K-K-K Katy, which we assume is about two carefree and extremely racist teenagers falling in love), you’ll find this week’s guest, the lovable, and incredibly not racist, Ron Sparks!

Ron’s resume is as absolutely incredible as his stand-up and sketch comedy work. A winner of the prestigious Tim Sims Award, he’s also won 11 Canadian Comedy Awards in various categories, and on top of that, was nominated for 17 more! In total, that’s exactly 28 more nominations than Mark, Pete and Darryl combined…we really need to do more with our lives.

If that wasn’t enough, his list of screenwriting credits should be nominated for it’s own award. His handy work can be found in shows like This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Little Mosque On The Prairie, Spun Out, Satisfaction, Meet The Family, Crash Canyon, Flickers, The Debaters, Video On Trial and many more.

This episode was so much fun to record. Ron is a long time friend of ours and one of the most naturally funny people that you will ever meet. And on a personal note, while lesser people would have cancelled, Ron did this episode on almost no sleep, get well soon Ron’s dad, and thanks for helping produce one of the absolute best. It’s our pleasure to present to you, Mr. Ron Sparks!

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