House of Crouse

On the Saturday September 28, 2024 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Mike Downie, director of “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” the definitive four-part documentary series about the band who, as the programmers of TIFF noted earlier this year, “went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.”

The four-hour Amazon Prime docuseries combines never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel and Geddy Lee, to create a joyful and moving look at The Tragically Hip, their music and the personal tragedies that defined the band.

It's the story of a band of brothers, produced and directed by Mike Downie, brother of the band’s frontperson Gord Downie.

Then, we meet Maisy Stella and Megan Park, the star and director respectively of “My Old Ass,” a wonderful coming-of-age story about a free-spirited teen whose birthday mushroom trip brings her face-to-face with her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, who delivers some choice advice and words of warning that transform her relationships with her family and friends.

Finally, Divesh Subaskaran stops by. He’s the star of “Life of Pi” currently on stage at the CAA Ed Mirvish theatre in Toronto. Based on the best-selling novel, this story of adventure and discovery is an epic journey about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger. We’ll find out what it is like to do this demanding show night after night and why his acting teacher at RADA—the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts—told him he should behave like a rockstar.

On the Saturday September 21, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Colin Mochrie actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, from the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” In this interview we talk about improv, working with the late great Richard Simmons in one of the funniest improvised scenes ever and his new show, “Old Enough.” It's based on the hit Japanese show of the same name and it follows kids (3-6 years old) as they head out by themselves and get their first taste of independence by running everyday errands for their parents. You can see the show on TVO and it is available to stream across Canada on the TVOkids streaming app and TVOkids.com.

Then, we’ll meet musician and songwriter Diane Tell. From beginning her musical career at the age of 6, she has had many, many hits in Quebec, France and worldwide since being discovered by Radio Canada as she sang in the streets of Montreal during the Olympic Games. Today she joins me from her home in Switzerland to talk about songwriting, her life and being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this month.

On the Saturday September 14, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Mike Ayley, bass player from the multi-platinum bland Marianas Trench. The band’s sixth studio album, “Haven,” is available now wherever you legally buy and download music. They are also launching their North American “Force of Nature” this month, which will make stops across the US and Canada, culminating with the tour's final stop in the band's hometown, Vancouver, BC.

Then, we’ll meet actor, author and musician Paul Spence. Best known for his portrayal of hard-luck metalhead Dean Murdoch in the 2002 mockumentary film "FUBAR: The Movie," which he co-wrote with friends Dave Lawrence and Michael Dowse. He also reprised the character in the sequel film FUBAR 2, and the television series Fubar Age of Computer. In a new stand-alone movie called “Deaner ‘89” he revisits the character, uncovers his Métis heritage, starts listening to his father’s heavy metal albums, dressing in his clothes, angers a biker gang, steals a bus – and much more.

On the Saturday September 7, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Barbara Adhiya. In her 20-year career as an editor with newswires CP/AP and Reuters, she says she never lost her hope and faith in humanity. Her new book as an editor, “Hope by Terry Fox,” is a testament that sentiment.

Through over 50 interviews with people throughout Terry’s life — ranging from his siblings, nurses, and coaches to volunteers during the Marathon of Hope —Barbara discovers how Terry was able to run a marathon a day. Through their stories, passages from Terry’s marathon journal, and over 200 photos and documents, Hope shows that with enough resilience, determination, humility, and support, ordinary people can do impossible things.

Then, we’ll meet Anne Allan, a theatre director, a producer, artistic director, and educator. Her career began as a classical dancer, training on scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London, England. After becoming ballet mistress for London City Ballet, she was invited to become the private dance teacher to Her Royal Highness, Diana, Princess of Wales and did so for 9 years. She writes about that experience in her new book “Dancing with Diana.”

On the Saturday August 31, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Amanda Marshall.

You know the name, but could be forgiven if you wondered what happened to her. After hits like her 1996 single, "Birmingham", which reached number 3 in Canada and charted on the US, and diamond and certified 3× platinum albums, she disappeared from the charts and the music scene for more than 20 years.

She says the legal battle with her former manager that kept her away from the spotlight for two decades “turned out to be the very best thing that ever happened to me.” We’ll find out why in this interview.

Then, we’ll meet three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor Viggo Mortensen. From his film debut in 1985’s “Witness” to the “Lord of the Rings” movies that made him a superstar to his more recent work, like the Oscar winning “Green Book,” he has been a constant, welcome presence on screens for 40 years. Joins me today as the writer, director, star, and composer of “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” a great new Western now available on all major platforms for Digital Purchase and Digital Rental.

Then, we meet Salah Bachir, author of a new memoir, “First to the Leave the Party: My Life with Ordinary People Who Happen to Be Famous,” available now wherever fine books are sold.

On the Saturday August 24, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet David Huebert. As the author of two books of short fiction, two poetry collections, and the new novel, Oil People, described by Quill and Quire as “inventive,” “hallucinatory,” and “lushly poetic,” The Literary Review of Canada called him “One of the most captivating authors of the last decade.” He says that after many years of research, writing, and editing, his debut novel, “Oil People,” is now ready for readers.

We’ll also get to know Ruth Reichl, the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs, the novel “Delicious!,” and the cookbook “My Kitchen Year.” She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times, as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards.

Today we’ll talk about her new book “The Paris Novel,” which follows Stella St. Vincent, an introverted thirtysomething, who finds purpose in a search for art, fashion and food on a 1983 Paris trip.

On the Saturday August 17, 2024 of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Michael Hirsh. He is a co-founder and the CEO of Nelvana, and one of the driving forces behind Canada’s animation dominance. His new book, “Animation Nation” is his behind-the-scenes account of working with such famous cartoon franchises as Babar, The Adventures of Tintin, Franklin, The Magic School Bus, and Beetlejuice, and larger-than-life personalities including Roseanne Barr, Mr. T., Deborah Harry, and Tim Burton.

The book is a frame-by-frame account of how creative talent and entrepreneurial zeal built a global cartoon empire.

Then, we meet Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, co-directors of a documentary Louis CK's fall and return to the spotlight called “Sorry, Not Sorry.” The film, whoch is available on several streaming services, features interviews with fellow comedians and women who spoke up about his sexual misconduct.

On the Saturday August 10, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Clare Titley, director of “The Contestant,” a feature doc, now available on Hollywood Suite On Demand. Narrated by Fred Armisen, it is an intimate portrait of Tomoaki Hamatsu, a Japanese reality TV star, nicknamed Nasubi, left naked in a room for more than a year and tasked with entering contests to earn food and clothing, while, unknown to him, millions of television viewers all over Japan watched his every move. The show turned him into an unwitting superstar, but at what cost?

Then we’ll get to know Jonathan Torrens. You know him from Taggart and Torrens, the podcast with 4 million downloads he does with Jeremy Taggart, and his work on shows like “Street Cents” and his talk show “Jonovision” and, of course, his legendary performance as rapper J-Roc on the “Trailer Park Boys.” Today we talk about his latest project, the Truro, Nova Scotia based production company Canadian Content Studios and his new show “Roll With It.”

On the Saturday July 27, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Sunthar V. He is a Tamil Canadian comedian, presenter and writer who has performed on stages across the world including Toronto, New York, Chennai and London.

Born in Toronto, Sunthar has been captivating audiences since 2019 with his distinctive humor and perspective. As an openly queer Tamil comedian, Sunthar’s comedy stems from his unique blend of life experiences and perspectives.

Then, we’ll meet writer and stop-motion animator Marcus Kliewer. His debut novel “We Used to Live Here” began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (eighteen million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. Film rights for his second book, which will be based on an unpublished story called The Caretaker, have been sold to Universal, with Sydney Sweeney attached to star.

I go to the vault to hear a vintage interview I did with Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. We don’t talk superheroes, instead, the actor gets personal, talking about the projects that worked, the ones that didn’t and what drives him. “When I started acting I was the dunce of the class,” he says.