A short five years ago, John Hastings decided to enter the world of stand-up comedy, and he's already made quite the name for himself across Canada. While comedy was something he grew up enjoying, stand-up wasn't something he pursued until he was told it might be a way to make some money. Of course, that's not exactly the case when just getting started, but he fell in love with it and hasn't looked back. Last year, he even won the Irwin Barker Award at the Just for Laughs Canadian Homegrown Comedy Competition -- a personal highlight for Hastings -- and was named as one of the five comics to watch in 2010 by The Comedy Network.

The man also keeps incredibly busy. Besides performing stand-up around the country and beyond, he also regularly does improv and sketch shows, and through all of that he's managed to record a new podcast six days a week and appear in several videos -- including a "rant series" -- for WatchMojo.com. World domination is clearly next on the docket.

Hastings is making his first appearance at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival this year. In advance of his visit to Winnipeg, Paul Little spoke with him about his start in comedy, his many influences, the role that the internet must play for today's comics, and why Canada is a good place to become a stand-up comic.

Darcy Michael is a comedian not easily categorized -- and he likes it that way. Essentially, he's just an incredibly funny dude who is able to translate real-life situations into gut-busting bits on stage, and we're all the better for it. Starting stand-up only a few short years ago, Darcy has already accomplished quite a lot, including being featured in a pre-taped bit on The Tonight Show, playing Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, appearing in his own Comedy Now special on CTV, and even earning a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for his performance at the 2009 Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

Darcy is returning to the Winnipeg Comedy Festival this weekend. Paul Little spoke with Darcy over the phone last week from his home in B.C., fresh off of him attempting a Jillian Michaels workout. He was still a bit amped up from the workout, but he provided some laughs while going over his career highlights thus far, why he loves Canadian audiences, and which other Winnipeg Comedy Festival acts he would try and check out this weekend (and of course, who you should try and see).

There's a new wave of Canadian comics living in and gaining success in the United Kingdom. One of the stand-ups doing quite well in the motherland, to the point where he now lives in London, is Pete Johansson. Beginning his comedy career at age 16 in Kelowna, BC, Johansson has spent the last 19 years gaining experience in Canada, the U.S., and abroad, performing along the way at the HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival, Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, the Boston Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. Johansson hasn't just stopped in England, either, as his quest for global comedy domination has also taken him to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India. Sure, they're all Commonwealth countries, but it's certainly only the beginning.

He's spent the last little while back in Canada, and before heading overseas once again, he's making a stop this weekend at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. As he explained when Mark McLeod spoke with him over the weekend, Johansson is not a fan of "clean comedy" (or at least the idea of clean as defined by someone else), one of the reasons why he enjoys working in the UK and performing on British television; the lengthier sets is another. Listen to his thoughts on censorship, why he feels social networking is an integral part of a comedy career these days, and how he'd describe his own comedic style (with a little help from his wife) in the interview below.

Montreal-born Kevin McDonald founded the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall in the mid-80s with Dave Foley, whom he met while training at the iconic Second City in Toronto. They were later joined by Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch, who came to Toronto from Alberta with their own sketch troupe, and after shedding several members and allowing an incredibly persistent Scott Thompson into the fold, the world was gifted with the Kids we now know and love.

For more than two decades, the edgy, dark, and surreal comics gave us five seasons of The Kids in the Hall on CBC and HBO; the feature film Brain Candy; several tours across North America; and last year the mini-series Death Comes to Town, commissioned by the CBC and airing on IFC in the U.S. When not working with the influential sketch troupe, McDonald has appeared in memorable guest roles on shows like NewsRadio, Seinfeld, and Less Than Kind, as well as a number of feature films, while utilizing his unique tones in cartoon voiceover work.

Over the last few years, Kevin McDonald has made his home in Winnipeg, which has made it incredibly easy for him to participate in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Paul Little spoke with McDonald this past weekend about the early years of The Kids in the Hall, the films he's presenting at this year's festival, what he thinks of his newly-adopted city, whether he's ever had an interest in stand-up comedy, and some of his favourite KITH sketches. And despite his repeated insistence to the contrary, his various stories and factoids weren't the least bit boring.

Chris Gibbs, who 20 years ago began as a street performer in London, is a regular on the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit with a variety of one-man shows (such as "The Power of Ignorance" and "Gibberish") and made his Winnipeg Comedy Festival debut last year. Combining stand-up comedy with improvisation and a bit of theatrics, Gibbs has wowed audiences across the world over, appearing at London's Comedy Store, Melbourne's Last Laugh, and the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

Paul Little got the chance to speak with Gibbs last week in advance of his festival shows, and he spoke at length about his early years as a performer, his experiences with Winnipeg audiences and those elsewhere, his many accomplishments throughout his many years of performing, and the various neurosis involved in getting in front of an audience. If you're a comedy fan, or just interested in getting into the mind of a live performer, this is definitely an interview you'll not want to miss.

When one is labelled controversial, it will usually bring with it a lot of attention. But while comic Darren Frost has frequently been given the moniker of "Canada's Most Controversial Comedian", he feels his reputation as an opinionated presence on stage has probably done more harm than good to his bottom line. Still, even with some events and clubs not booking him because of their pre-conceived notions, that won't ever stop Darren from tackling the dirtiest, nastiest, or most politically-incorrect topics in front of a crowd every night.

If you can handle (or even enjoy) the salty language and no-holds-barred material, you'll more than likely come away from his shows having done a lot of laughing. And if you can't handle it, then you probably should have heeded the "X-rated" warning posted outside all his gigs and not put down your money to see him in the first place. He may not be for everyone, but for those willing to go along for the ride, it's well worth it.

When one is labelled controversial, it will usually bring with it a lot of attention. But while comic Darren Frost has frequently been given the moniker of "Canada's Most Controversial Comedian", he feels his reputation as an opinionated presence on stage has probably done more harm than good to his bottom line. Still, even with some events and clubs not booking him because of their pre-conceived notions, that won't ever stop Darren from tackling the dirtiest, nastiest, or most politically-incorrect topics in front of a crowd every night.

If you can handle (or even enjoy) the salty language and no-holds-barred material, you'll more than likely come away from his shows having done a lot of laughing. And if you can't handle it, then you probably should have heeded the "X-rated" warning posted outside all his gigs and not put down your money to see him in the first place. He may not be for everyone, but for those willing to go along for the ride, it's well worth it.

Getting into graphic design -- originally comic book lettering, and later television design -- Pierre Bernard had no aspirations to be a television performer. But a few years after starting at Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the early 90s, he made a random appearance on the show sparked by a design of his on a "New State Quarters" sketch, which was a huge hit. This lead to writer Brian Stack to come up with the idea for the hilarious and popular "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage" bits, as well as countless other appearances by Pierre over the years.

In 2009, Pierre followed Conan and the rest of the Late Night staff to Los Angeles for the now-infamous 7-month Tonight Show run. But Conan and his staff, including Pierre, landed on their feet and now have a new show on TBS, Conan. And he's still making appearances on camera (a piece about Pierre's "enhancement" of classic female DC characters a couple months ago was inspired), which is something he's now embraced and learned to enjoy.

Pierre was kind enough to sit down with ShowbizMonkeys.com a little over a week ago on the legendary Warner Bros. lot in Burbank where Conan is filmed every Monday through Thursday. He spoke to us about his history in both graphic design and performing on the show, his appearances on various Stargate projects directly because of his "Recliner of Rage" segments, and what audiences should expect from Conan as the new TBS show moves forward.

Kevin Pollak has carved himself a very successful career as a top-notch character actor in comedies and dramas: The Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men, The Whole Nine Yards, Hostage, Grumpy Old Men, Casino, L.A. Story, and Willow, to name a few. He's also a longtime stand-up comic, and one of the best impressionists on the planet.

Recently, Kevin has become somewhat of a New Media trailblazer, starting Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, a great weekly online talk show with in-depth interviews and silly bits. After some scheduling conflicts prevented an in-person interview in Los Angeles, Paul Little spoke with Kevin over the phone this week about the start of his career, his impressions (listen for a new one he's been working on), his latest movie role, and of course, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show.

Kevin Pollak has carved himself a very successful career as a top-notch character actor in comedies and dramas: The Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men, The Whole Nine Yards, Hostage, Grumpy Old Men, Casino, L.A. Story, and Willow, to name a few. He's also a longtime stand-up comic, and one of the best impressionists on the planet.

Recently, Kevin has become somewhat of a New Media trailblazer, starting Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, a great weekly online talk show with in-depth interviews and silly bits. After some scheduling conflicts prevented an in-person interview in Los Angeles, Paul Little spoke with Kevin over the phone this week about the start of his career, his impressions (listen for a new one he's been working on), his latest movie role, and of course, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show.