This week on Starting Out its another guest I hesitated to ask to come on because I was afraid he’d either ignore me or just say no. He is truly one of my favourite comics out there, in my mind one of the most unique, creative people to do comedy, it’s Mark DeBonis! Mark chatted with me from his new city of Buffalo, and we had such an awesome conversation about never wanting to do comedy, not even being a fan of standup, until he was forced into it given the college course he enrolled in.  As you’ll hear, it took two sets and his entire life changed. Comedy nerds will like to listen to mark, trust me. 

Mark’s got a new podcast coming out, go to @markdebonis on Instagram to learn more, it's going to be amazing. Music by Devin Bateson.

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I was so excited to this week’s guest on because he quit being a veterinarian to pursue standup comedy full time, it’s the incomparable Ted Morris on Starting Out! Ted quit his very successful, though mentally challenging job as a vet a whole 3 months before a global pandemic hit.  We talk about his first time on stage at Club 54 in Burlington, and how a series of ‘lucky’ encounters led him to being signed by Yuk Yuks and leading to him doing just about everything you can do standup wise. Ted recently had a health scare and we talk about it, but I was just so happy to hear how he’s leaned into his real passion. Thanks for listening, music by Devin Bateson.

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This week on Starting Out it’s someone I consider my comedy little brother, as he started in Hamilton about a year after me. I’ve loved watching him grow and become even more creative in standup and now film, it’s AJ Bate on Starting Out. AJ talks about growing up in Libya and how speaking English so well prompted him to take a job at a radio station. From there he got an engineering degree, eventually came to Canada, begrudgingly to Hamilton, and how a chance viewing of a woman with a stupid face loving her life made him question everything about his own, and led to comedy. He’s now the writer and director of four short films - My Favorite Thing That I Forgot, Balloon, No Place for You Here, and Sincerely, Yours. Follow him at @ajbate_ and check out his movies. Music by Devin Bateson.

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This week on Starting Out my guest is one of the hardest working up-and-coming comics. I’ve known him for almost as long as I’ve been doing standup as we started at the same time, though in different cities, it’s Max Sheldrick! If there’s a theme to this episode it’s hard work and not getting down. Max explains how growing up on a farm set the course for hard work and how he went through so many difficult jobs before realizing standup was a thing he could do. It was also a touching episode to hear how he and his lovely wife Teesha really approached him doing stand up in a serious way together, making the move to Toronto. For new comics, seek Max out, go to his shows, introduce yourself. He runs his weekly shows FOMO on Wednesdays and Fridays. Music by Devin Bateson. 

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Holy hell what a treat of a guest I have this week on Starting Out. It’s comedian, actor, and writer Paul Haywood. Paul is my first guest who’s had something thrown at him his first set, and told “you suck” the second, and it turns out he’s one of the best comics this country has produced. He has even opened for Mitch Hedberg which we obviously get into here. We talk about the history of Comedywood and some of the other incredible acts they would book. Paul was an amazing storyteller and this is another episode true comedy nerds will geek out over. There’s also a lot of process talk in this episode, which I love and I know some of you will too. Thanks for listening and supporting the pod. Music by Devin Bateson.

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Somehow I inadvertently booked two straight guests who are LA residents by way of Canada. This week on Starting Out it’s the incomparable comedian, writer, actor and artist, Ana-Marija Stojic. It was so great learning about all the big life changes that have happened for Ana during the pandemic. I wanted to have her on because I’ve always admired her as an original  comedian, but mostly to promote her debut album recording that is happening at Comedy Bar West on August 27th & 28th. Please go support her, it’s being produced by Comedy Records and as you’ll hear is going to be quite the live experience, so go buy some tickets. You can also check out her mind-bending podcast Late Night with Robot that she describes in this episode. Thanks for listening.

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Oh what a guest this week on Starting Out. I didn’t know him very well, we did one show together at Absolute Comedy but I knew he was a great guy. It’s LA-based comedian by way of Edmonton, Mr. Henry Sir is on Starting Out this week. Not only is he an incredible comedian, regular at The Comedy Store and nationally touring headliner, the real reason I wanted to have Henry on was to talk about the podcast he just launched - The Intrusive Thought Cast. I think as soon as I heard the title I was hooked, and please do yourself a favour and subscribe to it as it’s just such an honest, open, and free discussion about mental health, which is what this episode is also about. Henry was named a Breakout Artist by Caroline’s on Broadway, part of the Hollywood Laugh Factory's 2020 Fresh Faces, and his first album, “Chalant”, which debuted at #1 on iTunes, is available on all streaming services and regularly played on JFL Canada, Raw Dog Radio and Laugh USA. Thanks for listening. Music by Devin Bateson.

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Holy hell I was so excited to catch up with truly one of the smartest, kindest comics I’ve met and have the privilege of calling a friend, Drew Grav is my guest this week on Starting Out. Drew is one of those smart people you can actually have an intellectual conversation about conspiracy theories, and that’s what we start with, before moving on to how he got into comedy and how he tries to channel his creativity in varying ways. Drew has been through so much in his personal life, and he really is someone I admire for sticking through things and trying to find out how to channel everything into something creative. We talk about seeing Pue and Wilmot early on and how surreal it was to do shows with them. Thanks for listening, please share, rate, review, the podcast, I would appreciate it. Music by Devin Bateson.  

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This week on Starting Out I have another multi-talented, comedian, filmmaker, writer, and baking show host, it’s Kelly Zemnickis! I only knew Kelly casually from running into her at open mics here in Toronto, but I was fascinated to learn about her documentary No Responders Left Behind that was recently snubbed for an Emmy. Kelly was great about opening up about how a big life event threw her into so many different new ventures, all the while managing her own grief and documenting the grief of others. This was another excellent talk and I’m so thankful to Kelly for coming on. Check out her YouTube channel where you can find 240+ episodes of her show “It’ll Be Fine - A Baking Show”, and look for her debut comedy album later this year released by Howl & Roar. Follow her @thelatvianfoodie on Insta. Music by Devin Bateson.  

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It’s episode 75 of Starting Out with my guest the multi-talented comedian, actor, and now feature film writer and producer, it’s Foad HP! Born in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, Foad tells me the harrowing story of his family’s escape, ultimate capture, brief imprisonment before they finally made it to Toronto. Foad also was great about opening up to me about personal and social struggles he went through during the pandemic (albeit self-induced) his recent coming out as bi, and doing his first set ever at maybe the greatest show Toronto has ever had. He just returned from performing at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, he’s performed at Just for Laughs, Andy Kindler’s the Alternative Show, Stand Up NBC, SiriusXM Top Comic, has taped a performance for Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, and was the winner of the Toronto Comedy Brawl. I’ve always had such a great time whenever I bump into Foad, and you can hear this conversation was no different. Foad also talks about what it was like being a standup comedy teacher with past guest Joe Vu. Check out Foad’s forthcoming feature film “Strangers in a Room", and give him a follow @foadhp if you want to see some insane workouts. Thanks for listening.

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