Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jon Dore: Toronto Mike'd #1223

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

In this 1223rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Jon Dore about his career in comedy. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1223 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, making his Toronto Mic'd debut, is Juno Award winner, John Doerr. Welcome, John, to Toronto Mic'd. It is a pleasure to be here. I'll bet you say that to all the interviewers. No, I don't.

I say that, I do say that quite a bit, so you're not wrong. I say it to probably 80%. It's a go-to, but it is a pleasure to be talking to a fellow Canadian human being across Zoom after a long, I'd say a long week of travel. Something that I can bore you with if you like. Well, let's hear, like, tell me, where did you depart from? Where are you now? Tell me a little bit about this travel. Okay, well, I'm going to back up in time a little bit.

We're going to start. You're going to have questions. I left Juneau, Alaska, which is now where I make my home. As they say, I didn't make it, but that's where I am. Am I allowed to call timeouts along the way? Absolutely. You've got three timeouts. This is your first.

All right. Why are you living in Alaska? You're a proud Canuck like me. What are you doing in Alaska? Well, so I grew up. Let's go way back. I was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lived there until I moved to Toronto to continue pursuing stand-up comedy and entertainment, et cetera.

Then made the move to Los Angeles. Lived there for about 10 years. And about four and a half years ago, I met a human woman. That's my criteria, by the way, human and woman. I hear those two words together. And I just say, let's give this a go. Right. And I was doing a show up in Fairbanks, Alaska. And after the show, met my now partner and fiance, Christina. And we fell in love. We traveled all over the place to visit one another, but something had to give. So I thought I travel mostly for work,

so why not uproot myself from beautiful sunny California and move to Juneau, Alaska. So that's where I have been, that's where I've been living. So that's why I'm there. Okay, so again, I want to hear the travel story, but along the way, we're going to get to know you a little better. So you fell in love with an Alaskan. Yes.

Okay. How's it going? I mean, I hope the relationship is going great, but how has it been adapting to living in Alaska? Like, all I know is what I see in, like, Into the Wild and movies like that. But, like, are there grizzly bears in your backyard? What's going on there? Well, yeah, we do have a bear that comes down. So when I first moved to Juneau, we lived closer to what they call downtown.

It's not really downtown, but we live closer to the bustling downtown of Juneau, Alaska. We now live way out the road in Douglas, which is another area of Juneau, Alaska. And yeah, we have a bear that comes down and eats blueberries. I've got a video of that bear on my Instagram. So I, we have a bear that comes down and eats blueberries. I've got a video of that bear on my Instagram. So I'll leave you a link to it. Do you realize you had to move to Juneau to win this Juneau? Yes, yes, I did. And again, I want to hear about the travel, but is this your first Juneau award that you literally just won, right? This is only about a week ago or so. Yeah, it's my first. I had never recorded an album before.

Well, that's not true. I'd recorded several albums and I was never happy with them. So I never put one out. And then this one I was finally genuinely happy about. And my sister's record label, Howlin' Roar, she was part of the reason she pushed me to do it. And I'm glad I did. Very happy with it. So yeah, my first nomination and lucky enough to win, which was great. What an amazing time. Well, let me name check the album. It's called A Person Who Is Gingerbread. Correct.

And a little fun fact. I used to, well, I still do actually. I produced the Humble and Fred podcast. And we started out in a building in South Etobicoke where a young lady named Alison Dorr started podcasting. So I've come like I've crossed paths with this Alison Dorr in the last 10 years. Yeah, she's a hard worker. I've been on that. I know that Humble and Fred building you're referring to. Yeah, it's on 30th Street in Long Branch, for those who are keeping score. But yeah, so that's a small world story for you.

It is, yeah. So my sister, Alison Doerr, couldn't be more proud of her and the hard work that she's been putting into this album label. So yeah, where are we? Okay, so you live in Juneau, Alaska, and where are you now? Okay, so I am right now in Kelowna, British Columbia. You want to hear the story of how I got here? Yes, please. Okay, so I'm going to back up in time a little bit more to make this interesting. I moved to Juneau, Alaska. Let's pursue that thread a little further, if that's all right. Well, I shall digress, if that's okay.

Alaska. Pandemic hits. We really get stuck there. I haven't been working for a while. That is the best time. Financial insecurity is the best time to find out that your girlfriend is pregnant and you're going to have a child at the age of, I'm 47, 46 at the time when he was born. So my girlfriend's 10 years younger. She's 36, 36 right and I often get called the old guy around she likes to do that when we argue you know she'll definitely point okay so uh similar my my wife is seven years younger and she calls me the old guy so it's it's a you know it's a compliment yeah here's the best no it's not a compliment it's rude it's rude no it's of course it's ageist and rude and disgusting and she knows better She works for the Alaska Network on domestic violence and sexual assault. She's always working with marginalized groups and community communities trying to influence policy at the state and federal level to make the world a better and safer place. horrible it is to other communities and groups yet to me her partner she throws it in my face but the best part was at the age of 36 when she was pregnant guess what that's called a

geriatric pregnancy yes yes i could not have been happier she was upset about it oh i'm so sorry is this your first child i'm sorry john is this your first child it's my first child my girlfriend has a uh a child from a previous relationship that I've been raising for the past four and a half years. But this is the first time I've started from the ground up. And wow, what an incredible ride. Well, congratulations. Okay, so you have the kid.

And that meant you had to hit the road? Is that the deal? You had to get out of there? No, you got to pick your spots when you hit the road. Here's the thing. I've been at home. So the last show I had done was November 22nd of 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of the Maple Leafs. So then I move to so then I go home to Juneau, Alaska, because while my girlfriend's working, I want to be at home with my son.

Number one, I want to be number two. She I need to there needs to be a pressure release valve for her. So I need to do the day to day pressure release valve for her so i need to do the day-to-day and um so i'm home with him the next time i performed and got on stage was in edmonton for the junos on march 10th so that's almost a three-month window of time where i had not performed so now i go out on the road and i book very intense time slots so i go out on the road for uh 12 days and then I'm back in Juneau for 20 days. But listen, so here we go to answer the very first question. Close. Friday,

last Friday. Okay. I started, I, Oh, actually let's go back Thursday. I fly from Juneau, Alaska. Cause I have to be in white horse. Now you'd think there'd be a direct flight from Juneau to white horse at the Yukon, because as the crow flies, that's a 45 minute flight, but you can't do it. So I had to fly Thursday night from Juneau, Alaska to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver, spend the night in Vancouver, Friday morning, fly Vancouver to Yukon, perform two shows Friday night, perform two shows Saturday night. Sunday, my girlfriend was down in Palm Springs with our family and a few friends. I fly from Vancouver to Palm Springs. Okay, so White Horse, Vancouver, Vancouver to Palm Springs on the Sunday. I spend 36 hours in Palm Springs because I

want to be there for my son for every moment. And then I fly Tuesday morning from Palm Springs to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver, rent a car, get on the ferry, go to Victoria, British Columbia, do two shows Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, drive to the ferry from the ferry drive from Vancouver to Kamloops, do two shows last night in Kamloops. Today, get up, drive to Kelowna, where I now have shows for the next four nights and I couldn't be happier to be talking to you. Wow. Wow. Amazing. Okay. Wow. Amazing. Okay. Wow.

So does this tour take you anywhere close to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of the Maple Leafs? Not until April. In April, I will be in and around Toronto. I will be, yeah, I mean, Burlington, Kitchener, Toronto, Richmond Hill. I've got a bunch of gigs booked, so yeah. Amazing that you're now a father. Congratulations on that.

Thanks. And congratulations on finding love and moving to Alaska. I feel like that's like a sitcom waiting to happen, I think. John Doerr in Alaska. I have been writing it, and yeah, it is called Bonus Dad, and it's going to be a good one trust me what happened to the h and your name john like why do you feel like you can just discard it like it's nothing there's just j-o-n why not j-o-h-n i don't like your attitude i don't like

the shift in attitude but i'll answer that question all right i'll answer it so the h is still there i'm a jonathan i'm a jonathan door so i'm a'm a J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N. I'm a Jonathan. So why would I waste another H when someone else could use it? I don't need two in my name. So if anything, I'm on an errand of mercy, and I'm letting people have Hs who may not have them. Do you remember the band Rhymes of Orange?

Yes, I know the title, but i couldn't tell you because they dropped the h and that always bugged me because rhymes of orange dropped the h i think they had the big jam was like taking of david do you remember this or uh anyway these this is these 90s alt rock bands that i'm obsessed with tomorrow i have the watchmen on the show oh nice that'll be fun so that's where i rock now do, do you mind if I got some notes from FOTMs? That means Friends of Toronto Mic'd. John, you're now a friend of Toronto Mic'd. You're an FOTM.

But I have some notes I'll read, and then I'm going to kind of walk you through your career, and this will thoroughly entertain me if you don't mind. Okay, so first is a message that came in from a James Patterson. James writes in, This is going to be amazing. That's it. He's very excited to hear you on Toronto Mic'd. Okay. Not sure what I can do with that, but other than let him down. I will pause for your reaction and maybe there is no reaction. That's okay.

But Tyler Campbell says, John Doerr, one of our better looking comics. Campbell says, John Doerr, one of our better looking comics. Yes, in the world of comedy, I am definitely very good looking. He nailed it. Levee Fumpka says, I really enjoyed Humor Resources. Humor Resources, a show that we made during the pandemic that I'm very proud of. A very hard show to make, and we pulled it off, in my opinion. Not a lot of promotion, but yes, thank you. That was Leah?

Lieve Femke, which is actually Dutch for like sweetie pie. It's like a term of endearment in Dutch. In Dutch, Lieve? Lieve Femke. Lieve Femke. Okay. Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not enjoying this conversation anymore,

and I don't like that comment. Well, she did enjoy humor resources. Okay. Jeremy, and again, we might repeat ourselves a little later, maybe not, but maybe we can address this here. But Jeremy really wants to know, do you, John Doerr, regret calling it quits on the John Doerr show? I do air quotes on that because that's how Jeremy worded it.

Well, Jeremy, there's an assumption built into Jeremy's comment here that I wanted to call it quits. Of course not. I would have made that show. I would have still been making that show if it was up to me. No, I've never had more fun gathering with a group of friends in a writer's room and hanging out with, you know, wonderful people who direct and act. I've never had more fun in my entire life. And if anything, a reboot would be interesting because in the John Doe television show, we asked a lot of questions because in the second grade, it was discovered one of my testicles had not descended in my scrotal sack when I was born, Mike. That's true. That's a true story.

That's an absolute true story. And so in the John Doe television show, we explored the possibility, would I be able to have children one day? Urologist Dr. Richard Casey, how do you test for male fertility? We take a sample of your sperm, send it to the lab, and the lab technician looks at the quality of ejaculate that you produced and how well they move. Do you supply pornography? Do I supply pornography for the sperm testing? Okay. We used to have a room where there was a porno tape being shown to help guys masturbate.

Okay, you used to have a tape. What happened to it? It got stolen. What do you mean it got stolen? Well, I guess it was a popular tape. It was called Big Melons. Who's in Big Melons? No, I don't, I never read the credits. Yeah, you never get that far, do you? I never get that far either. I don't get it out of the package. When I was seven years old, and please try not to cry. When I was seven years old, one of my testicles ascended into my abdominal cavity. No, testicles never ascend. No, it didn't. They only descend or fail to descend. Yes, testicles do ascend. It's physically impossible. I read it on the internet, also known as the

truth machine. Okay, can't argue there. No, you can't. How many men come in for a fertility test and leave realizing that they're not fertile? About 2%. 2%. So 98% of the people men come in for a fertility test and leave realizing that they're not fertile? About 2%. 2%? So 98% of the people that come in here are just here to jerk off in a stranger's bathroom. Maybe they've heard about Big Melons. I don't know. What's Big Melons? It's that video that we used to use. Which videos?

The porno film that we used to use in the clinic. Who's in it? Sometimes. People have fertility problems because they're doing it all wrong. Explain doing it all wrong. No, I only explained doing it all right. Then explain doing it all right. Intercourse, sexual intercourse. Penis in vagina. Go on. Yes, ejaculation, baby. Penis plus vagina equals baby. No, you need ejaculation in there somewhere. Baby's penis in ejaculatory vagina. No.

I'm getting this wrong. Penis in vagina plus ejaculation equals baby. Hmm. Is it important to stay abstinent before the test? No, there's no rules. So you could go like a year without masturbating and then come in here. Wouldn't you blow the roof off the goddamn place? Hasn't happened yet.

Not to you. In some religious circles, masturbation is considered a sin. Do you consider it a sin? No, I don't. But in some religions, you can't get a sperm count, for example. Doctor, before we go any further, there's someone I need to talk to. Because it could cook it was in the abdominal cavity which is not an ideal temperature for the survival of this of the of the semen in the testicle correct so one of the side effects could be i may not be fertile so uh we now know i had a child so now we go back and we we answer a lot

of these questions from the gender Doerr television show. And what a different political and social climate we live in. I think it'd be great. So I did not give up on the John Doerr television show and call it quits. It was not my decision. See, I knew that, but I wanted to read Jeremy's note as it came in so you could address that.

Because I knew you didn't choose to quit the John Doerr television show. And if people go to YouTube and look up the clips, it's hilarious. you could address that because because i i knew you didn't choose to quit the john dore television show and if people go to youtube and look up the clips it's hilarious like so let's go back i know you you enjoyed going back when we were discussing your your travel this past week but i i'm gonna start with the first time i saw your the first time i saw your face. Okay. That's a Burt Bacharach song, right? I don't know. Okay. The late great.

Okay. Late great indeed, but I have no idea. It might not be. I don't know. I don't know. But I would like to ask you about Canadian Idol because the first time I was introduced to John Doerr, you were a correspondent for Canadian Idol.

Help me understand, how did you land that high-profile gig? Wow. Yeah, I feel very fortunate, very lucky. That was a great experience. So I was living in Ottawa, Ontario at the time, serving tables in a restaurant and doing stand-up comedy and improv and murder mystery dinner theater. And I was shooting a corporate video that day. I was a graduate of Algonquin College broadcasting program. And I was also, geez, I was hosting, I was hosting Rogers Television's

Daytime. And I'd been doing that for three years. So cobbling together questions for people like Pierrere burton and the local uh manager of the carp garlic festival things like that um and i was constantly putting this demo tape together with all the work i had done at the time which was not a lot but i showed that to the producers of uh of um of canadian idol insight productions and they brought me down probably four different times for these chemistry tests and different reads and they liked my folksy connection with people and so I got a phone call one day while I was working on a corporate video in Ottawa as an

actor and the agent that hadn't fully taken me on at this point but was willing to submit me because I thought I was appropriate for that for the role of correspondent called and said, can you be in Winnipeg next week? Because you got the job. And yeah, could not have been more excited. I mean, it was then I got to travel the country and hang out with fun people and see the country and get paid per diem. And yeah, I could not have been happier to make the move to Toronto. That was the incentive to go.

It gave me some money. Yeah, so that's kind of the story of it. How many years of Canadian Idol did you do, John? I did three. Three years. Here's a little fun fact. So I mentioned tomorrow I'm talking to the Watchmen. Do you know who managed the Watchmen

back in their 1990s heyday? Well, it's going to be one of two people. It's going to be either Jake Gold or Zach. And I'm going to say probably Zach. It was Jake Gold. It was Jake Gold. Okay, there we go. There you go.

Just to tie it back to Canadian Idol. And how was your... I'm just curious. Zach's the only member of that squad, that judging panel, that has not been in my basement for an episode of Toronto Mic'd. But like, what were they like? I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Farley Flex, Sass Jordan and Jake Gould. But tell me how these people were to you. Yeah, they were, I mean, I mean, great people. Now, you got to remember, I'm a kid from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pretty unassuming with a lot of faux confidence getting thrown and I'm getting thrown into a situation where, you know, these are people who are used to being treated a particular way.

So it was a very confusing time for me. All great, though. And Sass Jordan could not be sweeter. Yeah. Farley Flax was an absolute treat uh jake gold i really enjoyed too yeah i'll be honest with you and and zach too i mean he was definitely a little more cerebral he was uh you know in his head i always thought there was a bit of an agenda uh could be wrong but uh they complement each other very very well um yeah i enjoyed spending time with all of them i didn't spend a lot of time with them but the time i did spend i enjoyed what about ben marooney well here's a guy who's only happy when people are laughing at him ladies and gentlemen put your hands and your feet together for mr john dore Mr. John Doerr.

Hello, Vancouver! Toronto. Toronto! Yeah! John, what's up with the bag? Oh, the suitcase. Good question, Ben. See, I helped the idols move into their mansion, which is awesomerific. Liked it it so much I left notice with my landlord and I'm gonna move in dumbest thing you could have done dude you got to be an idol to

live in the mansion I know that's why I'm moving in with you seriously I know you have a spare room I'm moving in with you me and you we are going to be roomies how's it yeah no that's that's not happening either that's not happening either dude thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I went into your dressing room, got your keys. Since you got to finish the show, I figured I can split now and, you know, paint a rainbow in our new living room. Roll it.

Yeah, roll it. Yeah, roll this. 17,000 square feet of majestic splendor. Statues squirting only the finest spring water. Who could possibly live here? The Idols, that's who! Welcome to Idolmen. Welcome to your new home.

Oh, my God! Man. Did you see the bathroom? We'll go to the bathroom. I gotta go. You gotta go? Okay, we'll go to the bathroom last. Do you guys like games?

Yes! Oh, my God! Pillows are fun. Thank you, Jacob. Okay, no more sugar for Jacob. Oh, my God! Pillows are fun. Thank you, Jacob. Okay, no more sugar for Jacob. Hot tub! This is pure Lake Ontario, my friend. Oh yeah!

Okay, come on. Gentlemen, this is one of the bedrooms. That's me! Jason! Awesome! I'm gonna win this! This person gets to stay alone. Ooh, Bayless.

You're a lone wolf, aren't you? Ooh! You're really opening wolf, aren't you? Ooh! You're really opening up. Yeah! Yeah! This is so spooky! I really like pink. Ah!

Zwayner's gets to be Zwayner! Run around, run around. Maybe it's time for a nap. Let's go, guys. Uh... Zwayner? Yeah. Okay, let's get out of here.

Jacob, this is your room. Hope you like it. Now say hello to the icing on the other cake. Oh, yeah. A person could get used to this. Last one in the pool is a rock and roll superstar. I just wish this was jelly. used to this last one in the pool is a rock and roll superstar great guy brett ben yeah no ben and i spent a lot of time together we uh yeah we would hang out in towns we'd go for dinner um you know he was he was busy i was on the road most of the time he'd fly in and out for the big production days.

Um, so I didn't see a lot of him, but, uh, yeah, the time I spent with Ben was great. Yeah. I really enjoyed Ben's company. He's a really, really good person. So if you're a, an Ottawa guy and you're, you know, you mentioned cable 10. Well, I'm wondering, was like Tom green and influence. Was he, uh, yeah, a little bit like um if anything it was an inspiration if not maybe not an influence i mean i was already influenced by david letterman he was

my favorite and i think tom would say he was influenced by david as well um but uh tom was an inspiration i mean he you know from ottawa went to algonquin college studied tv broadcasting those are things i both did i went to rogers to pitch a television show of my own um much like Tom did but they did not want to make the television show that I pitched and that's where uh they suggested I auditioned for their daytime television show so that's how that happened um but no yeah of course Tom uh Tom I know very well I I know him a lot better now than I did back in those days. And yeah, there's another lovely human being. But yeah, definitely an inspiration.

You know, when I look back, there were a lot of funny stuff coming out, a lot of interesting stuff coming out at Cable 10. It's kind of a shame that this channel doesn't exist anymore for up-and-coming artists like yourself. Like Tom Green, you know, you cut your teeth there. But I'm thinking now, Ed the Sock, I used to watch his talk show on Cable 10, The Buzz. Like there's just some innovative comedic programming coming out of our Cable 10. Well, it exists in Ottawa.

Does it? Yeah, yeah. They still do a daytime show there. I just did it about a week ago. Yeah, they still produce it. I mean, I don't know what their mission statement or mandate is when it comes to developing new shows. Right. But I'd imagine you could still do it.

It's a great place to go and learn, you know, the craft and trade of broadcasting. Okay, you know, I've got to check my record. Maybe I just need to pop over to Cable 10 more often. Maybe it's on know, I've got to check my record. Maybe I just need to pop over to Cable 10 more often. Maybe it's on me. I've got to check it out. But I do have a question for you about Canadian Idol before we get past that. Eric writes in, if you have a chance,

I'd love to know the wildest moment John experienced working on Canadian Idol. Thank you in advance. So he's already thanked us and you haven't answered yet. Yeah, and it's going to be a bad answer because what's the wildest moment? I don't know if there was anything too wild.

I mean, I don't know if there's anything I could share. I mean, what's wild? It was great. I had some really fun personal stories that I'm not willing to share about being in different places across Canada. I don't know if there's anything really wild. I mean, there's wonderful, beautiful moments. I mean, there's oh, I mean, we flew to Las Vegas because we took the contestants to see Celine Dion perform at Caesar's Palace and they interviewed yeah they got to interview her and ask her questions and advice and here's the stupidest thing that I did so this

isn't wild but just dumb I was allowed to go even though I wasn't going to be used as a correspondent in that moment they asked but I was still allowed to go and meet Celine. And I said, no, I'm good. I'm going to, you know, how stupid is that? The chance to meet Celine Dion. And I'm like, oh no, I'm going to, I'm going to hit a slot machine. Oh, it could have been worse. It could have been like, I'm going to, you know, go to bed early or something like that. Yeah, that would have been way worse, but you can do it.

You can play a slot machine at any time. Anyway, but that was dumb 25 yearyear-old me, I guess. So I don't know. So this exposure on Canadian Idol, I mean, I knew John Doerr from Canadian Idol. That's how big a deal this was. Is that what led to the John Doerr television show that we talked about earlier? I'd have to answer yes. In that, look, Canadian Idol was a great show and fun to be a part of, you know, family friendly show. It was difficult to be a comedian on that show, because it was really hard to write funny 30 second moments with the other writers.

And sorry to interrupt, but the American version we were copying didn't have an equivalent, right? There was no comedic person on the American Idol, right? No, but the actual original was Pop Idol in Britain. So it's the same Fremantle Media. It's the same parent company. And so Fremantle, they had two hosts for a long time. But I think the idea was, you know, how, I don't know, they wanted to get out and explore the relationship with these competitors, which is a very Canadian thing, I think, to do. Where are they from? Let's showcase their homes and their personality.

So I think that was the idea was I'm not sure if Ben was maybe the right person. I know he he could definitely be the right person. But is, I don't know, as the son of a prime minister, and unfortunately that stigma is going to stick to him forever. Would that have worked? I don't know. But either way, could not have been happier that that role did exist. But what was the question? Oh, the John Doerr television show. How did Canadian Idol lead to that opportunity?

Well, so the production company. So, yeah. So to be a comedian on that show was difficult because, I mean, I took a lot of heat from from from people like there's I mean, there's just you confront a lot of cynical people, but they have every right to be cynical. know. I was not treated well in the creative circle. So I knew my stand-up comedy was so different and what I wanted to do with television was so different, but this was a great opportunity. The production company that made Canadian Idol is Insight Productions, John Brunton and Barb Bowlby. So John Brunton, who is an amazing human being, a very philosophical type business person, he suggested you should write your own show. And so we developed the show with insight. We pitched it, made a pilot. The Comedy Network did not like it. But

then John Brunton said, you go meet with this showrunner, Ed McDonald in Montreal. And I met with Ed and we wrote the outlines for six episodes. And repitched the show uh with more structure and the comedy network picked it up for a full season so yes canadian idol did lead to the gender show in that the production company knew that i really wanted to do something else and i think they saw how eager and excited i was and they knew what my creative comedic mind was and it was a little different than canadian idol so the answer to that question is yes yes and we already uh touched on this and it's uh you know I don't want to do it again because it's probably uh probably upsetting but uh for some reason they they canceled that show canceled what show oh the John Doerr television show right right so what's the

question uh where did you go from there i'm wondering what was next for you when you we got that bad news oh well so i had i had i'd moved down to los angeles uh i already had a visa to work in the united states not a green card but i had a visa and i moved down to los angeles and i didn't have an apartment yet, but I was renting a place down there and waiting to hear the news about whether or not we were going to get a second season or third season of the gender television show. And I got a phone call from Insight saying, yeah, they've decided not to make a third season, which was interesting because we sold our show to a couple of markets. I think Portugal and I can't remember another Europeanan country i can't remember where it was and then uh we sold the show to ifc not i mean there was no money in this i mean these were very small pickups but um sold the show to ifc so there were some people some people in the states

were watching ifc and so i mean i all i thought all signs pointed to a third season, but it didn't. So I was in Los Angeles, had an agent ready to go out on auditions and then found out the show got canceled. And yeah, so I decided let's go all in. I applied for my green card, got it, stayed in Los Angeles and then, yeah, ended up doing, you know, a bunch of sitcoms and things like that pilots for other tv shows so that that became my life for a bit okay so I'll just touch on a couple of the the higher profile things just because I'm curious about for example like you'll have a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother how was that experience that was That was just an audition for, yeah, audition for, I mean, a ridiculous role.

And yeah, got it. I had very little to say about that other than I showed up and did two days on set. I don't think there was a table read for it either. Yeah, I did two days on set. And yeah, very strange, in and out. All right, in and out. Now, what about, tell me about Funny as Hell. Oh, well, that's through Just for Laughs.

Yeah, that was Funny as Hell. It was Just for Laughs television show for HBO Canada. That was fun, but exhausting to make and I burned through a lot of material. But the best part about Funny as Hell was we got to make these really highly produced comedy sketches with my two friends and brilliant directors,

Adam Brody and Dave Duralaney. I need to put those up online. Those are, yeah, that was the most fun, was getting to write and create these really, really great sketches. Amazing, amazing. Tell me about Conan. I know you appeared as the featured comic on Conan. Well, as done, my next guest is a comedian whose TV series,

The John Doerr Television Show, is available now on iTunes, and he'll be at Zany's in Nashville tomorrow through Sunday. Please welcome the very funny John Doerr. Oh, yeah. I just want to have a really good show tonight. So I got to open with a strong joke. I know that much. So I thought...

It's tough. I mean, I thought I'd open by telling you that I just got back from Afghanistan where I was entertaining the troops. But, okay, thank you. But I was performing for the Taliban. So, not going to open with that. What I thought I'd do, my friends always say, well, John, just open with your funniest joke.

Well, my funniest joke happens to be extremely racist. So, I think I'll close with it. But the opener. I know. I think it's beautiful that we have a black president of the United States. And relax, this is not my closer. I think it's great. What's adorable, you know, considering this country's history, the fact that there's a black president is just beautiful. What's adorable, sure, yeah, what's adorable is that my little nephew came up to me the other day and said, Uncle John, will there ever be a white president in my lifetime? It's cute, right? But how do you explain to a four-year-old, Billy, look, you have leukemia. Or as he calls it ukima yeah yeah he's also stupid now uh it's a risky joke i know i uh

i did that joke on a show once and a lady came up to me afterwards and said hey great set i loved your jokes. Oh, thank you. So that happened. You know? You gotta be careful with the ladies. You gotta be slick. Like, I know, even if you suspect it, you're never supposed to ask a woman if she is pregnant. So what I do is I say,

Hey, looks like someone's put on some weight. Huh? You know, let her tell you if she's pregnant. Don't ruin the surprise Be a gentleman A friend of mine came up to me the other day Do you have friends like that where they just come up to you? Do you know what I mean?

Hi, okay, what? And he said, hey dude, if I can get tickets to Metal Fest Do you want to go? And I said, no, I don't like metal And he said, you don't like metal and he said you don't like metal you don't like metal like by him acting out the song that was going to convince me to love the music like you're not a wizard you can't act something out and convince people it's good. You never see that. You never see, you don't like beer? You don't like beer? You know, or you never see, you don't like fishing? I'm sorry. Hey Steve! How are ya?

Not bad No I knew you were up at the lake I saw your boat Also I fell asleep in the sun yesterday I think your kids came by They drew another penis on my chest Yeah it looks like they traced it Yeah

Huh? yeah it looks like they traced it oh yeah no my wife is fine although my wife's starting to sound like a laser gun a laser gun yeah whenever I'm like can I go out the guys can I sleep I sleep in? Can I have a beer? She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. What did you just say about my wife? No, no, no. You don't talk to her that way. All right? We've been through.

You son of a bitch. That is my wife. You want to do this? Let's do it right now! You want it? You don't like fishing? You know what I mean? Okay, thanks everyone.

Thank you very much. Thank you. like fishing you know what i mean okay thanks everyone thank you very much john dore everybody yeah i've been a few spots on the conan show I did. But yeah, I was very lucky to be when he left NBC and he flipped over to TBS. They made a big deal out of that first week of broadcasting. And so in a press release, I got to be the first stand up comedian like that means anything. The first stand up comedian on the first week back at tbs and so i've been working on a set with their uh with their uh booker uh for comedy uh uh jp buck and uh yeah that was really fun that was a really fun um yeah performance that i got to do so yeah do you think there's a bar somewhere in i don't know north america where they're doing trivia one day and maybe the the question will be, who was the first comic featured on Conan's TBS show?

Like that could be the question. Could be, but no, there isn't. Okay. And also I was, well, let's talk about Amy Schumer's show. You appeared on Inside Amy Schumer. Yeah. I mean, I know Amy and Amy would call in her friends to for roles that were appropriate. And yeah, I got to do a really fun, fun episode that was, yeah, illuminating.

So this one of the sketches I got to do was about a video game where her female character in an army video game is assaulted and tries to report it and no one believes her so it was timely relevance and made it very very funny um so yeah that was it you fly into new york you live in a hotel for two days and then you go to set which is very different on the streets of manhattan i mean you know hair and makeup is in a trailer five blocks down. There's no space there. So you just find little areas to, yeah. So that was fun getting to shoot in New York. Yeah, Schumer's the best.

She's great. She's fun. And yeah. Now, you're friendly with Amy, but would Amy like reply to your text? Are you that level of friendship with Amy Schumer? Yeah, Amy would reply to my text, I'd imagine. I mean, who

knows? Who knows how busy she is? I wouldn't bother her unless I needed to talk to her about something, yeah. Right. And would Conan, could you text Conan? Would Conan O'Brien? No, he's not. No, I don't know Conan. I used to do stand-up comedy with Amy. We were

just two people telling jokes in a comedy club, you know, oh, you're in Atlanta. I'm in Atlanta. You want to grab a beer? Yeah. Like it's a very different relationship. Conan O'Brien, uh, of course not. Cool. Cool. Cool. Regardless. And, uh, Amy's very funny. Pardon me? I said, yeah, really cool. Really cool. Now, you know, you mentioned you do pilots and, uh, there's always high hopes and sometimes these things don't work out or they they don't they don't last uh i'm just curious about how to live with your parents for the rest of your life because you were alongside uh canadian actress

sarah chalk and uh and not canadian actress brad garrett correct yes and elizabeth perkins Garrett. Correct. Yes. And Elizabeth Perkins. Yeah, that was a fun show. It's too bad I only did one season. Yeah, again, that was a I'd been through the process of shooting a pilot and it not getting picked up. And this one, you shoot the pilot and it did get picked up. And yeah, again, that is living an interesting, different life. Like that is where you drive on set. Again, that is living an interesting, different life. Like that is where you drive on set. Where did we shoot that? That was Fox Studios in California.

So you drive on set and everything is taken care of. You are treated as an actor. You're treated better than anyone on the planet. You almost feel guilty. So yeah, your food is ordered for you. You have, yeah, I mean, a ridiculously nice trailer. You're called to set. You're paid very well.

Yeah, so that was an interesting, fun experience. It was nice to be part of that life for a season to see what everyone's talking about. And do you dare to dream, like when you go to bed, you think, oh yeah, Sarah Chalk was in Scrubs and Brad Garrett was in Everybody Loves Raymond. Maybe this could be like that. Oh, yeah. I mean, at the time, you kind of hope. I mean, I don't think it was ever going to be.

I mean, Everybody Loves Raymond resonates and hits in a way. And it's from a time period where those sitcoms stood a chance of being that kind of successful. But no, I don't think I ever felt that way about that show. But I was obviously hoping because once you get on set and you form relationships with these people in the crew, you want it to last forever. Because that's the one sad thing is you don't get to really settle in and feel secure with a job. I think that's why agents do negotiate a lot of money for actors because once it goes away, you're not guaranteed anything. So yeah, that's the one thing I wish is that we were guaranteed like five seasons so you could plan your life a little bit. And yeah, you could be friends with these people.

Yeah, it's almost like a like the gig economy like it's just you have all these balls in the air and then it all cobbles together and you see what hits but uh yeah yeah yeah it's a risk it's a risk and then yeah you don't make uh yeah you don't you don't do enough shows one year then you lose your your health care and your dental like it's i mean everything is too yeah it yeah, it's not a fun way to live your life, believe it or not. It's a little bit of a risk and a little bit of a gamble. But I guess there's risks and gambles for everybody. But yeah, that's the one thing that bothers me a lot about this business is the uncertainty. Like real talk, Mr. Doerr, do you ever feel like, oh, maybe I should have just become an accountant and had a steady job? Totally. I mean, not an accountant. Look, there's a lot of different ways you can look at that question. Not an accountant. But now that I have a child, well, two children, but one of my own from the ground up, you start to look at life a little differently because

I'm getting older. I'm not the flavor of the month. I am not necessarily the person that networks are looking at to generate a new fresh idea. So, you know, maybe my skills aren't going to be. So these are the things that occupy my mind. And I start to wonder, well, what could I do if it all fell apart? I don't want to be on the road telling jokes as a stand up comedian because I'm away from my family. What could I possibly do? And I don't want to be on the road telling jokes as a standup comedian because I'm away from my family. What could I possibly do? And I don't think there's anything on that list, you know?

So yeah, I often think how great would it have been to be putting money into savings for retirement and to have a pension and to have that security of here's my job. I mean, a lot of people say, no, you don't want it. It's boring.

I don't know. Security sounds fun to me. I don't know what your wife does or your fiance does for a living, but is that stable? Yeah, you do. She works for the Alaskan Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. We talked about this. You're right.

You're right. That was real. Okay. Everything's real. I don't tell a single lie. This is all true. Right. Okay. So we got to get you like a Big Bang Theory, I think. And then you just do that for like five years and then you can just, you know, chill out for a bit. Yeah, that's the goal. That's the goal. But we need everyone to watch it.

But I've got a better idea and it's going to happen. So everyone just wait. Just wait. It's called Bonus Dad. It's happening. I love it. Okay. So I'm going to ask you just to bring you back to Canada here. You know, this is Toronto Mike. So we try to focus on Canada. But one show that I would often see filming around here. In fact, one of the cast members' sisters comes to my events. I have these TMLX events.

So Carolyn Taylor's sister would show up. Leslie. Hello, Leslie, if you're listening right now. Okay. Tell me about, speaking of sketches, tell me about Baroness Vaughn's sketch show. Yeah, that was a fun show to do. That's another, yeah, CBC, yeah, they invested some money in that show.

Wow, I mean, yeah, that's just a fun show to be a part of. I knew Jennifer Whalen. She was one of the writers on season one of the John Doe television show. So great to see her perform in front of the camera. They write their show as well. Yeah, I mean, that is a really fun show. We did a show about Mars, a sketch about Mars that you can find on my Instagram as well. I'll send it to you, Mike. You should watch it. It's a good one. But yeah, no, that's a blast to make. You get to shoot in Toronto at these wonderful places. We shot once at Casa Loma.

Yeah, it's an incredible show. That was fun to be a part of. Absolutely. And we already talked off the top about, I think it was Lieve Fumke who enjoyed Humor Resources, but that's a CBC show as well. It is, yeah. The big one you need to watch is amazon

prime the past two don't say it is it the lake yeah i yeah my i've seen it it's great okay great good but tell me more about the lake i was actually going there next anyways oh yeah yeah well the lake is a show yeah i mean I mean, so the plan, by the way, is to move the family to Canada. So we're leaving Juneau, Alaska and moving to Canada. It is time to raise these children in the beautiful country of Canada. And when I'm back in Canada shooting the television show, The Lake, we shoot in North Bay, Ontario. And it could not the last two summers have been so beautiful, so hot, so wonderful. It could not. The last two summers have been so beautiful, so hot, so wonderful. And on my days off, I get to canoe or kayak and hang out with friends on set.

It is the most fun that I've had in a long time. That show, The Lake, is a blast to make and it's only getting better. Season two is really, really great. It's for people who don't know, it explores. It's a coming of age story for the younger generation. For people who don't know, it explores, it's a coming of age story for the younger generation. And then the older parents, me, you know, we're a bunch of idiots who are involved in lake politics and elections for the boathouse and sabotage. Yeah, really fun show. What season are we going into?

Three? We filmed season two. That'll be coming out very soon in the next month or two so uh yeah coming out in june for sure have you ever uh embarked on a project with your sister allison like work together on something like that she's also very funny yeah we talked about you know what we once did we put together a stand-up comedy duo which we performed once in Ottawa at the Yuck Yucks Club we only did it once and it actually went very well but we never pursued it um no I mean we've talked about doing a podcast which is something that I would like to do

um but I really want to make it streamlined and streamlined and uh and different so I think I'm the one holding that potential project up but yeah that's a great i have not but that would be great i mean when my sister and i are really going at it there's nothing funnier in my opinion well she's like an og in the podcasting world because i know when i uh i was technically producing humble and fred show in 20 well we went back to 2006 of our first episodes like nobody knew what a podcast was but in 2011 when they started going daily in that uh 30th street uh industry that building on 30th street uh your sister was right there early on doing a podcast so she goes way back with podcasting yeah she

she continues to impress me in so many ways i mean she wears so many different hats and she's just so good at everything she does. So yeah, she does go way back. She is an OG. Why did it take you so long to put out a comedy album? Like obviously you've been doing stand, you were doing stand up before Canadian Idol, but why is it only in 2023 that you were eligible for a Juno for comedy album of the year? I think over time we change naturally. Change is important. We're going to change. It happens.

When I was a kid, I used to play a game. I'm sure a lot of you people played this as well, but it's not acceptable. We don't play it. When I was a kid, we used to play cowboys and Indians. That term no longer acceptable. That's why we play cow people and Indians. Am I right?

Yes. Women can be cows too, guys. Stop the ignorance. And while we're on the subject, if you like to bake cookies, then you know who you fucking are. Because the holiday season's around the corner.

It is not gingerbread man. It's gingerbread person. So you either get with the times or you put a fucking cock on the cookie, alright? A person who is gingerbread. Sorry about that. We'll do that instead.

A person who is gingerbread. It is important that we decolonize our thinking, though, when it comes to the way we look at the world, especially here in North America. It's important we decolonize our thoughts. For a long time we've just naturally assumed that things are a certain way, and we've taken it for granted, and we've never listened to other voices.

I mean, for the longest time we've just assumed that whoever smelt it dealt head. Excuse me? I'm trying to tell a serious story here. Wow. For the longest time,

we have just assumed that whoever smelt it dealt it. God, that is a very Western way of looking at the world. Like just because someone notices that something smells off, something's not right, I don't like this, I've noticed something, and then we go, oh, then you did it, you did it, you must have done it then, you did it. That is gaslighting right there.

Wow, okay, you know what? You did it. That is gaslighting right there. Wow. Okay. You know what? I'll talk about this in front of a mature audience next time. Unbelievable. I've never been happy with one. I mean, I've been focusing so much time on putting material on, you know, funny as hell. I'd have to generate

material every year for that and i actually got into a funk with stand-up comedy because i had i had to i had a deadline where i had no choice because it was being recorded and put on television my material had to be ready and i never felt like it was but i had to do it anyway and i got disenchanted with stand-up comedy because I thought the world is seeing the world Canada wherever is seeing a version of my stand-up comedy that I am not happy with so over the past few years I was able to take some of the jokes that I really like that I haven't put on television and then new jokes and I put them together and they seamlessly just formed this great story and it made sense um and I liked it so I think that's what it was I never felt comfortable

putting out an album because I wasn't enjoying myself as a stand-up comedian but I'm back to doing that and I think that's why the album's about so the album again a person who is gingerbread I will uh shout out FOTM Zabrina Douglas. She came over here. We were chatting because she was up for the same award. You beat her. Well, I didn't beat her. I was selected as the greatest. And that's a lot different.

Where is your Juno right now? Is it in Juno? No, they mail it to you. I don't know. I don't know where it is. I didn't give anyone my address. I don't know if I'm going to get it. Well, for some reason,

I just thought you'd be in Edmonton and they'd hand it over to you and say, here you go. They do. You walk up on stage. They hand you the Juno. You got 30 seconds to say your thanks. And then they parade you off stage. And the first thing they say is, we need that back.

We're going to mail you one. And you accept it. And then you're taken on a parade. Do you know the story of when you went in a world no i want to hear more this is interesting so i didn't i didn't for some reason i didn't think this would be the case and no one tells you what happens if you do win so uh you walk backstage and uh you then get taken down to the basement where there's a huge press room so there's about i don't know it felt like 40 people just sitting there on laptops,

like a press room after a basketball game, if you've ever seen one of those. You walk up on a stage in this conference room in a convention center, and they've got maybe five minutes to ask you questions. So hands go flying up, and you've got a whole bunch of different reporters from all over the place asking you a bunch of different questions. And then you get paraded through more interviews in another area. And then you sit down, you get photos taken with yet again, another Juno that is not yours, but you hold on to. So it's a whirlwind of about half an hour where you're doing interviews and getting your picture taken. And then you come out the other end as a regular canadian dumb human and they take that uh you know fake juno or whatever the stand-in juno they take it from

you they rip it out of your hands and say yes check the mail in six to eight weeks and you'll get your own yeah like a child like a child ripped from my arms and then you just leave going yeah i guess that's normal um but yeah it yeah, it was a fun experience. But that's what happens when you win it. They take the Juno and then you get thrown a bunch of questions and your photo taken. And yeah, interesting. Have you already thought about where will this Juno reside in the home?

Like, do you know where it's going to go when you finally receive it? No, I was going to just send it to my sister and let her have it. But apparently you can, they can, they'll send you to like, they'll give you one, I guess maybe artists over the years. Like you don't pay for it. Like, isn't it one of those deals where you can have a second one, just send like 89 99. Yeah. Maybe that's the case. I don't know. Maybe I have no idea. Uh, but no, if it's just one, I'll just give it to my sister. And if not, then no, I have no idea. Probably just give it to, I'll put it in Jackson's crib and he can just do what he wants with it.

Right. You know. That's my son, Jackson. No, I know. I inferred that. Like, I'm like, that's the son who's like, what? One years old now? How old is Jackson?

He's a year and a month. Yeah. You know, you notice how when you tell people how old your kid is, they always say oh that's a good age like that's the line but is there any bad age i always wonder like where's the age where you don't say that's i mean i have a 21 year old and like i'm trying to think of where was the bad age like all the ages are good yeah i'd imagine uh i think you know the first few months you're just keeping a blob alive but they're still kind of interesting and fun.

That's more about you than it is about the child, because are you getting enough sleep? Is your partner getting enough sleep? Are you there for one another? Is everything else getting done while you're just looking at this kid and keeping it alive? Especially because there's another kid to keep alive while you're focusing on the newborn, right? So that's, that's the challenge there. But I'd say the sweet spot I'm in right now, because there's a light on in the attic with this kid.

You can see a light behind those eyes. So he's learning, he, he misses you. So it's all ego, right? Your ego stroke with me, because when he misses you and smiles, when he sees you again or cries because he knows he's missed you uh that's a heartbreaker um but uh very satisfying right so the emotions i'm going through now are uh they either satisfy my ego or they wreck me as a person because i feel like i'm not doing enough but he's in a position now where um he's learning to walk so you're in the milestones period now, like learning to walk, learning, learning to talk, all of those things.

So I'd say this is, if anything, this is what they're talking about. This is the good age. It's a good age. Absolutely. Now, in 15 years, when Jackson comes to you and says, Dad, I think I want to be a stand up comedian. Are you going to discourage Jackson? What's going to be the reaction, do you think? Don't let your sons grow up to be cowboys.

Yeah, let them play guitars and drive them old trucks. But let them be doctors and lawyers and such. I don't know. I mean, of course, do whatever you want to do. I mean, the one thing I'm lucky about with my parents, not the one thing, but my parents didn't steer us in any direction, really. They let us be our own people.

They didn't force any, they didn't indoctrinate us into any type of religion. We were very kind of free thinkers. So I appreciate that. And I feel like that's the way I would do it. I hope I would do it that way. We'll see. My parenting skills will reveal themselves as time goes on. But no, if that's what he said he wanted to do, then of course.

But I don't know. I'm trying to think, what are the things that happened to me as a child that put me into this situation? I think I was probably some sort of traumatic event in high school. And prior to that, probably hooked on praise as a result of my parents applauding me for making silly faces. So as long as they don't do those things, he'll be good. But no, I mean, look, stand-up comedy is great. I mean, entertainment, performance. Yeah. I would absolutely support whatever he wants to do. Well, of course you will, because you're going to be a good father here,

but you might want to say, Hey Jackson, like maybe that's a side hustle. Like maybe that's no, hustle. Like maybe that's. No. No? No way. No way. You go all in with whatever. If you show an interest, that's the thing.

I mean, if a kid shows an interest, I mean, thank God. I mean, that's good for many reasons. You're interested in something. You're going to be out of the house. You're going to be meeting friends. You're going to be socializing. You're going to be learning about something. You're going to be educating yourself.

You have a passion. I don't care what it is. So Emma, my daughter, she just started skiing and she loves it. And I couldn't be happier because she hated everything else, soccer, ballet, but she loves it and she lights up. And so, yeah, no, if you like stand up, then absolutely do it. And when you do eventually get this family back into Canada, what part of Canada are you thinking of? Is it Ottawa? Whereabouts do you want to settle down? It's definitely Ontario.

Ottawa would be great because it's close to my parents and family. And my cousins have kids and I'm pretty close with them. So I think that would be ideal. However, I don't know. There's something about being near Toronto. There's something, I'm not saying Toronto, but maybe my girlfriend grew up in a tiny village called Igigig and she lives in Juneau, Alaska.

If it was up to her, she'd go more rural. So she would love to be in Canada, somewhere a little smaller, but I'd love to have access to Toronto. So somewhere near a lake outside of Toronto would be ideal if we can sort out her immigration issues because of a past criminal record. Is that true? Of course. I don't tell lies. Everything is true. Okay. Well, good luck with that because Canada would love to have you back. Absolutely. But last question here,

you've been amazing. And for what it's worth worth i happen to think you're a very funny person like there's some high praise for you i think you're hilarious thank you that well you know as a comedian i appreciate that i i guess that is the job right it's it is but i also have i also don't know any other way to be um when uh there's a lot of serious conversations that go around at my house, my girlfriend in the line of work that she's in, I have to start saying fiance, by the way. But my fiance, and her friends, when they come over, it's very emotional. And they, they love to go through laughter into crying and talk about very seriously. And I'm on the outskirts, always trying to break the tension with a joke. I think

it really is my default setting for whatever reason. So I do appreciate you saying that. I think it's just who I am. So my question is, we're similar vintage and where you were raised in Ottawa, I was raised in Toronto, but very similar. I'm curious, what music did you love as a teenager? Like what was Like, what were your jams? Favorite band was Rhymes with Orange. No, so, I mean, so, yeah, The Tragically Hip was the biggest band. I mean, look, I'm lucky enough to grow up in, yeah, there we go. Beautiful. Road Apples, everybody. The Road Apples vinyl album has been produced here. enough to grow up in uh in uh yeah there we go beautiful road apples everybody the road apples

vinyl album has been produced here that is great shout out to jake gold i was an absolute gourd downy tragically hip nut um concerts i would go to in ottawa in that sweet spot of like you know 1990 to 1994 right in there those my high school years. So, I mean, it was go to Montreal to see Pink Floyd, Division Bell Tour. It was Ottawa Civic Centre to see Lenny Kravitz open for the cult. And then the hip I would see every time they came to town, Civic Centre out at the Speedway to see another roadside attraction. Don't have to Speedway, some kind of Elvis thing that's correct um and um and then you know what like any band that would come through town the headstones I

followed for a bit I would go see the headstones at Porter Hall at Carleton University and it was bonkers what was like the 90s Hugh Dillon I mean that guy he was almost like this is the way I've thought of it before he was the one he wasn't an alpha but he terrified the alphas like there were like guys at that concert that didn't know what he was capable of I mean the spit and I mean those concerts were so crazy I'd go to Gatineau to see the Black Crows and the Headstones. Like, yeah. Anyway, so any band, you name any band from 90s grunge, and I was into it. Rusty. No.

Just to mess with you here. Okay, so I enjoyed that two-minute spiel so much. Here's what I just want to propose to you, John Doerr. Oh, boy. At some point, in April it sounds like, but I don't know, at some point you might have some time in Toronto. And if it's not in 2023 I could do it in 2024, 2025.

But if you had any time in Toronto to visit me and kick out the jams with me this is something guests do. They come back and we play your 10 favourite I would love to play your 10 favourite songs from the 90s, whatever you want. We play them.

We talk about why you love them. We talk about the music. It is the best time. No, are you, okay, number one, you don't have to pitch me. That is a reason to go to Toronto alone. Like I will visit Toronto just to do that. No, I would absolutely love that.

I mean, to sit back and play tunes and to talk about why you think they're great. I mean, yeah, there's a reason why, you know, being a radio DJ was the job everyone wanted. I mean, I would love to do that. Yeah, absolutely. Count me in.

Okay. And also this is way better in person. I mean, this was as good as a Zoom gets. I'll be very honest. This is as good as a Zoom gets. But when you're right there, it is a whole different energy. You've got to come back again just you know reach out if you're going to be in toronto and you have a little time and we'll kick out these jams and and i would just i

would just love it but it sounds like i'm overselling it because i had you at hello no no but yeah you did have me at hello and uh we're going to be we you know what you were right we are going to be best friends um but yeah no no, absolutely. Let's kick out those jams. MC5. Have you heard the presidents of the United States of America version of kick out the jams? Probably. I heard, but I can't think of it in my head right now. It's a fun one. It's a shortened version and they changed the lyrics. Listen to it. Give it a go. It's a fun one, but you know what?

Maybe we'll play that one in April in Toronto, but who knows, but I'll get in contact. And if that doesn't work, then another time for sure. And I'm hoping you kick out Peaches by Presidents of the United States of America because Peaches is a great jam. It's a beautiful jam. I saw them live at the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia, and oh, my God, what a show. That is power, punk, fun. Yeah, that was unbelievable.

Because Peaches come from a can. They were put there by a man in a factory downtown. John Doerr, thanks again for this, buddy. Good luck on the rest of the tour. Congrats again on the children and Juno. Can't wait till you come back to Canada. And then can't wait till you kick out the gems. That was fun.

Thanks so much. And that brings us to the end of our 1,223rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. John is at TV's John Doerr. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is. Palma Pasta. Is at Palma Pasta. Recycle My Electronics.

Are at EPRA underscore Canada. And Ridley Funeral Home. Are at Ridley FH. See you all tomorrow. When my special guests. Are Danny Graves. And Sammy Cohn. From The Watchman.

As we celebrate 25 years of silent radar. Well, I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guin goodness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is coming up Rosy and green

Yeah, the wind is cold But the snow, snow Warms me today And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears. And I don't know what the future can hold or will do for me and you.

But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and gray Yeah the wind is cold but the smell of snow won't stay

today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything

is rosy and gray Well I've been told that Cause everything is rosy and green Well I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of green Cause I know that's true Yes I do Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of grey

Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? All them picking up trash and them putting down rogues And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am

But who gives a damn because Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Cause everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've kissed you in France, and I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name

And I've seen the sun go down on Sacré-Cœur But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold

But the smell of snow Warms us today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy now, everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray Thank you.