Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Kenny Robinson and Darren Frost: Toronto Mike'd #1069

Episode Date: June 21, 2022

In this 1069th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Kenny Robinson and Darren Frost about their life and times in comedy, their Rank and Vile tour, and the comic greats they've worked with. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

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Canna Cabana. The lowest prices on cannabis. Guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com Today, making their Toronto Mic'd debuts are Kenny Robinson and Darren Frost. We are here.

Welcome. What a pleasure it is. Kenny, firstly, what a pleasure to meet you. You're a legend in this market. Here you are in my basement. I'm honored to have you here, Kenny. I can usually be found in most people's basements. And Frosty, I feel like I can call you

Frosty. Yes. I've been booking you on Humble and Fred for as long as I can remember. Long time. And here I am meeting you for the very first time. What a pleasure. Thank you. It's good to be here. So shout out to Humble and Fred. You were on their show this morning. Yes. And Kenny, you were on last week. Yes. So I'm just taking their,

rehashing the old, the humble and Fred guests here, but, which is also an honor. But Kenny, happy birthday to your mother. To my mother? Oh, did I? What? No.

No. Darren's giving me a look. Your mom did not just turn 100. No. No, she passed away a few years ago. But thanks for finding the sore spot on me. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. That's amazing.

Okay, on social media, a Kenny Robinson said, my mom just turned 100 and now I realize, very embarrassed. I know, I'm so embarrassed. It's a Caucasian Kenny Robinson. So there's another Kenny Robinson. There's a bunch. There's a couple of black preacher comics that do the Christian comedy circuits in the States

named Kenny Robinson. Oh, Kenny, I'm so sorry, buddy. Because I saw my Facebook, and I thought you and I were Facebook friends, and now I'm thinking it's never been you. You're also friends with another Kenny Robinson. But yeah, then there's a Kenny Cornbread Robinson who just won Christian Comic of the Year.

So he added Cornbread to his name so not to get mixed up with me. It's always good to start a show with Happy Mother's Day to your dead mom. Oh my God. That's a good start. You have no idea. She's 100.

Well, she hadn't died seven years ago. She'd be close. But hey, it's okay. Your sponsors are weed and undertakers. Good market. What's going to happen? I'm not normally this shade of red but you know 1069 episodes there's a first i i saw i was so so excited well i was happy when you said a thousand

then when you said 69 i said that's what i'm talking about so and you know and my mom died last november so i'm not sure if it's close to her time or birthday so let's just get it all out all the dead moms out there oh r.i.p right my my sincere condolences to both of you and uh you see if i were you know i could fix that in post but i refuse i want my mistakes to be exposed for the universe so my sincere apologies if i brought up any bad memories there i have the wrong kenny robinson that's amazing but i have the right kenny robinson in my basement right now you're a legend so're going to kind of chat with both of you. Sure. Right off the top,

because I produced the Humble and Friends show, and I know Humble Howard's involved in it. Please, right off the top, in case people bail after my mistake there, wishing your deceased mother a 100th birthday. Oh my God, I can't believe I did that. Whew, okay. Tell me about the Rank and File tour, and it's particular. Tell me about about it when we can see it and

then really hammer home the fact that you guys and humble howard on the same bill uh in early july so on july 8th at the rec room downtown toronto right near sky dome rogers center whatever you want to call it now whoever sponsors it now um we're doing a show at 8 p.m. First time Rankin-Vile ever playing in the GTA, playing in Toronto proper. We've been doing shows together for 13 years all across the country. We never played Toronto together as Rankin-Vile, but on the road, people go crazy for it.

Toronto's a weird egg to try to do shows in, so we kind of concentrated outside the market because we can always do Toronto solo and do well. So we said, let's finally do it one time we're recording an album that will be my ninth uh release and kenny's sixth release which is in just pure numbers i think next to maybe ron james there is no one that has released more uh comedy than me you know ron james is on the program next week well you can find that out because i sent him a message because i want to make sure i'm not saying something

that isn't true, but I know for a fact, independently, I have the most. And I'm probably the last cat to ever release something on cassette. Yes.

So that's, you know, that tells you how old I am. Well, I know how old your mother's not. Yes. So that's what I've learned early on here. So again,

we're going to bounce back and forth. Now, how do you guys share a bill, though? Who will be the head? Who will go first? Whoever's not eating. No, wait. We just go.

You want to go on tonight first or you want to close? I don't know. I'll close. Okay, I'll close tomorrow night. So have you talked about it for July 8th? No, so there's two specific things every single night. We don't know who's going to close yet till we get to the venue.

Right. And it's based on energy, right? Like if someone's not feeling it, then they can go first because then they don't have that stress to have to close the show. And if the crowd is a certain age group, then we then make that decision.

So if it skews a little bit younger, of course I jump around, have a little more energy, I will close. If it skews a little bit older, and I don't mean like 60, but I mean 40 plus, that's a pocket that I'm not saying young people don't like Kenny,

but Kenny really kills in that age group more than I do. So it's like, let him close. Do the heavy lifting. Yeah. There's some dirty nannies in the audience and I definitely want to close it up. Yeah. And that's something to see. Trust me. Okay. And here's, here's a really interesting note I just received before we started recording. And actually, I love this lady. She used to produce the Humble and Fred show. Her name is Eileen Ogden.

Yes. Okay. You know Eileen. Good. Lovely lady. You probably met her on Humble and Fred many, many times. She writes, does Darren still have that special jar under his bed? Please explain.

So there's a joke in my act where I make a reference to having a jar of semen under my bed. Oh my goodness. And yes, it's still there, Eileen. And don't worry, the lid's loose so you can help yourself.

Yes. Oh, how rancid. Wow. That's, that's got to have an odor to it. Oh my goodness here. And this is a nice.

But that's rank and file right there. Thank you, Eileen. So yeah, I guess. Her favorite joke. Yes. And here's a warning to anyone coming on July 8th. us here and this is a nice rank and file right there thank you eileen so yeah i guess her favorite joke yes and here's a warning to anyone coming on july 8th and it sounds like it's going to be amazing but if you go there uh you know you got to be ready for jokes like that yeah like i always say that we try to brand the show appropriately i don't ever want to be one of those comics that punk people or entertainers that think you know they're going to see one thing and get another

and it's like screw you kind of thing so we brand it what we brand it it's adult comedy for adults it's not just seinfeld with f-bombs there's going to be some stuff that you might kind of shake your head at right but you'll like the next joke and that's what it's about yeah you might reference a jar of semen under your bed and i'll probably be dropping topical political material before i get into the real nitty-gritty of who's in the kitty and uh love it you know so we uh you know i don't think we're that you know that we're our topics would heavy we're not too far away from the the top uh tier of american comics right how we the material that we cover and i've always said the thing about america is they embrace controversy and in canada

they run away from it so that's that is one of the hardest parts of staying in Canada and living here. But we have lives. We can't go anywhere else. Great segue. So I consider this media landscape to be risk-averse. Yes. Very much so.

And Kenny, maybe get to your perspective here as we start with you. And then I actually have more Eileen questions later. But you're American, Kenny. I got dual citizenship. I was born in Winnipeg my father was uh american born and i grew up for the most part in chicago but uh from like say grade 10 on i was in winnipeg for high school because my mom caught me trying to sneak a knife to school is that right

yeah because i was getting roughed up a bit so she caught me with a knife and said well we can't have this and she sent me up to my aunt's to go to school in Winnipeg. And there too I was caught with a knife. But eventually they broke me of my carrying a weapon to school habit. And now I wish I had those weapons to take them to some gigs. But we're okay. That sounds like the premise to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Almost, except for it's like 25 years before Will Smith.

Plus, I don't care what you say about my wife. You can put her name in your mouth all you want. Yeah, me too. That's another good segue. We're going to bounce around, but I always get back on track here. Have either of you been threatened when you're on stage, a la Chris Rock? Let Kenny go first. I've been threatened, but he's been hit.

That's the difference. You've never been slapped? No, never been slapped. I've been threatened, but he's been hit. That's the difference. So you've never been slapped? No, never been slapped. I've never had anything thrown at me. The stage has been charged, but I've had big, huge steroid bartenders grab him in Rochester, New York, and wrassle him down to the ground. And also, I fixed the mic stand like a bayonet prepared for a couple of charges.

But no, Darren, they go PLO on my boy here. Okay, Darren, let me hear this. Have you ever been slapped? I have never been slapped, but I've had things thrown at me, like the scotch tumbler glasses and stuff like that. There is a video on YouTube. It's probably the biggest regret of my career that's still out there. Millions of views of me getting attacked in London, Ontario.

I've had death threats, you know, all kinds of crazy stuff. Because of jokes, yeah. Is it because you heckle or you go at people in the audience and they don't take the joke? Like what would evoke such a reaction? So what generally happens is, especially back in that era, I would be doing a lot of topical stuff and a lot of stuff that was harsh and maybe not everybody liked it.

But then when you add alcohol into the equation, the lines get blurred of what they think is appropriate. And no security at comedy clubs. No security. Let's get that out there. Right. Then you have a problem of an audience member can do whatever they want and have no ramifications.

And that's what happens in this country. And it's happening a lot. And it's not just dirty comics. I've seen clean comics attacked and thrown stuff at and nothing happening. I've been yelling about it for 20 years. Finally, they're starting to talk about it because Chris Rock got slapped. You know, it was absolutely ridiculous what Will Smith did. And hopefully everyone takes a step back as an audience member and realize what they're doing.

I remember one time there was a Christmas party out in Calgary at one of the comedy clubs. And the owner- owner's daughter- manager of the club, she wound up having to throw some hands. Yeah. Wow.

So, yeah, I mean, you know, that's the thing. Every comic that ever took the stage is at risk because you're babysitting drunks

and like we said, there's no security. So, anytime, you know, you may be joking but somebody else may be triggered by it. So there you go.

As Kenny has always said, we're babysitters and liquor pimps. That's all we are. And do you have any concern post-Oscars that maybe this is like normalized that behavior? Maybe it's now it's open season on comics. Well, no, because I posted a great video I saw. There is a Detroit comic and a guy was coming up to say, you said, what, what, what? And he said, well, come up if you got something.

So the guy started to approach the stage, and the comic pulled a pistol out of his pocket and said, and what, and what? So then you've seen the guy just turn around and run out the club. Wow. So I'm going, well, you know, that's how them Detroit comics roll. But we don't have that luxury of caring. I mean, for me, I'm like, so Kenny's style is very classy in his delivery, right? He may say horrible things or disgusting things,

but he's got a certain level of class. He's got a suit on. He's got a way. Me, I'm a little troll. I'm angry. I'm in your face. So it obviously produces a different reaction out of people. If I was like smiling more and nice, maybe they wouldn't get so upset.

So they get so upset, it kind of gets them rattled to the point where they want to do something and take it to the next level so am i worried about it i'm not worried about it because i've been worried about it for 20 years to me it's like everyone else is just fucking catching up oh my god and speaking of chris rock again we're going to bounce around here but uh so chris rock was slapped at the oscars by will smith in case you didn't know which is gonna means i'm speaking to nobody right now but you opened kenny for uh you opened for chris rock at the Oscars by Will Smith, in case you didn't know, which means I'm speaking to nobody right now. But you opened, Kenny, for Chris Rock at the Phoenix, right? Yeah, I opened for Chris Rock. It won me the cover of Now magazine,

and Daryl Young was kind enough to say it was the show of the year. And you always get those scores, and you think, man, maybe I'll get a $50 bump up in my money. But it never happens. But, yeah, I've had the pleasure of working with Chris. And then I was in Down to Earth, a movie with him. Oh, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, but I've been blessed over the years.

I've rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest. So at what part, I mean, I kind of want to get your origin story but there's you know two of you and you're worthy of your own episodes of course but kenny like what what is your at what point in your career does this uh phoenix chris rock appearance uh when does it occur is that early in your stand-up no i was i was already uh i probably already had a comics by then 20 years in 20 i was 20 25 years in maybe right so and also just so you know kenny will never say this but many people felt that night that kenny was the star um and that's not taking anything away from chris rock because on any single night we've had openers that will

bury us it's just all the plants aligned kenny was you know trying to aim for the fences and he did and uh it's a great thing yeah i had home i had home field advantage yeah plus he had also just recently been let go from saturday night live so he may have been kind of sad but then uh there was a manager um what's it david coulee is that his name dave coulee yeah his manager was in the audience and he says your your material is world class but you don't show any vulnerability so i said i got a hundred dollars the bank. I can't afford to be vulnerable. And that, of course, Dave Coulier, that's the Full House guy. Yes, Linus Morissette, yeah.

Yeah, well, that's right. She did famously sing about him on Jagged Little Pill. Yes. Cut it out, I think, is the hilarious catchphrase of Dave Coulier. Nice guy. Big hockey fan. Yeah, nice guy. I've worked with him.

You know, polite, nice guy, really good to fans, which to me is all I care about anymore. I don't really care about what you do on stage, but if you have time for your fans and you're not an ego crazy person, then that's all I care about.

Unless you're in a boy band and most of your fans are underage. Yes. Then stay away from your fans. Then you can care less about your fans. Stay away from your fans. It's okay to be indifferent. Witnesses.

Always have witnesses. Yeah. Always leave the door open when you invite them in for alcohol that they're not old enough to have. Always leave the door open when you invite them in for alcohol that they're not old enough to have. Always leave that door open. Right. I get that reference there.

Okay. I'm going to be peppering names out just to find out about your brushes with greatness and then get more of your origin story as we go here. But because we mentioned Dave Coulier, I'm curious if either of you ever worked with Bob Saget. No. No Bob Saget stories. No. I mean, I know of some kind of urban legends attached to Bob Saget

because obviously he was one of the more kind of iconic comics and stuff. The funny thing about Bob Saget is he was famous for clean television shows and he was a very dirty comic. Reminds me of somebody. Yes. On a way smaller Canadian scale but yes. Because maybe now's a good time on a small way smaller canadian scale but yes yeah because

uh maybe now's a good time to just uh tell the listenership about this but you are a pretty damn uh prolific uh voiceover actor in cartoons and so you're you're basically you're you're appealing to children yes by day yes and then us adults at night yes batman that's right do you want to name check any of the roles? People, I mean, people who have kids might say, oh my goodness. Sure. You know, there's a show on Treehouse in Canada right now called Ranger Rob. I play Stomper, which is the co-lead.

I know Ranger Rob. Yeah. So I'm the Yeti on that show, the blue guy. Okay. Yeah. And then I'm on a show right now, which is pretty big in the States called Total Dramarama. And I play Harold on that show. So there's, and I do a bunch of Japanimation.

I'm lucky that in that business, most people realize that it's a different animal and I haven't been fired from it. Good for you. And I heard you reference this on Humble and Fred, so I'll do it as well. But you've appeared as a few different mascots. Yes.

Do you want to shout out some of the more popular mascots? So I was the Listerine Bottle for a while. I remember the Listerine Bottle. That was you. No, there was three of us. Three mascots? So I was the Listerine bottle for a while. I remember the Listerine bottle. That was you. No, there was three of us. There's been three Listerine bottles. There was three Lassies, three Listerine guys. Yeah.

So I was the second Listerine bottle. I was the Val Kilmer of the series, broody and hard to work with. And then my act- The first one fell into a well and died. It was very tragic. And then my act caught up to me and they had to replace me. Oh, that's great. And- Then I was the Bell Dime, which was famous because it was in the last Seinfeld episode.

So it was right across North America for that. And then I was the cash for life fairy. Pretty much, as I said earlier, you know, if you have a funny suit and you want to pay me, I'll wear it. Just Febreze it for the next person. Also, you were the Leons. Didn't you do the Leons? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Like a don't pay a cent event thing or something? Yeah, yeah, with a couch on my back. I had a run. I did like 50 commercials in three years. I had a run. There's no doubt about it. Does it pay well when these spots are national? Does it pay well?

It pays well when it's American national. That's F you money. That's real F you money. Wow. Canadian national, you might make your mortgage payment. Okay, but still not bad. Not bad. No, I'm not complaining, but I'm just saying the comparison is,

like, one American national pays your mortgage for the year. One Canadian, a month. Gotcha. And, Kenny, you've never been a mascot. You've never jumped in a suit for a buck. Well, every time I'm booked, I jump into a suit. No, but, I mean, I've done a couple of cartoons lately, but, I mean, I also was a regular on Radio Free Roscoe, which was a kid's show.

I was a regular on Doc with Billy Ray Cyrus. Right, and like a good size role. Like, it's pretty amazing. I always, you know, don't want to hype up Kenny too much, but when you tour with kenny on the road it's amazing when you're in somewhere we were in newfoundland like tiny small town newfoundland in a like a value village type place and this guy walked up and went jellybean oh wow this is from doc which is his character in doc which hadn't been on the air for a few years and you just kind of it was pretty popular it was definitely popular but you know after a couple years you know the way the world works you think it's forgotten.

And it's like the guy's like, what are you doing in this place in the middle? And it's like Kenny couldn't walk down the street without like every fourth or fifth person kind of looking at him going, I think I know that guy. And when you buy crack off a kid who said he watched you on Radio Free Roscoe, that just touches your heart. Oh, it's so beautiful. It's like, wow, to think that I entertain you when you were a child, and now you're selling me poison. I love this. I love these stories, too. And here's a name. I think, Kenny, you'll have something to say about this name.

Paul Mooney. I had the pleasure of working with Mooney twice, once for a week when Mark Breslin brought him in for his comedy festival, and then I worked with him the last time he came through Toronto at, I guess it's now the Docks. Now it's called the Rebel. No, it's beside the Docks. It's where the old Bloor Cinema used to be.

Terrible venue for live comedy. But Mooney's one of the greatest. And it was great because everybody was always telling me to tune my stuff down. And the more I worked with him, the tougher it got. And he says says i liked how you stopped sugarcoating your stuff so i'm going damn ain't nobody ever said i sugarcoated shit before but but you know according to mooney he uh he saw some uh he saw some stuff where i didn't need to go soft and you know with paul mooney for me he's the perfect example of i didn't agree with

everything he said there are some things I totally disagreed with, but I still was like, I want to listen to this guy. He's going to be funny. Even if I don't agree with it, it's still funny. And many people rediscovered, if you will, Paul Mooney or discovered him for the first time because of his appearances on the Chappelle show. Of course. Yeah. And he wrote for the Chappelle show and he wrote one of the most iconic sketches on SNL of all time. Which one? The one where Pryor and Chevy Chase have the back and forth. White.

Black. Yeah. Tell me about... He also wrote Homey the Clown. Yes. Really? In Living Color, yeah. I didn't know that.

You know, keep the fun facts coming, man. I live for that stuff. This is the thing. When you have a career of 40 or 50 years, like he did, and he rubbed shoulders and started before some of these stars you know they they know that he's got stuff left in the tank he was a big uh

big supporter of sandra bernhardt right love it love the paul mooney stories if any more strike you just spit him into the microphone but because i mentioned dave chapelle's uh when i first met sam kinnison he told me that me that Paul Mooney taught him something. Okay, talk to me about Sam Kinison then. Loved Sam Kinison. I got to work with him a few times before he got really big. I'd usually be hosting the Thursday night or the Wednesday night that he was in Toronto. And the first time I saw him, I missed his first trip through because I was on the road.

But the first time, I just leaned against the back of the wall and just like I just kept repeating cold blooded, cold blooded because I had never heard anything like well, the world had never heard anything like that before, you know. So I had the pleasure of working with Sam a couple of times. And then one time he was doing a show out in Mississauga and I didn't hear about it, but I just heard from people that were there said Sam gave you a shout-out. He said, make sure you check out Kenny Robinson. I was kind of touched by that because I didn't think Sam even remembered my name or knew my name. So that was… Sam Kinison is one of the two comics.

Whenever me and Kenny talk about comics, like for me, because of the style of comedy I am, people automatically think I love Sam Kinison. I must be a Sam Kinison disciple. You know, I liked Sam Kinison. I didn't agree with a lot of his material, especially towards the end and the misogyny and the anti-gay and some of that stuff. Some of it I loved, some I didn't.

But, you know, Kenny would always say to me, you know, there's two comics that just rocked a room like I'd never seen before. And it would always be Sam Kinison. And then the stories about Mike McDonald coming into town. Yeah, or Bobcat Goldwaite. Or Bobcat. Wow.

So there's a short list, but it's like you would always kind of say, you never really can understand unless you saw it live. It just doesn't translate to the same degree. Well, now I need you to tell me about, you know, we lost Sam Kinison too young. You know, Paul Mooney's no longer with us. They're all dead.

They're all dead. But another guy we lost too soon mike mcdonald uh please because every time i speak of a stand-up comic you know from ralph ben murray you name it i have a comic on the show uh to ron james you name it they'll talk about how you had to see it live and then wow like this is the comics comic i want you two comics to tell me me about Mike McDonald. Well, he didn't talk to me for the first three years I was in town. You know, I think when I first spoke with him, you know, when I first came down, he goes, eh, got some hip stuff, pretty hip, eh. And that was in the conversation. But, you know, he ran with a different crew.

You know, it was like a Vaudrey rack off, the guys are more established. And I was coming in from not being a part of the roster and doing shows with guys like French McFarlane and Wayne Fleming and any Sulawaki hut we could find, you know. But over the years, I got closer with Mike. But he was, you know, the thing is he was dropping an hour and a half, two hour long sets. So that was my first thing I gathered in my head was like well

if he you'll never get to get that mike mcdonald money until you can do two hours but little did i know i was never going to get that mike mcdonald money until way later on when he'd be complaining that he was making kenny robinson money so and i and i for me with mike mcdonald i never really got to know mike or see Mike until after his kind of surgery right so you know Mike had a certain I don't want to talk ill will of the dead but he I'm sure he'd be fine with this in the beginning of his career he was not known to be the nicest person let's just say it like that and there was a lot of comics who did not like Mike for certain reasons about the way he either behaved off stage or whatever but after that

surgery or even up to that surgery and afterwards it was like a different mike so that's the mike i know um so you know he was a guy who uh kind of accepted his past didn't run from it uh was honest about it and i appreciated that because if you're gonna be a dick you got to say i was a dick and i'm trying not to be a dick anymore i appreciate that and meanwhile that whole younger generation of comics, madam, just got to meet the Mike that stayed out and played board games and paid for the pizzas for everybody. That was, you know, the big mentor that one, you know, that always had had time to sit down and talk comedy with any young comic that was just popping by, you know.

So, yeah, I mean, everybody changes. There's the you know, he was he was, I guess, maybe the Elvis Costello type of, you know, so, yeah, I mean, everybody changes. There's the, you know, he was, I guess, maybe the Elvis Costello type of, you know, they used to say he was punk comedy. That's a good analogy, Elvis Costello. The Elvis Costello comedy, I like that. I think he would like that, too. Yeah, and his name is True.

Yes. Love it. Okay. Now, did you know the band behind Elvis Costello for a period of time was the, but not the Attractions, actually, but they became The News and Huey Lewis and the news. Yes.

Yes. See, you look like you, I mean, both of you. I'm the world of a king of useless facts. Yes. See,

I'm the prince. So now that I have the king in my studio, just if it strikes, you just say it, don't worry about whether it fits the theme. All right. But now, you know,

you're FOTMs now. That means friends of Toronto, Mike. And I'm really glad you're on. And I can't wait to have this conversation. But I'm going to ask you about a couple of other FOTMs that I think, particularly you, Kenny, you've crossed paths with. Because you've got a couple of years on Darren here. But my good friend, client, and my rabbi, you know, but not that kind of rabbi, Ralph Ben-Murgy. Did you ever, Kenny, did you ever see Ralph on stage?

Yeah, Ralph was very clever, very sharp, very clean. He used to host Monday nights when I first came to town. He was like the open mic guy. And then he kind of just dropped away and went to school. And then the next thing we know, he had a TV show. So he was, you know, he was, and he was also uh you know he's very good doing crowd work back in the back in the day they called it spritzing which i can't stand but now they call it crowd you don't do crowd work it's not that i don't do it i just can't stand

it i can't stand it when someone just does a whole show on it i'm just and there are some people that can pull it off but for me it's like a magician watching another magician it's like i know the tricks i know all the little bells and stuff. And it's like, okay, you're going to go. It's going to go here and it's going to go there. Okay, fine. Wow. Now, you know, Ralph Ben-Murray, I've never seen him on stage.

I just heard him tell me stories. And somebody who also saw him on stage and is actually promising to come on Toronto Mike to deliver Ralph Ben-Murray's sets because because he remembers them by heart, is John Wing Jr. Do you remember seeing John Wing, Kenny? John and I, well, he was ahead of me when he first came up. So, you know, so I emceed for him quite a few times in the early days. You want to tell me about, and we'll get back to you, Darren, for sure. But you want to tell me about coming up?

Like, at what point did you realize, Kenny, that you wanted to make people laugh for a living like when did that happen well I wanted to be an actor and I was taking theater at University of Winnipeg along with political science and what have you but what happened was every time I auditioned I wasn't getting the parts because the auditions were like Diarrhea of Anne Frank and I had like a three foot high afro So What is that furry thing in the attic We must go look Gee Anne would have survived

If it wasn't for the mulatto With the big hair She could have stayed hidden from the Nazis longer But the afro gave her away So I wasn't getting any of those things And then I was having run ins With bikers and what have you. But I guess it was 1976, 77, when I first heard Richard Pryor,

That Nigger's Crazy. And that album just stabbed me in the ribs. Wow. Because every time he dropped the N-bomb, before it was a word that if I heard, I either had to fight or run. And then Pryor reminded me of the guys I went to school with in Chicago, of my dad's best friends that, however, James Brown was wearing their hair at the time. That's how they wore their hair at the time, you know.

So he empowered the word for me. And because his material was so street-like, you know, he talked about whorehouses and drugs and all this stuff that would be of interest. So back then, there are three black comics to think about. There was Cosby and there was Pryor. And then if you were older, you thought of Dick Gregory. Well, I read about Dick Gregory, and Dick Gregory is a household name in my family.

My mom and dad went to New Year's Eve. Doesn't get enough credit. You know, so like my parents went to see him, you know, at Robert's show lounge, you know, when New Year's Eve or for one bit, he just smoked a cigarette for six minutes, smoking it different ways and playing with it without saying a word and had the audience in his hands. So those were the three that, you know, that, went to Pryor because I was at age of 19 where, you know, you want to be badass without going to jail.

And that seemed the best way to do it. And you kept bringing that, you know, that knife around. That knife was going to put you in jail at some point. Well, thank God I've dropped it. I've had friends that finish second in knife fights, and that's not good. No, you don't want to finish second and night fights. So at this point, Richard Pryor inspiring you, you decide, hey, I want to do that.

Yeah, a friend of mine dared me. Yeah, and I was doing basically impressions at the time. Okay. You know, so I was basically doing everybody that was dead that ever made a gangster film for Warner Brothers. Right. So after about the second or third time on stage, I said, you ain't got enough voices to make this last dude. You better start writing some material. And of course, it was the rawest shit you can imagine.

Man. Yeah, back in the 80s, a lot of people don't realize this. Like when Kenny would tour, people would come to a show, then not go to work the next day and drive to the next show. Like it was almost like The Grateful Dead. Wow. Out in Western Canada. There were so many stories of that from an older generation of comics that would tell me when i go out there

it's like you haven't seen anything until you saw that like they would go from like winnipeg to like saskatoon to like like just like hardcore logo yes yeah where they would go like say um you know i i did saskatoon and then i say okay i gotta go to uh the prince albert on tuesday and north battleford on wednesday and they'll go we Prince Albert on Tuesday and North Battleford on Wednesday. And they go, we'll drive you. And I go, it's okay. They give me money for the bus. No, you don't have to take a bus.

You don't want to ride a bus. We'll drive you. And then there'd be five cars of good old boys drinking whiskey and rye. They had the speed detectors, the fuzz busters. And they all had beer in their cars. So then they beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. So that meant put the bottle down. So then it didn beep, beep. So that meant put the bottle down. So then it didn't mean slow down.

It meant put the bottle down. Put the bottle down. And then as soon as you're past the mountain, it's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know? Wow. And then like one time, they were going to punch out these hecklers. And I said, no, don't, don't.

It's a bad reflection on me if you guys start a brawl. And they go, well, we don't want to do that. So they said, take Kenny down the street. There's another bar where you're going to go to i think it's called bourbon street in new orleans or something with a something with a name from louisiana that had no business in saskatchewan so um you know i'm going i'm going where are the other guys where's chunking the guys where's and then they come in about you know 20 minutes later and go where you guys been my mom already my fifth drink here and he go oh we were just punching out those guys that gave you a hard time,

but we didn't want to reflect poorly on you, so that's why we had you come here. So I'm going, Jesus, what kind of apes am I traveling with? But I miss them. I wish I could see them all again because I got a list of people they can go hurt for me now. But basically, I was out there almost like a Frank Sinatra kind of attitude. And I don't know of anyone else in Canadian comedy that happened to. And I've heard all the stories from different comics. It's a time that will never be reproduced.

My goodness. At least we can still hear the stories here. Now, Kenny i i'm curious because i'm trying to think of other comics but canadian comics working in canada you know with comedy from a black perspective like who else you mean alongside with me now or who's hot now no back in the day well there was evan carter poor evan caught the worst of me because you know when i first met my guy oh so you're the top nigger in town. He's like, no, I'm not into that.

I'm just trying to do my thing, man. And, you know, he was like the son of a judge and very clean and corporate. Super good guy. And I came in thinking I had the head hunt. But that was my bad. But he's been, him and I have been great pals over the years. So there's myself. And then later on, Gene Clark, who was an actor slash comic, would come into the scene.

And then, let's see, then Greg Morton came along. Who did great two years ago on America's Got Talent. Okay. Yeah, and then we went from Greg Morton to Orson Payne, and then Russell Peters came along. So I took Russell into my arm. Before you start with russell i think if you're gonna do any kind of timeline at this moment so i started to come to toronto

and start doing comedy right when about the you showing up in 90s in the early 90s okay and uh you know being a white comic especially then it was pretty easy to get stage time and kind of go through the ranks of yuck yucks and the way it is and get off amateur night. And, uh, there was a lot of black comics that couldn't get through. And this is around the same time that Kenny started his show called the Nubian disciples, which I want to,

I want to talk about. Right. So we should talk about that before we talk about Russell, because this started before Russell, he started this show and I, and I was there and I saw it, all these young comics who were even as funny as me or funnier, couldn't get to stage time.

And Kenny saw that. And Kenny wanted to have a system or a situation where they'd have a night. So he did a show once a month on a Sunday and called it Nubian Disciples of Prior. And it attracted a completely different crowd than normal. And I'll let him talk on his behalf. Yeah, Kenny, personally, yeah, I want to hear about this because it's been going on for 27 years. Like this is still happening, right? Yeah, we're still doing it. And I guess there's maybe four, what, three, four generations of comics now.

Probably four now. That have cut their teeth on it. You know, everybody from Jean-Paul. Gavin Stevens. Gavin Stevens. Ron Jostle. Trey Anthony, who's just big now doing all kinds of stuff. Roy Day from back in the day.

Then you've got Crystal Therrier, all this new kind of generation. And then Sabrina. And then we had my kid, my son kills me. He goes, Dad, you ever hear of a comic named Kevin Hart? And I go, yeah. Go in the garage, look for boxes that say receipts, and you may find two or three autographs. Because he used to come up from Philadelphia and do this show for me for like 150 Canadian.

And then he brought Big Jay Oakerton with him one time. It opened for him. So he had that. And then had Tommy Davidson because he was up in town doing the movies. And then we had Chappelle. The movie I did with him. Okay, what movie? It was called Santa Who for Disney.

I played his sidekick. Also, he was also here for Booty Call. Booty Call. Yeah, so we had Dave Chappelle come up while he was making Half Baked. He did two sets. I mean, one of the most famous nights of Nubian, back from that era in the 90s, not to talk on your behalf, but I remember Will Smith came to see it yeah the Raptors came nobody got slapped that night but Will Smith Jada was there yeah um a bunch of Raptors I mean this is how hot the show was it was like packed sold

out line up out the door and just a level of comedy like if they love you they love you if they don't love you they will boo you off just so I understand, so this was an opportunity for comics of color to get stage time? Yes. Amazing. And when did you drop the of prior of the name there? Within three months of it because I figured, well, we don't want his, you know, he was ill when I saw something where his ex-wife

returned to him and I thought, well, we don't want to have any kind of lawsuits here or anything like that. So, you know, just drop that. Or there was a great night when there used to be a comic around named Jazzman, and he was working as an extra on the films, and he brought in Anthony Anderson with DMX. Wow. And there was an argument with the manager

because DMX wanted to bring his can of ginger ale into the club with him. What? And Mike and him wasn't going to let him bring the ginger ale in so there's all almost a fight and they they come in so there's like those two and another guy with them and then they had a security a bodyguard with them and you could just see the anger just on dmx just like was coming off like steam like off a dog in the fuck cold you know and uh and uh they both had uh him anderson the other guy had suckers in their mouth and they sit down they're angry and i just look and i go y'all be a lot more

intimidating without them suckers in your mouth so then the audience starts to laugh and go we so that he made fun we the lollipop crew we take care of suckers so then they were all good and then anthony anderson was starting to offer to buy women at different tables drinks. And I said, sit down. You know you ain't got no money. He said, oh, I got money. And then he brought out a big wad of American bills. And out of his pocket, another big wad of Canadian bills.

Whatever you want, baby girl. Whatever you want. I said, never mind, baby girl. I'm going to come sit and drink with y'all. So then we brought on the next act. And then the show continued. Oh, my goodness. It's funny.

Because earlier you said you started, because earlier you said you started uh ken you said you started as like a impersonation comic or before you wrote your own material because jim carrey did the same thing right i'm only thinking of jim right now because you mentioned anthony anderson like the first time i saw him was like the triplets in that uh jim carrey movie uh do you remember the name not i don't remember oh me myself and irene okay just struck me when i first moved to toronto yeah one of the places i uh I lived in an apartment, 1536 Bathurst, I think it was. I lived downstairs and Jim Carrey was upstairs. I lived with another comic named Brian Beezer back then.

Wow. And then, of course, I was good friends with Wayne Fleming, who was Jim Carrey's best friend. Best friend that wasn't famous. So, you know, so, you know, yeah, it's just once again, I'm just name dropping like a. No, I want you to. And I want to know, did you have any idea that Jim Carrey would become Jim Carrey? No, I thought I was going to be bigger than Jim Carrey. That's when Jim got bigger.

Everybody said, did you know he was going to be this big? I said, man, I thought I was going to be that big. I had Breslin on the show. So Breslin came over and I was asking him about Jim Carrey. And he basically said he didn't think Jim Carrey was very good. Like Breslin was shocked when he became the one who broke out and became a global sensation. Because the thing about this game is, it's why you got to be really nice to people. You got to be really nice because people. You've got to be really nice

because right now you may not be funny, but something in your life can happen and a switch can flow and all of a sudden the next few years you're the funniest comic on the planet. And if you weren't nice to them, like certain people, then that's going to come back to bite you in the ass.

Plus Jim had a whole different character and talent and bag of tools than the rest of us. I mean, he was fearless. When he went to Los Angeles, he was fearless. He had nothing to lose. He lived in a van with his parents. Come on.

Physically, he had it above everybody else. Right. And, you know, and he could do, I mean, he did this one thing where he just did the facial expressions of celebrities so he didn't even have to talk. Yeah. And he'd have the audience applauding. That's, I remember these performances well, yeah. And James Dean, where he just, I don't know where he got the skin

to put the wrinkles on his forehead, but he did that Dean thing, and then he'd slide into Brezhnekov, and then all these other guys. So he was, but you know, his father was a musician, and then had to try and bounce between not making know, not making a living doing music and then as an accountant. So, you know, the showbiz bug was in his blood. So, you know, I mean, when I first met him, he used to wear a tuxedo with black patent leather ballet shoes. And his father would say, those are your work clothes.

If you worked at the airport unloading luggage, you'd have a uniform. If you were a cop, you'd have a uniform. If you're a janitor. So Jimmy's uniform was a tuxedo and patent leather shoes. Wow. I'm loving this, guys. So keep it coming. But I want to now know, so we talked about the Nubian Disciples,

which is going on for 27 years, last Sunday of the month at Yuck Yucks. Amazing. But tell me, did that help the career of let's talk about Russell Peters for a moment. Both of you, uh, Russell Peters is another, you know, local success.

So let me start first. Cause he's got more stories. Okay. So, um, the thing about Russell and one of the great qualities of Russell Peters is he can play a comedy club or a giant arena. And I've seen both.

And he still has the same kind of energy. Like it's a small room and he can make a giant room become very small. And that is a talent that you can't teach. You either have that or you don't. So whether you think Russell's funny or not funny, blah, blah, blah, the level of talent that that guy has is amazing just in that regard alone. And then when you add on the fact that, you know, Russell's a really nice guy.

He works hard. He's even said to me that, you know, very few people in his life he would call a mentor. He considers Kenny almost like a mentor in the very beginning because that was the show you had to get on, that newbie show. If you're anything or anyone, that's the show. And still to this day, it's still a great show. That young comics think it's like they treat it like an open mic,

and it's not an open mic. It's the biggest show in Toronto. In the country. Yeah. And Kenny, I know you're a humble guy, or maybe not. They treat it like an open mic, and it's not an open mic. It's the biggest show in Toronto. In the country. Yeah. And Kenny, I know you're a humble guy, or maybe not. Maybe that's my buddy Howard Glassman. That's why I always have to be here, because he is humble.

Kenny, are you aware of the influence you've had on all these comics and how much respect and love you get from them? I'm aware of it when I'm watching TV, and they're on TV. I'm at home not. I'm very much aware. Okay, so Kenny, on is there that's a i think it's a fair question to ask and money is not everything like let's throw that out there obviously oh you got no idea how much it is well then that's what i want to speak about that's like one time russell flew me down to open forum in san francisco at cobs and that was funny because i spent a year plus living in san francisco and I only got

on Cobb's stage twice and didn't get past the audition time each time. So, uh, and I did more shows. Uh, I did like seven shows and three nights or something like that with Russell. So, uh, you know, we, we met up with these, uh, with these party girls afterwards. And, uh, the one girl says, uh, don't you don't, don't you feel bad that, you know, that you, you know, you're, you're,

you're, you're just as opener. And, and I knew what she was trying to say. And I said, well, the way I look at it is, uh,

he's the Rolling Stones and I'm muddy waters. Yeah. So, which I think is the best analogy, you know, thank you very much. And, you know,

it's a great analogy. Yeah. But any, any bitterness at all? Do you ever think like you should have been pulling up in a Rolls Royce right here? I mean, firstly, you should have been able to say no to coming over at all because you'll be on whatever Fallon or something instead. Like any bitterness at all? Well, maybe years ago.

But then, you know, a few years ago, I realized that a lot of the people or a lot of the comics I may have been envious of are all dead. And none of them had families and i've been lucky enough to you know have two lovely wives and and three children and uh and just became a grandfather so when i think about the quality of life that i've had sure i would have loved to have had a swimming pool and and more expensive cars to have fixed when they go wrong but um that's right you know overall i don't have to worry about a check bouncing. And if I want to go cross border shopping, I can always get a suit for a hundred bucks. So, you know, um, you know, it is what it is. Time is a great equalizer. And I've always

thought that. So like, yeah, when you're in your twenties and you see someone like just shoot through the roof and then you see them at 40 and they're not happy and you're not maybe not the happiest but you're happier than them that's when you realize that look am i am i a bitter guy i am about the business because i wish the business was better am i bitter i own it but i also try to take as much time as i'm bitter to create things and write jokes and whatever but i'm not bitter about my life because my life outside of comedy is far more fruitful than my life inside comedy. And that's something that most comics who are successful might not have. So it's all based on what you've measured success on.

Whether I have 100 people or 300 people, am I happy when I drive home and I get to be with my family? That's what's most important. And I still got that Johnny Cash working with Rick Rubin idea that I still got. I got some albums and I still got some stuff. That's another great analogy. And I got a T-shirt with the FU finger for the industry to pose to. But I'm not done yet. No, I mean, you look great.

And you mentioned your grandfather now, which I think will be happy news for some people. But Eileen, early on, I mentioned Eileen wanted to know about the jar under Darren's bed. But she also wants to know how has being a grandfather changed you, Kenny? Well, I've only gotten it because my daughter lives in London with

her husband and baby. That's because they're... Are London or the other one? London, Ontario. They both work in radio there. So, and her father, my daughter's grandfather was, you know, the top morning radio guy in London

for like 30, 40 years, Peter Garland. So, you know, so the radio in London and that family are kind of, you know, ingrained there. Wow. So I haven't had a chance

to see her as much. And she's still only maybe like six months old. But, you know, it makes me count my blessings, you know, which I think is the important thing. And then, of course, there's all kinds of jokes. Like, you know, the first time I held her and she started crying and I said, if you don't cry, I'm going to bite your face off. And I made faces like I was going to bite her face and she started laughing. And then, of course, you know, I've only used this a couple of times because why,

you know, why use a grandchild to get jokes? But granddaddy, grandpa can't kiss you because granddaddy was eating dirty ass last night you know so you know say stuff like that while holding her and stuff like that but you know it's it's it's wonderful and darren uh how many kids you got i have three you know just so we just had father's day on uh on sunday and and we were stuck in an airport in thunder bay until like eight o'clock at night what a enjoy father's day enjoy your 12 sandwich what time do you hook up with your bunch 10 o'clock at night. Enjoy Father's Day. Enjoy your $12 sandwich. What time did you hook up with your bunch? 10 o'clock. Yeah, I couldn't get a cab out of the way.

I walked away from two of them because they tried to charge me $10 more than they charged me when I went down there. Yeah, yeah. So it reminded me of the whorehouse in Tijuana. The cab charges you so much going, but when you want to leave, when the sun comes up, it's more.

You know? Wow. But I hooked up with two of my youngins, my daughter and my son, and we went out to a restaurant where the kitchen didn't close till 11, and they had gifts for me, and we had dinner, and I said,

man, you know, see, there was no point in getting upset over being late or the plane being delayed. You know, Willie Nelson says, you know, time will says, you know, time will take care of itself. So leave time alone. Right.

And, you know, as I try to get a little bit more spiritual in these days, it's, you know, just have faith that things are going to turn out. Yeah. So I bring up father's day and love hearing that because I had a photo. I have four kids and we took this,

my wife took this beautiful photo of us. And then I, I tweeted the richest man in town. And that's a line from it's a wonderful life. By the way, a photo i have four kids and we took this my wife took this beautiful photo of us and then i i tweeted the richest man in town and that's a line from it's a wonderful life by the way jim jim carrey would do a very good jimmy stewart as i recall and back in those days of the impersonation but richest man in town it really is a wonderful life it really is and he used to just bit i said looks like we're having ourselves our nuclear holocaust all right this is yep fireman bill yeah pretty much that's right that's the the origin but i i

mean when i and i was just getting emotional because with all this noise going around and there's some chaos in the world and friction and and ill will but then you look at what matters and you have the love of your you know your children and then you realize that's... People are on their phone too much. They're not looking what's right in front of them. I mean, it's something that's said every single day and no one listens. Right. They don't realize what they have in front of them.

They're looking for something else. And that's just human nature. It doesn't... Either people will wake up at a certain age or they won't. And a man can never really be a man if he doesn't spend time with his family. Great line, Godfather line. Love it. Oh my goodness. Okay, so much more ground I want to cover. I just want to give you some

gifts because you've made your way here. Okay. Now, it was an easier commute for Kenny than it was for you, right, Darren? Yes. But was it a, like, did you want to kill me when you got here? No, I do this all the time. That's why I moved to Barrie. You can't move to Barrie and complain. And how is Barrie, by the way? Because I've heard Barrie, you got in before Barrie became as expensive as Toronto? Yes. That's yes i got lucky i moved there about a year right

before the pandemic okay and so yeah i'm hearing stories now and they're like yeah that that that whatever that three-bedroom home in barry that uh that's like a million dollars now and i'm like wait no that's the reason you moved to barry even hamilton is no longer affordable none of them are where do you move now if you need it you have? You really have to go to a tiny, tiny town, and then you're paying gas. You got to find a girl with a checkered past in her own mobile home and hope for the best. Absolutely. Now, here's your gifts because you made the trek. Okay, now I'm going to ask some loaded questions here, but do either of you enjoy Italian food,

delicious, authentic Italian food? Yes, absolutely. Okay. You're going home with a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. Nice. All right. You're a Mississauga guy, so you know that Palma Pasta is in Mississauga and Oakville.

They have four locations, family-run business, and my buddy there, Anthony Pacucci, sends over frozen lasagna for guests of Toronto Mike. Super, thank you. In fact, meat or veggie,

if you guys have to choose right now. I would do meat. Meat. Okay, I believe I have two meat lasagnas. We laugh at people. We laugh at vegetarians. Yeah, we laugh.

So thank you, Palma Pasta. And do either of you, or maybe you live with someone who does or have a neighbor, but do either of you enjoy fresh craft beer? Yes. Kenny, it's okay. You got a neighbor maybe if you don't drink yourself? Yes, he does. He's got a neighbor.

He'll take it. I got neighbors. You got neighbors because there are anyone who enjoys a delicious fresh craft beer knows Brewed Right Here in Southern Etobicoke is Great Lakes Brewery. Yes, of course. I know that one. neighbors. You got neighbors because there are anyone who enjoys a delicious fresh craft beer knows Brood right here in southern Etobicoke is Great Lakes Brewery. Yes, of course. I know that one. So you're going home with some fresh craft beer as well. StickerU.com

Do they have a local distillery around here? It's very close to here. It's down the street from the Costco near Royal York and Queensway there. It's super close. In fact, that location is going to host TMLXX. That's the 10th Toronto Mic Listener Experience. That's happening September 1st from 6 to 9 p.m.

And actually, I think it's kind of all formulating in my head, but there's going to be a mic and some wonderful musicians are going to like perform a song or two acoustically, and it's going to be magic for FOTMs who want to out if you if either of you wanted a a few minutes of mic time to you know just to make the fotm blast i'm just letting you know it would be an honor september 1st september 1st yeah it's happening from six to nine at great lakes brewery that's tmlxx i wear doer pants and shorts they're're very comfortable, rugged, and I'm telling you, I can bike in these things,

and then I look fly when I'm in the boardroom. I was recently moderating a panel at an Ocana Biz conference. Dewar have a location on Queen Street, but you can go to Dewar.ca, D-U-E-R.ca, and if you use the promo code TMDS, you save 15%, and do it to help the show. It's been awesome working the past few months with Dewar,

and I want them to reap the benefits of fueling the real talk here. So shout out to Dewar. And cannabis, either of you two partake? Big time. Big time. Okay, my friend. Cannabis, I got a toque for each of you from the good people at Canna Cabana. Nice.

They got over 100 locations across the country. They won't be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories. And a sticker there from stickeru.com. That's a Toronto Mike sticker for you guys as well. Thank you. And last but not least, and the last of the gifts, and we're getting back to this amazing conversation, but you never know when you have to measure something, right?

So you got to have a Ridley Funeral Home measuring tape. You should each have one of those. Perfect for the car. You never know, man. No matter what, I still want them to put me six feet down. Okay? Measuring tape or no measuring tape. Not five and a half, six feet.

I want that full six. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Brad Jones there has a great podcast called Life's Undertaking, which I'm proud to produce, and I urge people to check it out. Okay, we talked, Russell. Go ahead. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be funny to your sponsors, proud to produce and i urge people to check it out okay we talked about go ahead go ahead i'm sorry anything go nice sponsors but it's not the happiest day when you go check out a funeral home unless of course you didn't really like your dad he's leaving you a fortune

since you opened up with my dead mom uh you know i thought it's oh i thought you forgot about that i was hoping kenny forgot i'm looking at funer here, and I'm thinking how I couldn't even give her a funeral because all of her friends and relatives have died. I can't believe how long I thought I was friends with the Kenny Robinson, and now I'm realizing it was another Kenny Robinson. Oh, man. There used to be a Ken Robinson that pitched for the Blue Jays. I was going to say, yeah.

And he died in a car accident. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Yeah. See how that works? Okay. Well, also maybe the brewery. Love the people at Great Lakes. Okay, Dave Chappelle, man.

I think we brought him up earlier a couple of times, but you worked with him, Kenny? You have any... Yeah, he's done two guest spots at Nubian shows when he was in town filming Half Baked,

but first time I'd seen him live, I think he was like 16. It was at Just for Laughs, and I was just thinking, like, this kid's too him live i think he was like 16 it was at just for laughs and uh i was just thinking like this kid's too damn good and he was saying like he used to go pull 35 spots a week you know just uh you know always working on his chops kind of thing and uh norm mcdonald we lost him recently uh did you ever work with norm from the very beginning but darren's got a funny story about norm so i was on a western tour as maybe eight years ago um in some small town hating my life just trying to you know not jump off the building and it's like three o'clock in the

morning because i have insomnia when i'm whenever i'm on the road i'm up to like 6 a.m and i just get this direct message on twitter from norm mcdon And I'm like, I've never met Norm. I've never talked to Norm. I don't, didn't think Norm even knew who I was. Yeah. And so you always have to check. It's got the blue check mark. That means it's been verified.

Verified by Twitter. And he just says to me, hey, Darren, someone said that you should be one of my openers on a tour up there in Canada. And I just wanted to talk for a second and I'm looking at this and I'm like going is someone punking me right right because from what I remember and maybe I'm wrong and because I wasn't close to Norm my kind of comedy was the farthest thing not only from what Norm did but what Norm liked Norm didn't like super serious comedy he liked it to be a little more you know weird and out there and

irreverent yes that's the word thank you but he didn't have a problem with blue though no no he didn't have a problem but i just never thought that that would be the person so i'm trying to ease into this going i don't know if i'm the right guy for you and you know we're keeping it light it turns into this like two hour maybe three hour back and forth conversation and we just start talking about you know the the back in the day because i know the people he knows and he brings up two comics that he remembers very fondly and they're his favorite two guys who and uh i won't say the first one because i can't stand the guy um and but the second one was kenny robinson is kenny robinson yes and i'm looking at this phone and i'm like i'm super tight with kenny kenny's never brought up norm before outside of you know i worked with

norm and there was no like link or anything or i've heard more stories about kenny and jim carrey and there's not even that many so it's like five o'clock in the morning and so i call up kenny and i'm like hey kenny like i didn't know you i didn't know you're tight with with norm he's like i'm i'm not i'm like well that's a good that's a good Kenny. I'm like, but he just told me the two favorite guys. And he goes, I don't know what to say. Like, I don't, and I'm like, I don't know what to say either. And so I just messaged back to Norm, and he gets this flood of all these positive things about Kenny.

Like, very, like, this isn't just, like, a throwaway thing. Like, he was saying all these nice things. And then he's like, I said, look, I gotta, I had to wrap it up. I said, I gotta go. I'm working on a new DVD. I got to work on my notes. He's like a DVD.

I'm like, yeah, I'm working on my fourth. He's like your fourth. I haven't even put out one yet. I said, well, they're not funny DVDs,

Norm. And he laughed at that. And then he just kind of wrapped it up and he goes, you know, I want to hear you. And I said, well, we've talked with all these guys,

including John Wing Jr. Who he spoke very highly of. Yeah. FOTM John. Yeah. So I said to him, I used to have a show on XM, and there's like 80 old episodes. I said, and there's one with Kenny and one with John Wing

and one with this other guy he brought up. Why don't you go listen to them? He goes, I'm going to listen to them. And halfway through this conversation, he followed me on Twitter, and then the next day, he unfollows me on Twitter. It's almost like he listened and he tapped out. It's like, this guy's not for me. Yeah, you're way different

on your podcast, man. I love that story because I'm like, I love Awkward and it's like, there's never going to be a better ending for me than Norm Unfollowed Me. Well, you love Awkward. Did either of you work? I know you did, but I want to hear any stories about Mike Bullard. Go ahead, Kenny. Yeah, I worked with him a bunch over the years.

You know, there was Pat Bullard, his brother before him. So, you know, it was like the DiMaggio's. There was Joe and then there was Dom, you know. Who was funnier? Probably Pat. Pat or Donnie Coy. He used to own three or four Yuck Yucks when he used to push that Pat was coming to town. And there won't be a dry seat in the house when he's done.

But, you know, he was always so smooth and so polished and so, you know, so charming. I thought he was going to be like a wind-up being a Ted Danson type of cat. But he wound up having a great career as a showrunner and a producer and a writer. Did he work with Roseanne? Yes, he wrote for the Roseanne show, yes. And Grace Under Fire. Yeah, he told a funny story that one time Roseanne was arguing with Tom Arnold and him and Stevie Ray Framstein.

Roseanne was firing everybody she saw while she was fighting with Tom. No, no, no, you're fired. All you had to do was be sitting there coming out. You're fired too. Why? Because you are. So Pat tells this hilarious story of him and stevie ray hiding underneath the desk so they wouldn't get fired yeah and you know just to go along with that whether a pat or a mike

is funnier i don't think in those terms because pat was pat was smooth and mike was not and that's just a style difference so if you think he's funnier it's like you don't like the packaging of how it's being delivered sometimes like there's people that will never like me because i'm too aggressive i could write out the jokes he'd be like that's a really good joke but the way i deliver it you're never gonna get on board you're not gonna be everybody's cup of tea right but they're both very fast on their feet very fast quick you know so you know like i you know after i got to know mike better i went to him you damn. And I said, well, he's edgy. And then I thought, must have been murder sitting at their dinner table with them Bullard boys. The thing is, Mike was an emcee.

And he was either the best emcee if you're an audience member or the worst emcee if you're a comedian. Because he gets the audience into a certain mindset that we can talk to them. And it's all about the audience and what I can say. And then if I go on and I just do material, the audience is not set up for that. He's got this one line I'll always love. He was working the crowd and he goes, and you, sir, what are you celebrating today besides another stroke-free day? Well, it's funny. Earlier we talked about Ralph Ben-Murgy, who's become a dear friend.

And, you know, he famously had the late- night talk show on Friday night with Ralph and Murgy. And I think James B. was the musical director. Yes, he was, yes. Great Bob Scott was the drummer, I think, on that. Yes. I have somewhere there's an album here from the Look People. I should pull it out, but okay.

And you know who was in Look People? Kevin Hearn was in Look People. Yes, he was. Did we talk about that before the recording? No, no, no. We talked about Kevin Hearn before the recording, but he never brought up the Look People. Right, he was. Did we talk about that before the recording? No, no. Was that on? No. We talked about Kevin Hearn before the recording, but he never brought up

the look people. Right, right. Yeah, no, yeah, yeah. I just couldn't remember if we put that on the recording or chat about Kevin Hearn. And oh yeah, with Gord Downie,

that's right. That was before the recording. But yeah, where was I going? Yeah, and then of course Mike Bullard had Canada's most popular talk show for years.

He was the last guy to have a talk show, really. Have we had one since? Maybe Ed the Sock, maybe. Yeah, that's true. That's true, yes. But you're right. We don't do that, apparently.

Why don't we do that? Why don't we do a lot of things? Well, tell me, because you're the American. I know you have the dual citizenship, but did you ever wonder, Kenny, if you just left this country, you would have been Paul Mooney and Richard Pryor and all these guys.

It's hard to do that when you have kids. Let's just be honest. If you want to be a father and you want to be in your kid's life, you have to make a decision very early on. You either have to take, something has to take a back seat. You can't do it all.

And I mean, that's just the way it is. And Canada can't do a talk show because the Canadian industry will not do it. Even if you don't have a talk show, they should have panel shows. Britain has huge panel shows where are very successful and panel shows are great because you let comedians be comedians. The problem with talk shows and other shows in this country is they force comedians to do something other than be what they are.

So like I even did the George Strombo show. Yeah, a couple of times. And that was a panel show but even that show your hands were kind of tied because everything had to be cleared and you had to write specific jokes and they had to say yes or no whereas if you just invite me on and go talk about this for a second i'll be way fucking funnier than you going over my sheets and tell me what to say well it's so contrived because because it sounds like what you're describing is uh the the bill maher model or whatever right because i'm assuming and you would know better than i do but

when bill maher has on these guests and they have this discussion that that hasn't been like scripted or pre-approved or whatever or is it they would be told the topics they would definitely be told the topics right and if something happened that day they'd be they would know if it's like something happened we're going to talk about this because you don't want to get three people that never picked up a newspaper on the panel together. Right. But they wouldn't be like, well, what's your joke on this? And tell me what you can't say this or can't say that. What do you think of January 6th?

It's the day before the Senate. No, no, no. So you can't have that. Right. Okay. So, and Kenny, is it the family that kept you grounded in the great white north here? Or did you ever have a moment where you thought about moving to the States? Oh, I moved to the States.

For how long were you there? I tried to work out of San Francisco. It was after I did Just for Laughs and I got all these great reviews and thought things were going to happen for me. And then the Gulf War broke out. So, you know, so the comedy boom was kind of dying. But, you know, when I was in San Francisco, you know, in fact, a lot of guys couldn't bother. You remember my name?

They just went, oh, there's a political guy because nobody knew me to do raw stuff. Excuse me. So that's like when Margaret Cho was just like got signed to us with an agency down there before she had broken open. So I was like doing shows with people like her. before she had broken open. So I was like doing shows with people like her. And then Dave Feldman, who was just arrested for being part of the... Yes, the Triumph the Insult dog.

He's on the writing crew there. It's funny, that Triumph the Insult dog, I think it was just copying Ed the Sock. Am I out to lunch? Wasn't that the same schtick? You know what? I'm friends with Ed. Steve Kersner? Yeah, Steve Kersner. i'm i'm friends with uh ed uh steve kersner yes steve kersner i'm very good friends with him um he would have to you know talk like i've had him on and we've talked

about it okay he says for sure but was it influenced probably uh there's no doubt ed preceded triumph the insult dog yes there's no there's no doubt about that but i'm not taking anything away from from steven but having a and being insulting, how much can you own that? Right. Right. We've all put a puppet on and said bad things. We all knew Otto and George. Right.

So Otto and George is the dirtiest ventriloquist act based out of New York City. He's no longer alive. But he's amazing. And he's been going for decades. So that idea. There's nothing new under the sun. And just what I say with a teddy bear playing with my grandchild. And also, when you compare the two

and I would give this to Ed Ed was political Triumph the Insult Dog wasn't political right so there was more meat on there

for Ed the Sock than Triumph the Insult Dog I used to love Ed's year in review of all the different fromage videos

it was amazing oh it was incredible he took that baton from Christopher Ward. Yes. He started the fromage. Yes. He started the first couple, and then Ed DeSoc took it over.

Ed DeSoc took it over. Christopher Ward went and rode for Atlantis Miles and took that money and ran. Black Velvet. Didn't he marry her? No. No, they just dated. What's with these guys not marrying these Canadian rock stars? I don't know.

The road? The road? I don't know. The Road? The Road? I don't know. Christopher Ward, before his much music years, he had a, was kind of like a yacht rocker. You should listen to some of that

Christopher Ward from the yacht rock late 70s, but he's a good FOTM himself. So, show. It's funny, I saw Conan O'Brien live at the Winter Garden Elgin Theater like in 03.

When he did his week of shows. Yeah, and I was there when Adam Sandler was the guest. And that was when Triumph the Comic insult dog. Went to Quebec? Went to Quebec. And yeah, I got him in there. And that was a great clip. It was a very, very funny clip.

And the Bon Jovi clip. I went down a Triumph poll like a week ago for like two hours. And all the democratic conventions and all that. It's still great. And you know, I was. I poop on your head. Yeah, but I mean, you know, Ed DeS sock is great too because he like i said he's going on a different angle and a lot more to play there and just as funny without a doubt smarter yeah definitely

smarter yeah well i know i'm a big fan of the ed the sock yeah me too and when i had when i had ed on i am i demanded not demanded but i said hey i want to talk to ed but i also want to talk to steve kersner sure so we did this whole thing where ed went to move the car and then steve came down it was like a whole the whole thing but the problem was in in canada and i think this is anywhere the media is moving so fast that if you don't keep pumping things out you're done you're forgotten so there'll be a whole era of people who don't even know half of the people we're talking about You're forgotten. So there'll be a whole era of people who don't even know half of the people we're talking about right now. There's no way for them to.

Oh man. Yeah. It's so depressing. It is depressing. Okay. And I kind of want to explore this, but I don't want it to sound like, I'm not suggesting you guys, you guys are funny, but I've alluded a few times to how tough it is to hoe your own road. Is that an expression? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like in this country of Canada. And I know Ron James, you know, he went to the States.

So Ron James, sorry to cut you off. Yeah, please. Ron James is someone who also doesn't get enough credit in the business. People know who he is. That's great. But you know what Ron James did? And I had him on my XM show. He's a star.

And literally, I did 100 episodes episodes the number one episode was ron james by far ron james because ron james especially at this time didn't give a shit he just talked honestly about what he had to do and he wasn't in a good mood that day and he just spoke from the heart and you know what a lot of people don't realize what ron james did is he tried to go into comedy clubs and it was bullshit way of doing it and he knew it so what he did is he went to every small town played a tiny theater to 100 people then he went back the next year and he played to 150 people then he went back the next year and he played to 300 people then he went back the next year he started playing to 700 people and now Ron James has built up a following and he writes enough material that he can go once a year around

this country and live the life he wants to live. That and CBC loves him, right? Well, yes, the CBC eventually had to, but not anymore. Like CBC doesn't love him anymore? No, he's not anymore. That New Year's Eve special, they ended it like three or four or five years ago. And now I don't think he does anything on CBC. No.

And again, he's here. He'll be sitting in that seat. So CBC, here's a good example. Let's talk about it. What's that? Well, I'm sure he'll talk about it. But the thing, here's the problem with CBC, okay? CBC can be great.

Yeah. And then CBC can have a situation where they don't know their fucking ass from their face. Because when they canceled comics, that show that Kenny was on at the time, it was the lowest cost per viewer show that they had by a landslide. And they just used the Air Force stage.

They didn't have to get a stage or anything. They just, they shot Air Force, and then the next week they had the same crew, and they shot all these comedy specials. It was dirt cheap, and they still canceled it. And it did well, and they still canceled it because their attitude was the Commie Network is coming around, and that's what they're doing now.

Wow. What other business can you possibly be in? Like, let me tell you're you're mr sub okay and you hear subways coming so now we're going to start selling burgers because we don't do subs anymore because subways coming that's kind of the analogy back then that's the kind of thing that we have to put up with in this business and you know i i get on a high horse but that's when I started going, I have to start doing my own thing and releasing my own product, which I have now, because you can't take away my accomplishments.

Well, let's really, let's talk about that. By the way, Don Ferguson came on this program to talk about how CBC killed the Air Force. Yes, it did. Yes. Yes. That's a guy who's been there 50 years. They reduced them to just new year's eve

or do they still do no it's gone it's gone they added their last new year's eve special like i think for well whatever they tried to get a new cast in there to pass on the baton they did everything right they even tried to do their own show called sketch com which involved young sketch groups and the cbc messed it up oh okay now right... And my next special will be on CBC next Friday. But wait, before... Because I now know where I want to go with you two here before we say goodbye, but I want to...

You were in Fever Pitch. Can I just say that? Yes, I was. I was a teacher that only had one scene, but it was with Jimmy Fallon. Okay, cool. Yeah, that's a popular movie. And the Farrelly brothers directed that.

Right, okay. And you were in Hairspray. Yes, I Right. Okay. And you were in Hairspray. Yes, I was. And what did you play in Hairspray? So I played, my role originally was quite big. And it was a cameraman that eventually gets Michelle Pfeiffer fired. And in the original script, I was in it a fair bit. And it was a running joke the whole way through.

And at the end, it really paid off. And then I got to set day one. And they're like, yeah, we cut a lot of it. I'm like, well, that's what happens, you know? You never know till, I had a, it actually wasn't my show, I was producing it

for the Feminine Warriors but they had an actress on Kate Drummond and she was talking about, she's in this new, speaking of Kevin Hurt, you mentioned Kevin Hurt earlier, Kenny,

but he's got a show called The Man from Toronto. It's a Netflix thing that's like dropping Friday, I think. But she's in it and she was talking about how she just,

she's almost afraid to tell her family she's in the show because she had no idea how much ends up in the cutting room floor because a lot of her scenes don't make it to the final print. Unless you're Kevin Hart or Woody Harrelson, you don't know what's going to end up in that. Yeah, like in your first five years of your career,

shut your mouth because you don't know what's going to happen. You can tell all your friends, I'm in this, I'm in this and then you go to the movie and it's like, eh, I'm not in it. Hey, I did this Hendrix biopic with one of the guys from The Wire. But I had like a fake gold tooth and a processed pompadour and got to rub Vivica Fox's leg when she's asking me if I'll book Jimmy. And they fired the director,

Maddie Rich, and reshot everything. I still get a check for like about six bucks every three years. Oh, okay. Yeah, you still get paid. I was in the Jerry Lewis movie

they did or whatever, Jerry and Dean, and they cut my scene. And the guy, you know, I still got paid. But you know what was really cool about that

the only time it ever happened because I've been cut before the director sent me a note saying I really fought for this scene to go in but I couldn't make it in but here's a copy of it

so I actually still have a copy of the scene that isn't even in the movie and who are you with? I'm with Sean from Sean Hayes okay

and he's he's got the Sean Hayeses about the right guy the podcast uh with smart he was a big actor i'm thinking of a different will and grace i think yeah yeah that's him okay that's him yeah yeah he's got this smart list podcast okay yeah so it was you know my scene was i'm yelling at jerry and dean like i can you know and they were loving it but it just didn't fit the like that happens all the time for me. I come in, I yell, I scream. That's my thing.

Well, that's okay. I mean, I hope it doesn't appear, Darren, like this is the Kenny Robinson show. It's fine. Man, you're amazing. It is the Kenny Robinson show. Well, it depends on the age of the audience as I hear. So Darren Frost, give us a little like idea

of like when did you decide I want to be, I want to do standup for a living? Like when does this strike you? So I was young, want to do stand-up my whole life i would stay up late watching johnny carson and then i just made a deal with my parents i'll go to business school i will graduate and uh i will get a degree and then the second that i graduate i get to do whatever the fuck i want and that's exactly what happened i got a day job and i started on amateur night i actually started in comedy at college and then the second is this the 90 like 80s late 80s a couple years on me okay only a couple though uh okay and and then basically you talk about how you're kind of doing your own thing so rank and vile yes because we're

obviously going to talk about that before we say goodbye again but rank and vile is you guys own this whole thing this is you guys are booking it like? Yes. So you're handling the A to Z of this. Everything. Flights, hotels, buses. That's a page out of the Ron James handbook. Yes. That's smart.

Yes. But I have a degree in marketing and a lot of people when they realize that in the business they start treating you different which is kind of shitty because it's like,

oh, because I have that now you can treat me more like a human. So when do you two jump into bed together? Well, we started 13 years ago. Right. But've i mean obviously i've known kenny from the first day i started doing comedy in this country you know comics would say you got to see this guy you got to see this guy and uh kenny was always on that list maximum respect for kenny robinson

yes and the other guy whose mom just turned 100. I never knew that. Yeah. The whole point of Rank and Vowel is, you know, like I want to work with Kenny, and people need to see Kenny. And I love working with Darren, and we never have an ego about who goes on first, who closes. We don't step on each other's material because we both do different type of stuff. Right. And, you know.

I want to, you know, I can call Kenny. So when I want to, I was at Just for Laughs, and I wanted to quit and walk away, he's the one who's like you can't go you got to do it i'm like okay fine well you went you worked so hard in so many years they get it you can't let them punk you out of it well what does this is a nice you know eileen sent so many wonderful so eileen if you're listening uh miss you i know you're in oshawa now and that's a long bike ride for me so i don't see you as much as i used to she used to live in mimico and i literally bike by her condo like every day and now she's in oshawa and i never see her but she wants to know what does kenny do that darren can't and vice versa like it sounds

like you guys uh you know kenny you're doing more like uh like you might do an insurrection like what are you talking about stuff happening now political stuff well always always always have to have some political or a lot or a big chunk of it right because uh early in the career they made me feel like i was just dirty oh he's just dirty so i said all right motherfuckers and then here let me grab this topical stuff and see what you can do and you know and then uh i got my comics doing all political material so then you know my attitude was i'll beat your ass clean boys, you know, so, um, but then, uh, you know, then I get booked in a couple of corporates and the last thing you can do is a political or topical material that takes a point of view because you don't know what the boss's opinion is. I mean, I even had trouble overdoing pro Obama

material that had, uh, uh, in fact, I did a fundraiser for the juvenile diabetes thing. And my opening line was, I can't believe you've got baskets of bread on the table. And I said, I've got a, I've got type two diabetes. I earned mine and they hated me. Wow. So yeah, and that was, and that was just five minutes after I heard on the car, on the radio in the car that Robin Williams had died. It's really basic to me. It's like Kenny does political.

Kenny does very topical. I do a little bit of that. I predominantly talk about what's going on in my life at that time. Whether it's, you know, I had kidney stones. I did like an eight-minute bit on that. My kids, what they go through. And me being a 51-year-old dad and what the world is.

It's more of a perspective of where I am in the world where Kenny's perspective is where is the world going. Also, when I do the sexual material, like I've got a new bit about Viagra, which you really got to like that person because it's a $14 pill. So do I like her enough? No, I'm just going to break it in half and masturbate.

In the same vein of the sponge-worthy, but a new angle, a new slant on that. I like that. Also, I've got a bad side effect to Viagra. It doesn't work that night. It works the next day when I'm on a plane. There's something about having to do up this seat belt. Well, let's just

say the stewardess asked me if I could place it in the overhead bin. And again, seat belt and uh well let's just say the stewardess asked me if i could place it in the overhead bin and again uh shout out the shows before july 8th because there are people listening from uh so this weekend in kitchener ontario we're at the rusty nail comedy club um you can go to the rusty nail.comedyclub.com it's got ticket links there it's also on eventbrite and then yeah july 8th we are doing uh the rec room and uh you can go by the dome that's by the dome tickets are only 20 which is really cheap really cheap there is a vip package for 40 where you get better seats and you get a meet and greet and all that stuff if you're interested we've almost sold out of that and uh yeah things

are you know and then in the summer we go up north, and then in the fall we hit Alberta, and then we go to Manitoba, and then we hit Saskatchewan, and then we're done in the end of November because no one lasts at Dirty Comedy in December. Yeah, because they start booking comedy, they start booking Christmas parties. X-rated comics ain't gonna happen. June 26th, I got the Nubian show with Crystal Ferrier. She's on the show. She's going to be appearing on

Comedy Network's Roast Battles. Also Patrick Hay, who's very, very slick. In fact, I call him Silky. And then there's a couple people making their Nubian show debuts. A woman named Lady Day. Also we have

I'm forgetting names here. It's the age um denton lamar who uh actually opened up his own comedy club over in the annex area it's called the comedy lab so he's doing the newbie and show that's how popular it is a guy can open up his own comedy club and still wants to be on the newbie and show 27 27 years, brother. That's amazing. Like, it's still going strong. Well, the two years off for, you know, having the plague. But, you know, we still came back. We came back hard and good.

And the other thing I meant to mention is on July 8th, we are recording that show for our next album release. So that's, you know, you want to be part of history. And here are the 25 minutes of Kenny has on the pandemic and the truckers and COVID and Viagra. He's got tons of new stuff, tons. No one writes more new material than Kenny Robinson. And you give me a lockdown, nothing stops me, boy. No.

And so July 8th at the Rec Room, what will be Humble Howard Glassman's involvement in that? So the thing about— He procures the drugs. Yeah, yeah. Well, Kana Cabana can hook them up. Humble's Glassman's involvement in that? So the thing about... He procures the drugs. Yeah, yeah. Cabana can hook them up. Humble's going to be on the show. I gave him an open book. If he wants to host, he can host.

If he wants to just do a set, he can do a set. But he said he's probably going to do a set because he's so old, he's going to be tired and he wants to go home. Well, he's probably, in fact, I'm certain he's younger than Kenny Robinson here. I know, exactly. Yes, but he's Jewish and you know how they age. Yes. You know, the 35. For the record, Kenny

said that. A 35-year-old Jewish guy is already walking over with his shoulders bent. I can say this because I grew up... Can we get the Chinese delivered? Isn't that what they say? I can say these things because I grew up eating deli. Some of my best meals have been Jewish.

And rank and vile doesn't... And that's the ladies. Also, let's not forget the big sexy, Shannon Laverty. have been Jewish. And Rank and Vile doesn't have it. And that's the ladies. It has. Also, let's not forget the big sexy, Shannon Laverty. Yes, Shannon Laverty. Also on the show,

sorry, thank you, Shannon Laverty and Dave Martin who is my co-host from my XM days. So it's going to be, that's the thing, it's going to have

a little bit of variety before the show, before we get in. That's my one. So Rank and Vile. There's a website for Rank and Vile too, right? Yes, Rank,

the letter N, Vile.com. Okay, because I was on it and it's fantastic. Lots of info one. So Rank and Vile. There's a website for Rank and Vile too, right? Yes. Yeah. Rank, the letter N, vile.com. Okay. Cause I was on it and it's fantastic. Lots of info there. Check out a show. Man, I'm laughing just thinking about it. July 8th at the Rec Room.

Is this, is this enough to feed the family, Darren? Like, and Kenny as well. But like, like now that you own your stuff and I guess, you know, that way you're keeping more of the bread or whatever. And you've got your three kids and you're in Barrie and life is good so no concern. In Canada you have to wear many hats. Does stand up comedy pay her whole way through? No. It's just

another hole. If I could just make my living off stand up I would but everything else I do allows my ability to do stand up. Sounds like my story because I can't you know live off Toronto Mike, but I produce other people's show. And then you're doing a lot of,

you know, the voiceover work and all these different Toronto Mike opens the door for you. Right? No, it's yeah, absolutely. And it's also, that's where your,

your passion is. So it sounds like standup is your, yes, don't get me wrong. I'm treated very well in the, in the voiceover world. I love doing it. They treat it with respect.

You know, the, the, the standup game, you just almost like abuse housewife symptom. You just keep going going back and when you get treated well in the voiceover world you're like is something wrong here am i am i you know kenny have you ever think of the uh the r word uh retirement is this ever is this like oh i you know i'm gonna do this there's no pension in canadian showbiz none so you know uh when i was, I used to think winding up like dead, like the jazz great Lester Young would be how I want.

Found in my hotel with $600 gig money in my pocket and, you know, in a quarter finished bottle of liquor sitting on the bed table. But I much rather die, you know, telling my kids, go look into into the closet by the way i keep the vacuum open up the vacuum bag you'll find two graves you know so i i much rather go out that way than them just finding my body and having to call you know one of my daughters uh we have your dad you know and uh so no there's no retirement for me the and you love what you do why would you want to retire right well or am i reading too much into that no i love what you do. Why would you want to retire, right? Or am I reading too much into that? No, I love what I do.

But, I mean, if I won a lottery with big money, I may not ever tell a joke again. Yeah. I think everybody gets to that stage at some point. I might be sitting at a, you know, here's funny. Here's something funny. One day when I was getting down on myself about, you know, not making it big money. Right. And I was walking to my local pool so I could look at the, there's a lot of Russians in my neighborhood.

So go check out the Russian moms. And then you see their husband who's got a tattoo of Jesus with his hand cuffed behind his back in the trunk of a Mercedes. And you go, well, maybe I won't look at this one so long. But I was going, well, so what are you gonna do? I But, you know, I was going, well, you know So what are you going to do? I said, you're going to go sit in the sun And you're going to read

And I said, what if you had $20 million in the bank? And he says, I would probably go sit in the sun and read So the difference is I wouldn't have to walk the block and a half And carry my schmuck chair that folds And I hope that I don't break the webbing on it And, you know, I hope my Diet Pepsi stays cold While I'm out there Because if I hope that I don't break the webbing on it. And, you know, I hope my diet Pepsi stays cold while I'm out there because if I had that kind of money, you know, I have somebody

go bring it to me or, you know, maybe I got a fridge plugged out by the pool or whatever I want, you know. So basically the difference was if I had if I had what I had or if I had more money, what would I be doing? I says, you'd still want to go sit in the sun and read, dude. So, you know, I said, well,

then, then you are a millionaire. The richest man in town. Like Howlin' Wolf said, I didn't say I was a millionaire. I said, I spent more money than a millionaire. That's a good end.

Kenny Robinson, what a pleasure, man. Thanks for dropping by. I loved it. And Darren Frost, thanks. Thanks for doing this. I loved it. And Darren Frost, thanks for doing this. Finally got to meet you. Pleasure. Thank you.

And Darren, you showed fantastic restraint when we talked about Mike Bullard, so good on you, buddy. There we go. And everybody, remember, July 8th at the Rec Room, check out the Rank and Vile, a rare Toronto appearance for Rank and Vile. This is exciting. I wish you guys all the success

in the world. I love that you're doing it yourself. Love it! And that brings us to the end of our 1069th show. Darren, what's your I'm Toronto Mike on Twitter if you want to follow me at Toronto Mike. Darren, what's your handle

on Twitter? It's at Comedy Whore. And uh, I'm Toronto Mike on Twitter. If you want to follow me at Toronto Mike, Darren, what's your handle on Twitter? It's a at comedy whore. And Kenny, I couldn't find you. Are you on Twitter? Yeah. I think it's just Kenny Robinson.com or I don't know. Fabulous.

Kenny Robinson. I don't know. I don't Google it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't do it often. Find it. Our friends at great lakes brewery.

They're at great lakes beer, Palma pastas at Palma Pasta. I'll get you guys your lasagna before you go. They're in my freezer. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Dewar are at Dewar Performance. Again, 15% off if you use the promo code TMDS. Do it, FOTMs.

Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. And Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore. See you all Friday when my guest is Liz Braun from the Toronto Sun. Eight years of laughter and eight years of tears. And I don't know what the future can hold or 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 green. Yeah, the wind is cold

But the smell of snow Wants me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosie and Gray 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 grey Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know that's true, yes I do. I know it's true, yeah. I know it's true.

How about you?