Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Rebecca Auerbach: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1960

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

In this 1960th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with actress Rebecca Auerbach about her role in It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken, Discount Dave (and The Fix), Dolly Parton and Regal Road.A version of this podcast without programmatic ads is available to all Toronto Mike'd Patrons at patreon.com/torontomike.Toronto Mike'd, an award-winning podcast, is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca.If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, I'm Rebecca Auerbach, and I am beyond excited to be making my Toronto mic's debut. Any relation to Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics? No, unfortunately not, but I think I've been asked that before. It's the only other Auerbach. It's either that or Herb Auerbach I get asked all the time. I don't know who that is either. Well, that makes two of us. Welcome to episode 1,950.

No, this is episode. Episode 1,960. This is 1960. I'm taking a note here. Of Toronto Mike, an award-winning podcast, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery.

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Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball. Catch a game at Christy Pits this summer. No ticket required. Fusion Corp's own Nick Aienes. He's the host of Building Toronto Skyline. And Mike and Nick, two podcasts that you ought to listen to. Recycle MyElectronics.C.A. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past.

And Ridley Funeral Home. pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making her Toronto mic debut, it's Rebecca, our bach. You got to nail that bach, right? Yeah, bach or bach. Bach. Okay, how are you doing, Rebecca? I'm just peachy.

Thank you for asking. Nice to see you again. Yes. Because we have met in the past. Yes, briefly sort of. I mean, I don't even know if you actually met. Can you tell me, well, you know what? you tricked me because you made me feel like we met.

And then I didn't have a vivid memory of it, which is impossible. Because we didn't meet. I just saw you because I was an audience member. Oh, so you never like, hey, hi, my name's Rebecca. We didn't do like an actual. That didn't happen. No.

That's why I'm having trouble remembering this moment. Yeah, because it doesn't exist. Well, I feel better now because I wouldn't forget meeting Rebecca Auerbach. No relation to Red Hourbock. So let's give some love off the top to Larry Klopop. and his wife, Arlene, it is, Arlene is my connect to you, right?

You know Arlene. Arlene is my agent of about 20 years, and I love her dearly as an agent and as a friend. And I love Larry, too. You love them all. I love them all. Yeah. And this was the,

Larry wrote a book about grieving, about the loss of his son, their son. And the book launch was at the GLB Brew Pub at Jarvis and Queens Key. And we were there together. and we may not have met, but we were in the same room for a while. Yes, we were.

And not to make too light of the subject, but I got like a $200 parking ticket that day, and it was well worth it. And I have this... Wait, but where did you... Like you just threw your car somewhere? By the way, here's the book. It's a beautiful book. Why am I here and he is not?

I have it by my bedside table, and I haven't... I've only peeked into it because I'm behind on some things, but I'm really excited to read it. Now tell me about this parking ticket. Like whereabouts, because I know this area quite well, I biked there. I should have.

But whereabouts in the universe do you live? I live in Parkdale and I just... You should have biked to Jarvis and Queens County. I know, I know. I was, it was just one of those days and I was having like a very... Trying to catch up on life kind of day.

And I was like, I'll just dash down in my car. And I think it was a Sunday. And I parked right outside. And I was like, sweet. On Jarvis, the lower Jarvis? Yeah, and there was all these other cars parked there. And I was like, I don't think you can park here.

But then everybody else was parked there. And there was no signage. Or maybe there was. I didn't dispute it. You didn't go hunting for the signage. I didn't. And I did go hunting for the venue, though. And it took me a while to find the venue.

Oh, see, I, Kay, because I always say Jarvis and Queens Key. Because it's just a little bit north of Queens Key on Jarvis. Like, so, but once you found it. I didn't expect it to be a restaurant. Okay. I think that's what it went through me. And so I kept walking by. I was like this lady walking by looking lost and.

Well, you know, this show you're on right now is sponsored by Great Lakes Brewery. So, yeah. So like this cup you're drinking water from is a Gmbi cup. This beer in front of you, which is probably going to go to a, like a loved one of yours, a friend of yours. This fresh craft beer was sent over by Great Lakes Brewery because they have a brewery in South Atobico where you are right now. And then they have the brew pub that we're talking about, which is Jarvis and Queenski. Fabulous. And I'm having an event. I better throw this out there now, Rebecca, in case

you want to attend. But I'm worried you'll have to bike to this because I couldn't like bear the thought of you getting another $200 ticket. More on that numerical value in a moment. I can't believe tickets of parking tickets are up to $200 bucks. I mean, I don't know. It was just a unique experience. I think it was just a. Okay, were you blocking the, like a, an ER. of a major hospital? Like, what would it take to get a tour? I don't know. I was going to dispute it,

but then, you know, I just thought pick your battles. I would represent you for 200 bucks. I'll take 20% of what you don't have to pay. So I just want to tell everybody, including you, Rebecca, that on September 28 at 6 p.m., TMLX23,

the 23rd Toronto Mike listener experience, is taking place at that exact venue, GLB Brewpub. You should just bike over from Parkdale and come because, you know, there'll be some free food. You'll meet some lovely people, listeners of the program, we're all going to collect. That's happening in September 28. Amazing.

It is amazing. Okay. Parkdale, how long have you lived in Parkdale for? Oh, on and off for my whole Toronto life. But I was, how about I tell you, I've lived in Toronto for about 22 or 23 years, and I haven't lived in Parkdale for nine of those years. But all of the other years, if you can do that math. can do that math that's like 13 years yeah yeah but where did you come from

uh i hail from vancouver british columbia and did you have to come to toronto because i just so earlier this point here's the name that i think you might know because he knows you so we'll find out but i produce a show for a he's retired now but he was a like a theater producer his name is joel greenberg yes i know joel i know joel yes i have never worked with Joel, but I have auditioned for Joel many times. And I know his daughter Jessica. Yes. And her husband, Mark, who now runs Studio 180, which is his theater company. Yeah, yeah, love all of those folks. Actually, interestingly enough, discount Dave and the Fix was, I honestly think it was the first workshop I did of it for three days was with Studio 180 and

helmed by Mark McGinder. Okay, that is a mind blow. Mark McGinder, son-in-law of Joel Greenberg. So he's been on the show a couple of times. Jessica's also been on the show. Nice. So we record episodes, we did two this morning. So we did an episode at 10 a.m.

We did one at 1115. And then I mentioned I had to do a quick WPBL podcast for the Women's Professional Baseball League. And then thankfully, then we got together. And I have no idea. As we speak now, I'm trying to remember why I brought up Joel Greenberg. There was some connect I was going to make it.

Maybe it'll come to me later. But I do know, I mentioned you were dropping by at 115. And Joel's was like, I know Rebecca, our box. So you're acquainted somehow. Yes. Yeah. The theater world is small and insular. Small world.

So yeah. So now I remember why I brought up Joel. Okay. See, it all came back. So the synapses are still firing up here, Rebecca, even though I'm already burnt out at 1.30 p.m. It came up on the show. it comes up many times by because these theater people come on the show,

actors and actresses. And then they always remark that they were told they had to move to Toronto. Like this is a sentiment. So they'll be from, they'll be from out west, like from Edmonton or from Vancouver or wherever. And they, or Winnipeg or whatever.

And they had to come to Toronto because that's where they had to go to make, make a go of it or whatever. Is that the deal with you? Like you were to make a go of it in your profession, you needed to be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada? I'm so glad you asked this question because I get to, I, I, I'm going to say no. No, that's, I actually did not come here for that. I never fantasized about moving to Toronto.

I never had any goals or plans to move to Toronto. I went to theater school in Vancouver at Studio 58, shout out. And I graduated there. I worked quite consistently for the first year, and then adversity hit in my personal life. And I, part of the podcast is, it's this event of my old boyfriend passing away. He, oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, thank you. So that's in the, in the podcast, but it's highly fictionalized in the podcast.

But inspired by the true life event is I basically just kind of cracked up and came to visit some friends. and his parents here. And then I went to see some theater and I was blown away. You know, there's so much more of it here. And there's more opportunities for sure. But I just, I kind of, I just, I literally did not even know what I was doing or like what direction I was going in. But I went home and I sold everything I owned and I lived in Toronto three weeks. weeks later after that visit.

Wow. It was a totally impulsive decision. I was just visiting friends and then and then it was, you know, I was pretty miserable for a long time trying to figure it out and start from scratch. But I'm glad I did because the city's been good to me. Well, you've been here ever since. And those nine years you weren't in Parkdale, where the hell were you? Davenport and Dufferin.

Oh. Next to Regal Road School. Regal Road. Yeah. Okay. Regal Road, which is also the name of my band because I lived on that street. Oh, I know. So I do...

You did some research. I did some research here. Oh, my God. Just a little regal road as we warm up here. So some regal road, basically. Tell me about Regal Road right off the top since you dropped the R, the double R there. That's such a great surprise. Thank you for doing that.

So that is me. And my dear friend, an amazing fiddler, Agenine Sagal. And the band is, there's six of us, James McElheny on bass, Paul Bronstein, another wonderful actor on drums, Jack Nicholson, on guitar and vocals, and George Meanwhile, on every instrument under the sun and vocals. And, yeah, we play, you know, we play, like, we don't play all the time because a few of us are. actors and so the band gets disbanded often in the summer especially. But we'll play about, you know, five or six times a year. We had a residency at the bell in the beacon room upstairs this winter from January to May.

Yeah, it's like a roots folk country thing. Americana, for lack of a better word. Yeah, like you would hear it in like, oh, brother, where earth thou or something maybe. Yeah, it's got like a bluegrass, maybe. That's more bluegrass. But there is, we do a couple of bluegrass, like that song was a bluegrass tune. Right. And, but we also do like Lucinda Williams and a bunch of originals.

And yeah, it's pretty rootsy. Would you perform in Regal Road, would you perform any Dolly Parton? Yes. We actually, oh, RIP, the queen, the legend, the icon. We, you know, there's so many celebrities out there now. You're, you know, we lost another today. Tim Curry died today. No way.

Yes. Like, so, like, there's so many celebrities and they're all of a certain. He was 80 as well. He was 80 as well. Unwell, apparently, for the last several years, sadly. But so there's an icon we lost. Wow. Yesterday, Dolly Part, and yeah, I'm sorry to have to deliver the news to you.

That news just, I guess, came out about an hour ago. But Dolly Parton, the outpouring of people who were just like, what a sweet person, a genuine person, actually helping people, not only a great talented musician and songwriter, good actress. Like there's so many dimensions to Dali Parton, you can feel the sadness in this world. Yeah, you can feel the sadness and the shock. I mean, 80 years young, I don't know, I didn't know she was sick. And yeah, she's just, she's such a fascinating human being, right?

Like she had so much depth and so much intelligence and, you know, created this persona and costume, and everything that was underneath was so, like every time she spoke on any topic, you were just like, she was so dialed in and a total musical genius. So it's a huge loss. And I did get to see her once.

I saw her play in Edmonton. Oh, where did you, where in Edmonton did you see her? I don't remember. It was a big arena. Okay. And she, you know what? I actually... The one where the Oilers play.

Probably. I feel like there's no other. It must be. It must be. It was massive. But I remember she made a mistake on stage and she just laughed it off. She's like, yeah, you know, still make mistakes. And I remember feeling as a performer really hard on myself at that time in my life for making mistakes in any kind of live performance as a musician or a singer, but mostly as an actor.

And I just, it stayed with me. Every time I make a mistake, I think of Dolly Parton and just like how she, I don't, yeah, I don't know if that makes sense. But it just, it really, it really struck me. Even when you're Dolly Parton, you're going to screw up sometimes. Yeah, yeah. And I think at that time in my life, I was clinging to perfectionism in some form, which I no longer am. So, yeah, thanks, Dolly. So, Rebecca, there's a lot of ground I want to cover with you.

So we just learned that you've got this very, very. cool musical project that Regal Road. And in a moment, I'm going to disclose where I recently saw you on stage. And of course, you've already said discount Dave in the fix. Obviously, we have to talk about that. We're going to talk about a whole bunch of stuff. But I have another piece of audio I'm going to play for you. Oh, God.

You're making me nervous here. No, well, you're in an ensemble here. So, you know, you're one of many voices on this one here. Okay. Oh, yeah. Just to cover this off the top. Huh. So Rebecca, I was in the audience in the audience for the, I think it was the first, I can't

I can't remember, there was some like pre-performance things. To previews. Right, the grand opening though. I was there for the grand opening, I think. in Hamilton of It's a Good Life If You Don't Weakam. You played Abigail. So I've got like a couple of dozen questions about this, but mainly the big one is,

how did you get the role in It's a Good Life if you don't weaken? Oh, that's a, it's kind of a funny story, actually. There was a lot in my way during the audition process. So, yeah, Arlene sent me the audition. And to be honest at first, I was a little bit like, oh, oh, God. Well, tell me about this, because I've even hearing that clip right now, like, I have thoughts on this where I'm a big hip fan. And my initial knee-jerk reaction to reading about this was,

oh, it sounds a little like, cringy or cheesy. Like, I was worried about it. I was too. Okay. I was also worried about it. They're a national treasure, and this music is so close to so many people's hearts. And everybody, I assure you, everybody felt that pressure,

including Michael Rubinoff, who was at the helm. And, um, Yeah, it was a really, it was a really interesting process. Like how I got the part, I mean, Arlene, my beloved agent, sent me the audition, and I was a little bit like, oh, I don't know, but you also don't say no to an audition for the tragically hip musical. You just don't. You have to find out what's going on a bit, right? So what I did like is they were asking us to accompany ourselves if we wanted to.

And, you know, obviously I play some guitar. And that's mostly how I like to do musical auditions. I don't love to sing a musical theater song. I don't really have a lot of those under my belt. So I just went in and sang some Lucinda Williams and a couple other tunes that I feel comfortable with. And I was just going to be me as much as possible. So, and then I got a call back and I, oh, but the first audition, you know what happened?

Tell me. I was driving out to Hamilton and I parked outside Theater of Crayas and I realized I forgot my guitar. And I was like, how do you, who forgets their guitar on their way to a gig or anything? This never happened to me before. And so I panicked and I was like, Longy McQaeda's a 20 minute drive away. And then luckily there was two people there at the time and the guy who was in there had a guitar. And the woman after me had a ukulele, which I can't play.

So it was, it was a big relief. And it went well and they called me back. And I did the second audition. And then, yeah, they offered me the part. But at that stage, it was just for a three-week workshop, a workshop that happened August of last year, so one year ago. And then it went from there. Well, can you tell me where it went from there?

Because I'm curious how this cake gets baked, because I feel like I better interject now to say that. I was concerned about this. Like, I had this vision of like, oh, my God, I need to be brave. I need how courage couldn't come at a worse time. Like I felt like it might be like one of those. Like it would be like, like, um, like, uh, world police or whatever. Some kind of, uh, like a, like a, um, South Park type thing.

I, I didn't, I was like, what do you remember world police? And then I, oh, yeah. Like, where they send up, like, they send up like Broadway musicals, like rent and stuff. And they, like, I thought, okay, don't make this cringy and cheesy because I really care about this band. And then I did attend this with an open mind, as open as my mind gets. And I'm, I was there. took my, my youngest daughter, and we both loved it, but I absolutely, I adored it.

Like, it was, it was fantastic, and I've been raving about it ever since. So I'm curious, like, how does this go from, like, oh, theater queries, which, by way, cool venue. Shout out to Tom Wilson, okay. Always see Tom Wilson there. I saw Jane Eastwood there. Oh, right on. Yeah, and I just want to show.

There was a lot of, yeah, it was a who's who that night. No, Bruce McCullough was there. Yeah, yeah, Bruce McCullough came a couple times, actually. He was very good friends with Gord, so he was really moved by. music at work. You directed the video. Oh, I did not know that. Yeah, I'm here to connect all those dots for you. Oh, right on. They were very close, absolutely. And Tom Wilson, very close of Bruce.

Like, they're good buds living in Hamilton now. It's all kind of a small world story. But how does it go from, like, let's do a few weeks workshop on this tragically hip thing? It's a good life if you don't weekend to what it is now. And maybe along the way, you can tell us what is it now? Because I understand it's, like, going to go to, like, Kingston and Montreal and maybe even here in the big smoke. Like what's going on? Yeah, it's going to go lots of places. There's lots of irons in the fire, which is not surprising because, yeah,

it was definitely a journey, a real nail biter of a journey. You know, there was a huge spread in the Globe and Mail actually during our rehearsal process. And during the workshop, there was lots of notes being taken and, you know, it started as, it was kind of experimental.

They weren't sure what they wanted to do with it. What they did know they wanted to do is, they knew that it would be, that it wasn't going to be about the tragically hip. So, and they knew that they wanted to, at some point, I mean, Michael Rubinoff can speak more accurately to this, so I hope I'm getting it right.

But Ahmed Monica, who is an incredible actor and an incredible musician, Iraqi. He's a real man about town. Shout out to him and go see his music if you can. It's like soul food. But they brought him on and they knew it was going to be an immigration story. And yeah, I mean, I don't want to speak too much to this.

I think it's all in the Globe and Mail article, but there was some creative team switching around in the process from the workshop to what we ended up making. And yeah, so we really didn't have a lot of time. It was kind of like the first script was scrapped and then they started from scratch five months before we opened. and we didn't have an act two, like two weeks before we opened. And so it was really, but you know, sometimes when there's that much pressure, the stars align and you make something amazing. And what was really incredible was Mary Francis Moore, our director,

was so collaborative. And the writers, Jesse LaVercom and Ahmed Monica, were also so collaborative. And Bob Foster, the music director, also incredibly collaborative. and as actors we got to have some input and we had a voice in terms of developing our characters and you don't always get that in the creation of a large scale musical. So that, I think that really, it just informed the room and everybody's just totally in love with each other and it was really harmonious, wonderful creative process.

And then we came, we ended up with this wonderful thing that really, really resonated with So we're pretty proud of it. When along the way did you realize, oh, this is actually good? Yeah, that's a good question. I remember very clearly being in rehearsal. And you'll probably remember the end of this first act. There's a really incredible, incredibly moving moment. And I remember being like, wait a minute, I'm crying.

Yeah. And I also have goosebumps. Like, oh, this might be good. Like this, even if it's just this moment, like this is worth the price of admission. That might be the moment where I felt this huge sense of relief, like, you know, sweet relief, if you will. Like that, oh, it's not cringy.

It's not cheesy. It's actually good. And I was literally felt relief because I was so afraid it wouldn't be very good. And I was so happy that it was good. So that's Hamilton. That's early on or whatever. I will say you're now the second cast member to appear on Toronto bikes because I should give some love right.

right now to FOTM. FOTM means friend of Toronto, Mike. You're now an FOTM, Rebecca. Welcome to the family. Thank you. Talia Schlanger. Oh, I love Talia. She's my buddy.

Okay. Yeah, she's my very good friend. I liked her too very much. Like, just I hit it off of her right away. And, you know, she was on, we talked quite a bit about her. She was on CBC and then there's a whole into the States and then she came back. And now she's singing and it's great to see her in this thing. And she was fantastic.

She had a huge role and it was great to see her in this thing. So you wrapped up the Hamilton shows and then like when exactly do you, like is it Kingston that's next? Kingston is next. Yeah. So whenabouts is that happening? I know that we start rehearsals like October, around October 13th, mid,

mid-October and then I think we preview around the 22nd of November. And it's a short run. We're just there until November 8th, I believe. It's a short run if you don't weaken. Oh, sorry. Sorry, wait. It's a short run. I just come into October 22nd to November 8th.

And again, this, it's a good life if you don't weaken the theatrical production we're talking about. It takes place in Kingston. That's like the only true nod to the tragically hip, right? Like, it's like, you're right, this is not a story about the tragically hip. They don't exist in this universe. The songs of the tragically hip are used to tell this greater story. And the fact that it's actually Kingston, where it takes place, that's like your wink. It's the wink.

It's just the wink, you know? And I think it just kind of had to be. Like, it felt strange anywhere else. And there was a lot of talk about it being somewhere else. And originally it was in Toronto and Kensington Market. And then the new production. Yeah, it was Kingston. And it just started.

The writers went to Kingston and spent a lot of time there and kind of fell in love with it. So, so, yeah, I think it was a good move. Very cool. So when does it come to Toronto since this is Toronto miced? I don't know. Your guess is as good as my. Okay. It will.

It will. Well, it really does. It has to. Yes, it absolutely will. I know that it will. That is all I know. When is, I think, being worked out right now. Is it tough?

Like, I'm thinking about you and your role and you've got this role and you're good in it. And I'm assuming they want you to keep playing this role. That's a big assumption because how do I know how this works? I learn everything from Joel Greenberg. But it's always an honest. How do you schedule your life? Like how do you make sure you work and your schedule on these things when you're like, I don't know when I'm playing Toronto.

Like do you know when you're playing Montreal? That's going to be on the table too, right? Yes. So Montreal has been announced and we are going to be in Montreal next spring. I'm so excited about that because who doesn't love Montreal? We're going to be there next May. Okay. This is exciting.

Yeah. Scheduling life is like, I mean, it's tricky. You have to be, it's a certain. breed of person that that gets off on this kind of creative freelance lifestyle because yeah there's no job security and so getting a job always feels like a little hit like a great little hit and then um you never know if it's going to last and you don't ever know if they're going to keep using you in a show if you really don't um you're uh you're only as good as your last contract i guess but you are in Kingston. I am in Kingston and I am in Montreal. Just confirming, okay, FOTM, Rebecca

Auerbach, no relation to, no relation to Red. Okay, so I grew up reading Sports Illustrated and he was an old man at this time, like when I was growing up, Red Auerbach was this old guy, but he was like, they had, you know, the old Boston Gardens and this parquet floor, this is, and Red Auerbach was like this fixture of like Celtics basketball, like just this old guy. And I never really knew. He had some long, anyways, Red Auerbach. I always remember this name. He's just, just an old guy. He was bled green, I guess, for the Celtics and running the show over there. Okay. So I am going to drop a fun fact on everybody about the fact that this is episode 1960. And I have a little fact about Toronto history from 1960. Then I'm going to thank some partners. And then we really got to get into discount Dave in the fix and learn a little more about you, Rebecca. How does that sound? Sounds good. I can't wait. So in 1960, so I look at the live stream and Jeremy Hopkins is there and he is the official Toronto historian of the Toronto Mike podcast. And Jeremy loves it when I drop these fun facts about the, take the number of the show and make it a calendar year and what happened in that year in Toronto history.

So 1960 here, this is significant because you are a, you sing, you act, you write. on October 1st, 1960, the O'Keefe Center opened. The O'Keefe Center. The O'Keefe Center. Do you tell. So I have in front of me the ongoing history of the name of this place. So because I grew up with the O'Keefe Center, okay? But in 1996, they renamed the O'Keefe Center,

the Hummingbird Center for the Performing Arts. It had that name for about 11 years. By the way, I once saw the tragically hip at the Hummington. Humane Bird Center for the performing arts. On Front Street. On Front Street. And the opening act, as I'll never forget, because it was a cool venue to see the hip, the opening act was FOTM Sam Roberts.

Oh. From Montreal. Yes. And Talia Schlanger is opening for Sam Roberts. Okay. You're blowing my mind. Rebecca, I can't handle anymore. Mind blows.

I'm running out of mine. Everything's connected. Everything is connected here. Okay. But then in 2007, the O'Keefe Center, which turned into the Hummingbird Center for the Performing Arts, became exciting history of corporate sponsorship. Okay, Sony Center for the Performing Arts.

So you had the O'Keefe Center, you had the Hummingbird Center. It became the Sony Center in 2007, and it stayed the Sony Center until 2019, the year the Raptors won the Larry O.B. And that year, it became Meridian Hall, and that's the name it has today. I'm bearing you in these fun facts here. By way, Parkdale, I was born in a hospital that is in Parkdale.

St. Joe's. There's only the one. So there you go. That's how connected I am to Parkdale. I have a real, like, I really love Parkdale so much. It's, I got, holds a very dear place in my heart. I feel like it's truly my home now. Well, I bike it all the time.

Nice. I'll wave hello to you every time I'm biking on King or, whatnot there. Okay. So now I'm going to thank a couple of sponsors and then we're going to get into it because I got to talk discount Dave in the fix and more. So I mentioned the beer. But I have in my freezer upstairs, Rebecca, a large frozen lasagna from palma pasta. Please tell me you like lasagna. That's why I'm here. I believe it. I mean like you have a great track record, but like you had me at lasagna. You had me at lasagna. That's where Cameron Crowe, got the line for Jerry McGuire. He's like, instead of you had me at Lazzania, which I think is something Garfield said at some point. I can hear him doing that. Yes, totally Garfield.

In that voice. You had me. What's the name of that, you're a voice actress, what's the, I'm going to have to Google this. The name of the voice actor who played, who played Garfield?

It was, yeah. No idea. Lorenzo. It's coming, like I can see the name for me in my head, Lorenzo something. But this voice actor, like this,

this, did it in the movies or whatever. And there's a famous story. He thought it was the other Joel Cohen. Do you remember this story? Like you used to have to phone. He had a, it was a phone number. You would call and leave a message for Bill Murray if you wanted him in your movie.

And Joel Cohen called him. And without even reading a script or anything, Bill Murray agreed because he thought it was Joel from Joel and Ethan Cohen behind Fargo, et cetera. And it was a different Joel Cohen making the Garfield movie. And Bill Murray was the voice of Garfield. Lorenzo Music. Oh, my God. Why do I think it's more...

Wow. Can I... I'll Google it in a minute when you're talking about something. I believe it's Lorenzo Music. That's a great name. Yeah, if that is his real name. And he was a voice of Garfield.

And he probably said, you had me at lasagna. Okay, so you're getting lasagna. This Saturday night at Christy Pitts, there is a Leafs game. There's not many games left this regular season. But I urge you, I know you're in Parkdale. You're not too far from Christy Pets.

You could bike there in like, I don't know, 15 minutes. I bet. Go catch a Toronto Maple Leafs baseball game either this summer or next summer, and you can thank me later, Rebecca Auerbach. Can I ask a question about this? Anything. My friend Erica goes to the Maple Leafs baseball games, and I need to go.

I go to the Jays often. When Jays are not free. I know, they're not free. But it is MLB. Yeah. And, but why is it? called the Toronto Maple Leafs when our hockey team is called the Toronto. They had it first.

I am the, it really bothers me. It shouldn't bother you because the baseball team had the name first. Oh, really? That's why the hockey team doesn't sue. Right. Well,

so this was a, yeah, this team went through different iterations, like different leagues. Since 1969, it's been playing in what we now call the Canadian baseball league. So that book will be the history of the Leafs that started in 69, playing at Christie Pitts.

But before that, we had a really cool stadium. We had it in a few locations, but we had a very cool stadium near, you know, the tip-top Taylor's condos? Yeah, yeah. So right there, you know how it's called Stadium Road? Yeah. That's because Maple Leaf Stadium was there for a long time, and they played there. And before that, they were playing on the island, believe it or not.

And the famous story about the Toronto Island Diamond is that is the place where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run as a member of the Providence Great. when they played the Toronto Maple Leafs. So the Leifes baseball team had the name first. So then, that's why the hockey team, that's really cool, because I'm a baseball fan much more than a hockey fan.

So do you ever, do you have any awareness of the, a woman's professional baseball league? I do. I've been very excited to start watching and I'm following. You can watch it on YouTube. I can. Okay,

that's what was going to be my next question. Because I was, I know they had their first game like, what was it? August 1st. Two weeks, yeah, so like three weeks ago.

Yeah. And, okay, so I can watch them retroactively. I can tell you the sluggers that are tied with eight home runs apiece. Deney Benitez, she's fantastic. She plays for the New York Heights. And Kelsey Whitmore. Kelsey Whitmore, I follow on Instagram. She's on the San Francisco Firebells.

And they got a huge thing going. But this podcast I produced, I did one earlier today. It's hosted by a fantastic ball player named Ashton Lansdell. She got off to a, like, slugging-wise, she got off to a slow start, but she just hit three home runs in the past week. So she's entered the race. There's a woman named Jamie McKay, who's got five home runs. There's parity in this league.

These four teams are all like either, I think, last place is the Boston Hunters at four and six, and then you have the New York Heights and the Los Angeles Queens at five and five, and leading the pack only by one game is the San Francisco Firebells, who are six and four. But it's highly entertaining. these women can play ball. And if you're outside the United States of America,

you can stream these games on YouTube. It's really, really entertaining. I've been watching a lot. Great news. I'm so excited about this. Well, get on board here because the regular seat, they only play 15 games each before the playoffs. It's a truncated season, this inaugural season.

So we're already more than halfway done, the regular season. So get on board, Rebecca. I will. I promise. That's a promise. Well, this Leif's sponsorship became a WP. B.L sponsorship, but I do believe in my heart. At some point, there will be a Toronto franchise.

I need to get a hat. Yeah. I'm going to get a hat today. I'm going to order a hat today. Bless you, bless you. I want to let everybody know. Not the happiest, but it's kind of, it's reality, I would call it,

but there's a wonderful book on Made Medical Assistance and Dine. Oh, that's really. Yeah, I know. I'm doing a pivot here. Go ahead. Well, my dad did that. Okay.

Yeah. So am I, I don't want to pry, but how is the experience for you. It's a trip. Yeah. It's a real trip. Yeah. It's a bit spooky and it's difficult, but it's also more than any of that.

It's incredibly powerful. And I'm so relieved and glad that this exists because actually my dad did it, my grandmother did it, and my uncle did it. It's all the rage in my family. But to me, it's so, it makes so much sense. that you have the right to do this when you satisfy the criteria, which is rather strict the criteria. It is rather strict, and it was even stricter when my dad did it, it was 2019,

and they've opened up the, they've broadened the rules, if you will, a lot since then. But I just want to say, when I say spooky, and it's just, I think that's around the, like, the fact that you plan it, you know the day, you know the time. Right. And then that's happening is, it's, it's daunting. But it takes an enormous, you literally go on your calendar and you're sticking in a, like, the date of your loved ones passing. It's something we're, we're not used to.

So the countdown to that moment is, is really intense. But the doctors are absolutely incredible. They're angels. Like, it's, it's an incredible, um, uh, privilege to, to have this option. and an incredibly humane privilege. Agreed. Well, this is something we would do to our dog, our pets. Yeah.

And yes. So yesterday I had the great privilege of producing a, it was a conversation between a gentleman named George Takash, who wrote the book in my hand, The Book of Maid, understanding medical assistance and dying in Canada. So he had a conversation with Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home. It was the most recent episode of,

Life's Undertaking. I literally dropped it last night. We got audio, we got video, but this conversation, I was sitting right here, and they were right there chatting about this. The way George Takash talks about Made and explains it, and I found it very helpful for me personally. Like it answered a lot of questions because he specifically talks about, he's a lawyer, so he talks specifically about the basically understanding made in this country, Canada, because it's different. rules in different countries and how we got to where we are now and some of the some of the issues they're trying to to repair or not repair but I guess to fix but basically I found this incredibly enlightening and I urge anyone who's curious about any aspect of maid to check it out so it's about we did about I don't know 35 minutes or so Brad Jones talking to George DeCash about made on the most recent episode of Life's Undertaking you really should check this out it sounds like you've got a lot of lived experience with it, Rebecca. I will. Indeed.

Now, awkward pivot time to tell you, if you have, we'll leave made so I can ask you, Rebecca, do you have old cables, old electronics, maybe old devices, maybe old laptops, I don't know, old tech stuff in a drawer somewhere or a closet? Hell yeah. Who doesn't? I bet you do. I bet you do. I'm worried, Rebecca, that you're just going to go home and throw that in the garbage, okay? And those chemicals are going to end up in our landfills. So I'm hoping you'd take a note on this. Go to Recyclemyelectronics.ca.

Put in your postal code and find out where you can drop that off to be properly recycled. That's very useful information, in fact. I'm full of useful information. And last but not least, Nikainis from Fusion Corp we recorded last

week. His podcast is called Building Toronto Skyline and he had a great conversation with Karen Stintz. I got all these books. I'm surrounded by all these books, but Karen wrote a book here called Beyond Good Enough, Toronto in the Crisis of Urban Complacency. And that was a great chat. I urge people to check it out and much love to Nick Aienis for stepping up to help fuel the real talk on Toronto mic. So we can have conversations like this.

Okay, tell me what is discount Dave in the fix? What is it? What is it? It is currently, it is a five-episode narrative podcast series. that was adapted from a solo theater show that I wrote. And CBC has produced it on their show called Personally. And you can listen to all five episodes right now, anywhere you get your podcasts.

So pause this, go listen to that and then come right back. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's a binge listen. It's a bingey listen. So, yeah, I learned how to write cliffhangers, which was fun. And now people are telling me it's bingy.

Right. Okay, but that's good. That's a good thing, bingey. So you had a, it's a weird term, one man show. You're not a man, right? Like, so. I say solo show, one person's show. I know we have these.

I always think about this sometimes. There's terms in baseball where man is part of the term or whatever, and it's used in the WPBL. And I think, oh, that's strange. It's like defensemen in hockey. You know, that's interesting to me. Okay. So this solo show, discount Dave in the fix.

That has been basically turned into this podcast for the season. So did somebody at the CBC, you know, see your one person show discount, Dave in the fix and say this would make a great podcast? Like, how did it come to be a CBC podcast? I actually pitched it to them as a podcast. And I had, I was about to go into rehearsals for the, a workshop production at the Vault Creation Lab. Shout out to Diana Bentley and all the great folks there. And I, so I had pitched. it to CBC in March. They were really interested and they wanted to do it. And they were like, oh, we wish we could see you perform it. And I was like, actually, you can. And then they did come and see it. And we went from there.

And it is still, I mean, it's still a solo show in podcast form. It's me. I play a version of myself. It's, you know, inspired by me. But it's not, it's not me. It's a fictionalized version of me. And I play all the other characters, too. Here's a great quote about it from Haley McGee.

You ready? Yeah. Olivier Award-nominated performer and playwright, by the way. I'll act like I know what that means. That sounds prestigious to me. Okay. Rebecca Hourbock's solo show, discount Dave in the Fix, is a suspenseful, hilarious, and heroin examination of our obsession with celebrity

and what it means to be a, quote, good time gal, quote, A consummate performer, Rebecca's writing is razor sharp. Her skill and humanity shine in this resonant and provocative new work. That's a hell of a review. It is. Haley McGee is an idol of mine. She is a incredible artist. And she actually runs a solo creation lab where I started working on Discount Dave.

That was the very first place I started actually writing. Okay. And recently you were talking to another FOTM. FOTM, they walk amongst us. They're everywhere. But a fellow FOTM is Jill Deacon. Oh, yeah. Been over a couple of times.

Oh, right on. And she did some guest hosting of Q. And while she was guest hosting, you went on Q, right? This is only earlier this month, am I right? Yeah, last month, last month. Okay, maybe it aired or, I don't know. Or maybe it aired. Do they can these things on Q?

I don't even know how Q is it. I think we recorded July 7th and then it was out like three weeks later. It may have been the beginning of August. That's interesting, you know, because in my mind, Q is, it's like, if not live, it's like drops that day. But, but, you know, there's no, it's no Toronto mic, okay? Sometimes these things go on the shelf for a little bit. But I know you were talking to Jill and I was listening and you were kind of talking about discount Dave and the fix. And then you opened up about your past.

Yes. Like, like, how vulnerable are you willing to be with me, Rebecca, to. talk about, you know, your past, I'll quote this thing. hedonism, substance abuse, and recovery. Yeah, I'm pretty open about it. I mean, I wrote a big show about it. So, yeah, that interview was surprisingly vulnerable. But I'm not afraid to go there.

It's like, you know, it's art imitates life. And I put my life in a fictionalized version on stage and um yeah i i have had many you know a lot of the a lot of the stories that are in the show are inspired by true events and then you know i would add things and embellish and you know some things made some things worse than they were you know it's just it's how you write fiction um but it is also memoir so it's a it's a hybrid of memoir and auto fiction i would call it, which is maybe an over

explanation, but I think it kind of really nails what I was doing. And yeah, I was a pretty hard party girl for a long time. So this is the hedonism. Yes. Yes. So party girl,

this is what? Like just instant gratification, like drug use? Like what fueled it? Like, yeah, like during this period, Because, you know, eventually you end up in recovery. So is it, did you have, is it alcohol abuse, substance abuse? What?

For me, okay, I, I, there's a lot here. So I, I mean, I always, I really liked drugs. And I think it started out somewhat innocently at a young age. And I was chasing fun. And, but then, you know, I realized. at the end of it that I was running from myself. But, and my own kind of buried secrets that we all, that we all have. You were self-medicating.

I was self-medicating for sure, but I just really, it took me a long time to realize that. And it ended up that I quit drinking. And that was, that was really the thing that I was starting to have some kind of dependency on and and that was really in my way. And when I, when I, I stopped, I tried stopping a few times, but when it really hit, I'm five years, over five years sober now. Well, congrats on that. Thank you.

Thank you. That's why I will point out, that's why your GLB cup is filled with H-2-0. Yes, yes. And Spear is going to a loved one. I'm a big, yeah, I'm a big hydrator now. Yeah. I'm a big hydrator. Hydro homies.

I know all about it. You kidding me? Yeah. So it's, it's, it's been a real road. a rocky road, but I have some pretty sweet stories to tell. Well, absolutely. So, because you've mentioned a couple times, discount Dave and the fix is like, like,

I don't remember your terminology, but it's not, it's not autobiographical, but it is like based on, like, yeah, it's based on my life. Like everything came from my life in some way. Okay. So is it just that by, you know, saying it's not autobiographical,

that it just, it gives you a little like, a little safety, like a little distance from? Yeah, and I feel entitled to a little distance from it at this stage. But yeah, I mean, it's very exposing in so many ways. I'm really letting people see behind the curtain. But more than the events of the show,

it's really about the process of facing yourself and the inner voice that shame creates and anxiety and self-loathing and the journey to like self-worth. Can you be a good time, gal, without abusing substances or alcohol? Can you be clean and sober and still be a good time, gal? I think I am. Okay, well, that's... Well, I'm just getting to know.

Now, everybody. Look at me now. All right. So you're, you can, you can, you can still have all the, the aspects of this hedonism, perhaps, without the dangerous additives that would ruin your health. I would argue that I really don't need drugs and never did. I mean, I was a lot of fun, but I do, I do feel like I'm much closer to the real me now. And I like her. Well, so far so good. I'll tell you right now, I like you too. I like you, Mike.

But I never got to know the other Rebecca. I might have liked her as well. Yeah, she was a blast. She was a blast. Who's more fun, the other Rebecca or this one? Oh, that's such a hard question. It's not a fair question either. It's not a fair question.

Because if the answer is the other one, we don't want you to return to that state. No. This is a much healthier. And things are really clicking for you. Like, I'll just say when I was chatting, who was I chatting with? I was chatting with Arlene about you.

And then, because I had been raving to Arlene about it's a good life if you don't weekend, because of course Arlene and Larry went and saw it as well. And I really, like, even my 10-year-old loved it. Oh, that's awesome. And I wasn't sure like, oh, because some of the stuff, some of these themes are going to go over her head. But she loved the music, of course. And she was, I found her singing a lot of hip songs over the next few weeks or whatever. Oh, really?

Oh, that's great. You know, and I, in some of these, one of the funny thing is, so my 10-year-olds beside me, and I wonder, I hope she's not too young for this thing, but I took her to Hamilton anyways. And there were songs, hip songs, that would come up in the show. And she'd look at me like, because she knows these songs because I'll sing them around the house. Like I'll just break into song randomly. And she's like, oh, that's the song that you sing, you know, courage or whatever it is. Well, she knows a banger when she hears one.

Yeah, she knows a banger. It's not all T-swizzle over here. Sometimes you've got to add a little rock and roll. But so you've got the CBC podcast, which I think is fantastic. I mean, CBC in Canada, that's the, I think that's the greatest podcast production house we have. They're making incredible stuff. Like they're, they're killing. They're killing it.

They're killing it. And then you're part of the cast. And Talia, by the way, Talia Schlanger, I also have heard substituting for Tom Power on Q. She has very often. Yeah. Yeah. And Garvia Bailey. I'm just going to name all the, all the, you know, Tom's never been on the show,

but those three we mentioned that have filled in Jill Deakin. Yeah, and Talia has her own new show now on Sirius XM. What do you know about that? I feel like that's called That Said. And it's on Sundays at 10 a.m. I believe on Sirius XM. Sirius records out of Liberty Village. Yeah.

I've been there for a couple things here. So with Discount Dave in the Fix, your solo show, well reviewed. Like how does somebody see that? Like if somebody's like, oh, I got to see this discount Dave in the Fix. thing Rebecca's up to. How do we see that? How do you see the stage show? Yeah. That's a really great

question that I would also like answered. And so... Do it right now. There's a stage right over there. Funnily enough, I am actually working on... So there was the, there's the play, and then I adapted it into the podcast, and now I'm re-adapting it from everything I learned from the podcast, because I really cracked the code on a lot of stuff that wasn't working. And now I'm making a new draft of the play, and I am sending it to theater companies, and I'm really, really jazzed to do it. And I think there's like a built-in audience for it now. So I'm trying to use the leverage of the podcast to get people out.

Well, I mean, that's going to be well-promoted nationally. Like, that's humongous awareness. I mean, you're on Q, which is a huge show, national show. Beyond our borders, Q, I think shows up on a bunch of American stations and stuff too. Very popular podcast. So CBC hopefully promotes this through their podcasting channels. There's a whole whack of huge podcasts under the, they're my rivals, you know, because I'm at TMDS.

I did produce Larry's podcast. Yes, you did. So, you know, shout out to Larry Claupide in his podcast. Shout out to Larry Claupon. Why am I here and he isn't? It's great podcast. So, and that's how the book came to be. So it all fits there.

But this podcast will create awareness and you'll have new fans. and new people aware of you and your product and wanting to see your solo show. So it'll be very interesting to me personally to find out like when it's resurrected and reformed and then I can see it and I can send all the listeners to see it. Yes, I would love that. I would totally love that. And it's really, honestly, it starts out as like a really crazy party story that actually happened in Vancouver with the David Lee Roth imposter who crashed.

a Shakespeare festival I was working at, and then it, and then it sort of devolves into this meditation on like addiction and shame and identity. And so it's kind of a bait and switch in that way, but it's very funny the whole way through, because, I mean, that's just how I see the world. So it's, it's a, it's a romp. It's a real romp. And the twist is that that David Lee Roth impersonator was actually David Lee Roth. Hmm?

I made that up. That's the twist. That's the twist. I'm like, you didn't do your research. That's the twist. It's like that Simpson's joke just before Pulp Fiction when there was like a waiter. And who's a, oh my God, who's the guy from Welcome Back Cotter? Why am I blanking on his name from Pulp Fiction?

John Travolta. That's a wild name to plank. That's a bad sign. Take a note here. Okay. John Travolta. So like there's a joke in the Simpsons just before Pulp Fiction comes out. And it was a joke that the waiter looks like John Chavolda.

And then the waiter goes, yeah, looks like. It was John Chavolta. It's a really good impression. Yeah, but that's, you should, you should play David Lee Roth in my solo show. You know, David Lee Roth was the guy tapped by whatever it was CBS or whoever, whoever, when Howard Stern left terrestrial radio for Sirius XM, which August was, yeah, Sirius XM, which we just referenced with Talia. but they were going to replace him with David Lee Roth. That was a plan. He was going to become the new CBS,

whatever, terrestrial radio morning guy taken over for Hours starting. That did not work out well. Oh, yeah. Doesn't surprise me. It doesn't surprise me. I want to talk to David Lee Roth. Well, we'll tag him on.

You can get us together on your podcast. We'll tag team it, okay? Because I need to, because we can get him to tell the Brown M&M story again. Oh, I know it. Yeah. Oh, I know it. It's a great story because the way I heard it

for years in the schoolyard was what assholes Van Halen was. This is the way it was spun in the schoolyards. Assholes, pretentious, selfish assholes, throwing that on their rider. And then David Lee Roth explains it. And you have that moment, like the light bulb goes on, you go, fucking genius. Right? Yeah. Why not?

Yeah. Okay, you know the score. Will, I mean, you don't have to commit to it, but is there any possibility you bike over to the GLB Brew Pub on September 28 at 6 o'clock to say hi to a bunch of FOTMs collected for TMLX23. That means the 23rd Toronto mic listener experience. You don't have to commit. I don't have any plans. That's the plan that I have now.

Larry and Arlene are going to be there. There's a hundred percent chance that I would be there. That sounds awesome. Well, you are totally welcome. And in addition to we played your music off the top and we learned, obviously, you like, you know, Dolly Parton and listen to Williams. They were together. There was a trio.

Who was a third member of that trio? Gillian Welch? No. Linda Ronstad? No. I'm going to Google it while we talk because I'm going to set you up. I'm curious about your jams. Like what kind of, while I Google this one,

Lucinda Williams. I'm curious about Dolly Pardon. They had like a trio that was, I'm going to have to find out who was there. Well, I know that the two women that I mentioned were, in some kind of group. Oh, apparently, maybe not. Maybe I'm confusing people.

Maybe it's different people in the trio with Dolly. I'll find out who was in that country trio with Dolly, pardon. But what kind of music do you listen to in your spare time? Everything. Everything. I listen to hip-hop. I listen to jazz. I listen to classical lots of class.

It was Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Ron Stan. So you were right about Linda. Yes, Emily Harris. Of course. Of course. I love Emily Harris. Why did I confuse my Lucinda Williams with my Emily-Lew Harris? Okay.

So back to you, though. What kind of hip-hop? Oh, I love classic 90s hip hop. Yeah, me too, me too. I mean, it's just a great era for hip hop. But like Wu-Tang Clan? What are you listening to? I was like tribe.

Tribe called Quest. Yeah, tribe. And I used to be a big, they're not really around anymore. Maybe they are, like Jurassic 5. I was really into back in a day. I saw the Meta and Edge Fest. Oh, nice. Yeah.

I haven't listened to them in a lot, very long time, but like, you know, around my party days, I was listening to a lot of that. And, yeah, lots of jazz and, classical piano is very soothing for the morning. And yeah, like folk, roots, country for sure. But I don't discriminate against any musical genre at all. I have a very broad taste and recollection.

No, that's the one thing. No, that's the one thing I will discriminate against. We're very similar. We should hang out. You mentioned jazz. Okay, so I find that to be. be an intimidating genre to just drop into. Like, it feels, it feels intimidating.

Maybe that speaks to my own insecurities. But I've had... Is it because you, like, you want to get it? Well, I feel like there's a, like, yeah, I feel like you can't just, I don't even know how you get into it, that you can appreciate it and understand it and speak the language. But this is a long-winded way. I'm speaking of Hamilton, where I saw, it's a good life if you don't weaken. Ralph Ben-Murgy moved from Toronto to Hamilton.

I don't know if you know Ralph. He was at that premiere we were talking about with all those famous people. So Ralph Ben-Mergie has a show on Jazz FM. I think it's a podcast. I think it's on Jazz FM. I never listened because I'm intimidated by it. But it's jazz for people who don't think they like jazz.

And Ralph is going to visit here on September 9th at 1 p.m. to basically address the people who think they don't like jazz with music and thought. that will tell you, oh, you actually do like jazz. You just don't know it. I will listen to that. Can you write that down from here? I'm writing it down.

I'm sending you a number now. 1 p.m. it's, well, it's going to record live at live. tronomike.com, but it's a podcast, so you can listen whenever you want. But Ralph Benmergy. You know what album I'm obsessed with right now? Tell me.

It's not jazz, but I'm, I cannot stop listening to Cameron Winter's album heavy metal. I am obsessed. It's on all the time because I tend to fixate on things and then play them until I, wear them out completely and that's currently being worn out. Is he dating Olivia Rodrigo?

Oh, I have no idea. Yeah, I don't know why. I think that's in my head somewhere too. All these thoughts are bouncing around, but that's possible. He's dating me and rent free in my head right now. I actually just the other day watched a performance of Olivia Roderigo with Robert Smith from The Cure. Oh my God, really? Yeah, it was actually really good too.

I love the Cure. Okay. And last musical note, before we give you a chance to find out, anything else bouncing around your big brain before we say goodbye here. But we lost Dolly Parton yesterday. And there is a tremendous cover of Jolene by Jack White from the White Stripes. And I'm just here to say, find it, because it's mind-blowingly good. If you can imagine Jack White and that voice doing Jolene. It's tremendous.

I feel like I have maybe heard it once in my life. I'll bet you did. And yeah, it's just somewhere in the transom of my mind, but I'm going to run to listen to that for sure today. Anything else on your mind, Rebecca Auerbach, before we say goodbye, I've thoroughly enjoyed, you know, having a proper meeting with you, even though we shared the same space for a few hours a few months ago.

But I think discount Dave, and the fix and the podcast and the CBC and it's a good life if you don't weaken. Like, you're having a good run, so the sobriety is working for you. I mean, that's kind of exactly it. And that is a great note to end on because I think about that on the daily. And I feel very, I feel, you know, proud of myself for the road that I chose, which is the road less traveled in my life so far. Robert Frost.

Yes, totally. Not Robert Smith, Robert Frost. Yeah. And I also feel really, like if I could leave anybody with anything is that, I mean, sobriety is very different for everyone. It's a completely, because everyone's got a completely different life. But my life drastically changed immediately as soon as I made those decisions and committed to them.

and got assistance and help. And it's very humbling and exciting to see what's next. And I hope there's lots more ahead. Well, I think you're inspiring people in this conversation because somebody recognizes themselves in your, I got to quote, Haley McGee here, you're a good time gal stage there. With the hedonism, the substance abuse,

and will be inspired by how your life has going. post-recovery. I don't even know if there is a post-recovery. Like, you're forever in recovery, right? Yeah, I think so. Right. Okay, so I'm proud of you.

I'm happy for you. And I'm going to be fully on the Rebecca Auerbach train here, the hype train, and see where it goes, because it's a good life if you don't weekend. You're great in it, if I didn't say that.

You're great in it. It's great. And I got to check out this CBC podcast, and at some point, it's going to be on a stage where I can see, discount Dave and the fix.

Yeah, thank you, Mike. It's really, really nice talking to you. And tune into some WPBL games, will you? It's highly entertaining, and I just want this league, well, not just because I produced the podcast, but I want this league to succeed because I wanted to expand, and I want a Toronto WPBL franchise. We have a professional soccer team, women's soccer team. We have a professional women's hockey team, the SEPters.

And of course, we have a professional women's basketball team, Toronto Tempo. we should have, we deserve a professional women's baseball league team. I want to be on it. Do you play baseball? I can throw a baseball. They need pitchers. This is the problem. They play seven innings instead of nine because of the depth of pitching.

Oh. Because there hasn't been a proper feeder system for women's professional baseball. So a lot of them, a lot of the baseball players have come from softball. Because historically, we would funnel you into softball if you were a woman. There's a lot of transferable skills. Hitting, fielding, but guess what doesn't transfer? Pitching. Softball pitching and baseball pitching.

They're so different. They're radically different. So there absolutely is a depth issue. This is why expansion's difficult. There's a depth issue with pitching. Oh. And it can only be. fix of time because now there's developing

programs so my 10 year old who's interested in baseball has a path to become a professional baseball player and if she's a pitcher, she can develop her arm, etc. Stretch it out become an effective pitcher. But you know, here we are inaugural season.

That is the one thing I've noticed. A lot of two-way players. It's like, oh, we're going to put our third baseman in for an inning here. But there's not a lot of specialty starting pitcher Although Kelsey Whitmore is a hell of a pitcher. She is a hell of a picture. She is a hell of a picture.

She played for the Toronto Maple Leafs last year, and she's tremendous as well. There's some great pitching, but depth is the issue. I prefer throwing a baseball to throwing a softball. I like the feel. I'm with you. Right on.

And that. Subdivisions. That brings us to the end of our 1,960th show. 1960. Wow. Go to TorontoMike.com. for all your Toronto Mike needs, and much love to all who made this possible.

That is Great Lakes Brewery. Palma Pasta. Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball. Nick Aini's Recycle MyElectronics.ca. And Ridley Funeral Home. Join me. I'm checking my calendar. Okay, we'll see if this happens.

According to my calendar, I'm looking at it right now. My next guest, is John Cleese from Monty Python so I have it in the calendar I'm really glad I'm not following that he's only giving me 20 minutes Oh my God, still

John Cleese everybody Stay tuned Oh my god, legend