Er…..this is becoming a bit of a habit recently. Just to let you know I won’t now be appearing at Absolute Comedy tonight. But there’s a really good reason! I’m now going to be in at least three episodes of “Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures” and I have a lot of filming to fit in between rehearsals for “Toronto Noir”. I’m so...

When it’s going well, being a professional performer is the most fabulous job ever. I am having the best time (see the cheesy grin, left). It all happened so fast. I hadn’t had a job in six months and suddenly I landed a theatre job with Summerworks out of the blue. Just after rehearsals began I had a tv audition for “Bloodletting and Miraculous...

A couple of years ago I was cast as one of the Twelve Chefs of Quiznos for their new campaign. My character didn’t have a name at that point – I was not going to be featured, simply part of a chef line-up. However, at the costume call I auditioned for the director (as did all the other chefs) for the role of the shirty chef who didn’t like the idea...

Or it can be. When it’s not going well. I get cross and impatient and want whatever I’m writing to be fantastic in a very short time. Which rarely happens. There are occasional flashes of inspiration which create a fully-formed joke in a couple of minutes of frantic scribbling. But mostly I end up doodling in my little black book or staring at my laptop...

My kid asked me why I was reading six short plays by Noel Coward. I told her it’s because I have an audition for the Shaw Festival and I wanted to read some of the plays they were doing so that I could choose some appropriate audition pieces. She asked me why I had to read so many. I explained that they were doing quite a lot of Coward and that if I read at...

Would you rather get your ass kicked in front of a live audience or get constructive feedback from a group of your friendly peers? Whether it’s stand-up or an audition piece always consider giving it a go in front of your mates. I don’t do it often enough and every time I do I wonder why I don’t do it more. I go to an artists’ salon that my...