Ross Never Sleeps

“Podfather” Dean Young from Talkhole.com and Inside Jokes with Sandra Carusi chats about how he’s helping the Toronto comedy boom become Canada’s comedy boom. Catch him on tour this March on the “Cowboys and Indian” tour with Scott Belford & Nitish Sakhuja. First stop, Comedy Bar Toronto (945 Bloor St W, Toronto). IG: deanyoungpodcast

JJ Liberman & Amish Patel are two comedian friends who are both working hard, etching their individual marks in the Toronto comedy scene. JJ has been hitting the stand up hard this past year, making it to the Carolines stage on Broadway in New York City. Amish Patel from FadeToBrown.com makes his second RNS appearance promoting his his upcoming projects including working closely with Kevin Hart. 2017 is a big year for these two. Catch JJ every first Friday of the month at Toronto’s Comedy Bar (enter address) for the extremely raunchy and popular THE DIRTY NORTH. (Please note this episode is exceptionally explicit and fun). JJ Liberman @Crayjliberman Amish Patel @fadetobrown

Jeremy Woodcock is one of Toronto’s secret comedic weapons. A writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and CBC Comedy, Jeremy has worked hard in sketch and improv leading to these well deserved opportunities. Jeremy’s docu-series, The Urbane Explorer, highlights his charm and wit while he exposes Toronto’s plethora of adventures. A must watch for any lover of dry humour done right!

Sara Starkman is a fresh face in Toronto’s booming comedy scene. Her blog Schticky Situations has evolved into a budding stand-up comedy career. Sara is raw and unfiltered, easy to digest and one fart joke away from stealing your heart. Sara chats about being raised Jewish and non-religious, her love for all things Asia and how she stole her fiancée from the UK. Sara can be seen every month at her curated comedy show The McQueens of Comedy at McQueens Pub (993 Queen Street East).

After the recent release of his second successful comedy album, Demons Are Eating My Head, Chris Locke continues to prove why he’s one of Toronto’s leading stand-up comedians. Chris is humble, silly, genuine and hungry. This recording occurs right after President Trump was elected, so you get to hear a side of Chris that is unusually disappointed, yet calmingly funny. We discuss his love of Indian cuisine, living in Toronto, his new born, and his incredibly original podcast, Utopia To Me.

Toronto is home to a growing number of Burlesque performers and teachers. This confident community can be seen shedding their beautifully elaborate costumes at a variety of shows downtown. We chat with performer Zyra Lee Vanity about the history of Burlesque and how Toronto is playing an important role for Canadians involved in live performance, art, and expression. With the recent news in Hamilton where a bylaw officer ticketed Burlesque dancers for their performance at a bar, Zyra Lee Vanity gives her own take on working in a progressive art form.

DeAnne Smith is a world class comedian and fellow podcaster who now calls Toronto her home. DeAnne has this amazing ability to make those around her feel at ease with a genuine interest in her audience and collaborators. Toronto is very fortunate to have DeAnne! Just like her new puppy, we have to ask, “Can we keep her?” DeAnne’s podcast, Questionable at Best can be heard at NoMoreRadio.com

Winnipeg’s Garrett Jamieson is one of the kindest and equally funny comedians residing in Toronto. Always happy to work and collaborate with other artists, Garrett is coordinating his very own showcase featuring painters, magic and live music. The event will feature art by Garrett and Charlotte Mars, Magic from “The Amazing” Nick Reynoldson and performances including comedian Todd Graham.

Mark Little is just as funny as he is humble. Mark is surely becoming a great Canadian name having worked on some of the most popular comedy projects in Canada including CBC’s Mr. D. Mark helped open the sketch comedy doors in Halifax with the troupe Picnicface, he’s been featured on Just For Laughs & Yuk Yuk’s. You can see him regularly at Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre with the sketch super group GET SOME featuring Jeremy Woodcock, Miguel Rivas, Alex Tindal & Laura Cilevetz.

Standing at 6’6″ sincere comedian Kyle Hickey is fueled by hecklers, donairs and hardboiled eggs. Kyle’s album “experimental phase” reached #1 on iTunes only a few years after moving to Toronto from Halifax to advance his career in stand-up. Kyle has stories like an old roadie and advice for all the Internet trolls looking for comedians to “follow” on social media. Catch Kyle at Yuk Yuk’s regularly throughout Toronto and the rest of Canada.

Filmmakers Mariah Owen www.GTEproductionsinc.com & writer/actress Brittany Johnson (Dark Matter, Murdoch Mysteries) are two of the hardest working people in the entertainment industry. Their new short film Expiry Date is coming soon to a screen near you. Until then, have a listen to how these two amazing women have been working hard in one of the most difficult industries in Canada–and they tell you how you can too!

Amish Patel is a young hard working comedian diligently producing content in a variety of forms. His standup is excellent, his YouTube videos are well produced and he recently had a pitch accepted by Kevin Hart for the new Laugh Out Loud Network. Check Amish out at www.AmishPatel.net

Jordan Foisy is the renaissance-(every)man. He’ll tell you like it is and there’s little to disagree with. His confidence in today’s cultural shortcomings is what makes him enjoyable to chat with. Check out his podcast “Should I Be Scared Of This”. We hope he brings it back! http://www.jordanfoisy.com/

Two best friends and a bottle of wine, Dave Merheje & Patrick Hakeem come to the NSN studio and chat. Though they have seemingly similar backgrounds culturally, it was the comedy scene in Toronto that paired these two together.

Phil Luzi is our first triple threat: he’s a versatile actor, a hilarious comedian AND a talented director. Phil is a beautiful human inside and out who loves Toronto and the career and opportunities it’s provided him. We discuss him meeting his comedy partner in crime, Canadian comedy royalty Sandra Battaglini, and what it is like being a gay comedy icon in the ever evolving LGBTQ comedy landscape. Our chat with Phil happens fresh from his Toronto Fringe Festival debut directing Born with a Tale starring Helder Brum, another great comedian featured on an earlier episode of RNS!

Ben Miner was destined to be a comedian. Starting in Ottawa he worked on the Tom Green Show, and has since surrounded himself around trend setting comedians until finally becoming one himself. Ben’s comedy sounds like your funny best friend telling you why food is funny and he’s usually right or at least starting a conversation the whole room can agree on and laugh about.

Originally from Montreal, Faisal Butt, has made Toronto his comedy home for the last 6 years. Faisal talks about where his hustle stems from-his newly born baby, his Muslim roots and Pakistani parents and how different his life has been since realizing comedy was his path. Listen to Faisal discuss his peaks and valleys in the industry and his recent accolade–winning the Sirius XM’s Top Comic.

Matt O’Brien is leading the pack of brilliantly weird and fun comedians to come out of Toronto. Matt’s stand up is energetic and excitable, but far from over the top. Matt is simply not afraid to take chances and his audiences quickly latches on for the ride. Matt’s social media pages and YouTube are constantly pumping out new jokes and videos every week. Matt is young and electric and can be seen touring under the Yuk Yuk’s banner all over Canada.

Toronto’s Adam Pal is an entertainer and TV producer on the award winning national show Out There with Melissa DiMarco. Adam’s sense of humour is unmatched, his opinions are sometimes against the grain, but his heart is large. He’s a hard working family man working on his own network www.palmcastnetwork.com

Justin Bruckmann is owner and coach of Bruckmann Martial Arts in Ontario’s Durham region. Justin’s respect for his students and their progress is representative of the martial arts his gym teaches. Justin’s years of experience provides exciting opinions and an unmatched perspective. Justin opens up to us about the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu scene in Ontario, and what it’s like to coach at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).