Canadian humour

Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian Identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French. While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in North America and the world.

Overview

Various trends can be noted in Canadian comedy. One thread is the portrayal of a "typical" Canadian family in an on-going radio or television series. Examples include "La famille Plouffe", with its mix of drama, humour, politics and religion and sitcoms such as "King of Kensington" and "La Petite Vie". Another major thread tends to be political and cultural satire: television shows such as "CODCO," "Royal Canadian Air Farce", "La Fin du monde est à 7 heures" and "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," monologuists such as Yvon Deschamps and Rick Mercer and writers, including Michel Tremblay, Will Ferguson and Eric Nicol draw their inspiration from Canadian and Québécois society and politics. Another trend revels in absurdity, demonstrated by television series like "The Kids in the Hall" and "The Frantics," and musician-comedians such as The Arrogant Worms, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie and Bowser and Blue. Satire is arguably the primary characteristic of Canadian humour, evident in each of these threads, and uniting various genres and regional cultural differences.

Humber College in Toronto and the [http://www.enh.qc.ca/ École nationale de l'humour] in Montreal offer post-secondary programmes in comedy (writing and performance). Montreal is also home to the bilingual (English and French) Just For Laughs festival and to the Just For Laughs Museum, a bilingual, international museum of comedy.

Literature

From the first major work of Canadian humour, Thomas McCulloch’s "Letters of Mephibosheth Stepsure" (1821-23) in the Halifax weekly "Acadian Recorder", Canadian humorous writing has tended more towards prose than poetry. McCulloch's satirical letters have been described by Northrop Frye as "quiet, observant, deeply conservative in a human sense…” McCulloch's satirical persona, the "conventional, old-fashioned, homespun" farmer, is part of a tradition that originates with Addison and Swift. Compared to McCulloch’s dry, and understated style, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, showed the same conservative social values in the brash, overstated character of Sam Slick, the Yankee Clockmaker. Haliburton’s Sam Slick persona in "The Clockmaker" (1836), as Arthur Scobie notes in "The Canadian Encyclopedia", "proved immensely popular and, ironically, has influenced American humour as much as Canadian."Scobie, Stephen [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003902 "Humourous Writing in English"] . "The Canadian Encyclopedia." Retrieved on: March 24, 2008.]

Folk humour and satire were responses to the domination of 19th-century French Canadian culture by the Catholic Church. Napoléon Aubin satirized Quebec public life in his journals "Le Fantasque" (1837-45) and "Le Castor" (1843), and through his theatre troupe, "Les Amateurs typographiques, " established in 1839. He was imprisoned during that same year for his views. This cosmopolitan tradition is also seen in the journalism of Arthur Buies, editor of "La Lanterne canadienne" (1868-69), a highly satirical journal of that era.Lacombe, Michelle [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003903 "Humourous Writing in French"] . "The Canadian Encyclopedia." Retrieved on: March 24, 2008.]

Light comedy that mocked local customs, was typical of 19th-century theatre in Quebec. Examples include Joseph Quesnel's "L'Anglomanie, ou le dîner à l'angloise" (1803), which criticized the imitation of English customs, and Pierre Petitclair's "Une partie de campagne" (1865). More serious dramas attacked specific targets: the anonymous "Les Comédies du status quo" (1834) ridiculed local politics, and "Le Défricheteur de langue" (1859) by Isodore Mesplats, (pseudonym of Joseph LaRue and Joseph-Charles Taché), mocked Parisian manners. Other examples of theatrical satire were Félix-Gabriel Marchand's comedy, "Les faux brillants" (1885) and Louvigny de Montigny's "Les Boules de neige" (1903), which took aim at Montreal's bourgeoisie.

By the early 20th century, the satirical tradition was well developed in English Canada as exemplified in the writing of Stephen Leacock. In "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" (1912), Leacock, renowned for his satirical wit, used tragic irony and astute insight in examining day-to-day, small-town life. The book remains a classic of Canadian literature, and was followed by "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich" in 1914. An annual Canadian literary award, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, is named in his memory. The award is presented to the year's best work of humorous literature by a Canadian. Donald Jack, three-time winner of the Leacock Medal, wrote a number of comedies for the stage, radio, and television, but is best known for his nine-part series of novels about aviator Bartholomew Bandy.

Following the "Révolution tranquille" in Quebec, theatrical satire reappeared in 1968 with Michel Tremblay's play "Les Belles sœurs," written in Québécois joual. The controversial play picked apart the myth of a stable bourgeois Quebec society with a mix of realistic comedy and allegorical satire. Following Tremblay’s lead, Jean Barbeau exposed Quebec popular culture in "La Coupe stainless" (1974). Tremblay and Barbeau set the stage for reviews such as "Broue" (1979), a collective production, which toured English-speaking Canada as "Brew" (1982).

Humorous fiction in French Canada draws from the oral tradition of folk songs and folktales which were the common coin of humour in the 19th century. Only a few of these folk tales surfaced in writing prior to the 20th century. However, contemporary writers such as Jacques Ferron ("Contes du pays incertain," 1962) in Quebec and Antonine Maillet in Acadian New Brunswick ("La Sagouine," 1974, and "Pélagie-la-Charette," 1979), rely extensively on folk humour and popular culture. Other Quebec writers noted for their humour include Roger Lemelin, Gérard Bessette, Jacques Godbout, Roch Carrier and Yves Beauchemin. Beauchemin's picaresque novel "Le Matou" (1981) is the all-time best-selling novel in Quebec literature.

The plain talking alter-ego as an instrument of satire continued with Robertson Davies' series of Samuel Marchbanks books (1947-67) and John Metcalf's James Wells in "General Ludd" (1980). Davies is one of many Canadian writers of "serious" literature who were also renowned for humour in their work. Margaret Atwood, Farley Mowat, Paul Quarrington, Mordecai Richler, Carol Shields, W. O. Mitchell, Pierre Berton and Miriam Toews are all acclaimed writers of mainstream literature who have also been acknowledged for using humour and wit in their writing.

Many other writers of Canadian humour have been published as newspaper or magazine commentators, including Gary Lautens, Richard J. Needham, Eric Nicol, Joey Slinger, Will Ferguson and Linwood Barclay.

Humour is also central to the work of Canadian children's writers such as Gordon Korman, Dennis Lee and Robert Munsch.

Music

Particularly in recent years, Canada has produced a number of famous musical groups who have been described as "comedy rock". Bands such as Barenaked Ladies, Moxy Früvous, Odds, Crash Test Dummies, The Awkward Stage and Rheostatics are sometimes misunderstood as being strictly novelty bands, but in fact many of their songs use humour to illuminate more serious themes.

A number of other acts, such as Corky and the Juice Pigs, Arrogant Worms, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie and Bowser and Blue write specifically comedic songs.

Nancy White is a noted Canadian musical satirist, whose comedic folk songs about Canadian culture and politics have regularly appeared on CBC Radio programs. In addition to more serious material on his primary albums, folk musician Geoff Berner — who has also run for political office as a candidate of the Rhinoceros Party — frequently releases pointedly satirical songs, such as "Official Theme Song for the 2010 Vancouver / Whistler Olympic Games (The Dead Children Were Worth It!)", as free downloads from his website.

Jann Arden, a singer-songwriter renowned for writing sad love songs, is also paradoxically known as one of Canada's funniest live performers, whose witty, unpretentious stage patter about herself and her family is as much a part of her relationship with her audience as her music is.

Another noted Canadian musical comedian is Mary Lou Fallis, an opera singer who performs both in classical opera roles and as the comedic character "Primadonna", a touring stage show in which she parodies popular stereotypes of opera divas.

Canadian heavy metal frontman Devin Townsend is known for using humour in his music. Projects such as Punky Bruster and Ziltoid the Omniscient are heavily comedy driven, and Devin's heavy metal band, Strapping Young Lad, use a fair bit of satire and sarcastic tongue in cheek lyrics as well.

Radio

Many of Canada's comedy acts and performers have started out on radio, primarily on the national Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) network.

While individual comedy show and segments have been around almost as long as the network, the focus has tended be more on specific shows featuring particular groups of comedians. The real beginnings of Canadian radio comedy began in the late 1930s with the debut of "The Happy Gang", a long-running weekly variety show that was regularly sprinkled with corny jokes in between tunes. It debuted in 1938 and ran until 1959. The "Wayne & Shuster" show debuted on CBC radio in 1946, their more literate and classy humour regularly appearing on the airwaves well into the early 1960s.

The "Royal Canadian Air Farce" started as a radio show debuting in 1973 featuring mainly political and some character-based comedy sketches. It ran for 24 years before making a permanent transition to television. It started a tradition of topical and politically satirical radio shows that inspired such programs as "Double Exposure", "The Muckraker" and "What a Week".

A zanier, more surreal brand of radio comedy was unveiled in the early 1980s with the debut of The Frantics' "Frantic Times" radio show, which ran from 1981 to 1986. Its smart and surreal style fostered a new take on Canadian radio comedy that was followed by the likes of successor shows as "The Norm" and "Radio Free Vestibule".

By the 1990s the satirical and zany elements merged into two of the more notable CBC radio comedy shows of the 1990s: "The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour", a show that offered bitingly satirical pieces from a First Nations perspective mixed in with general silliness; and "Great Eastern", a show set in a fictitious Newfoundland "national" radio station featuring improbable news stories, fictitious archival recordings and unlikely archeological findings played straight.

CBC Radio continues to play an important part in developing comedy performers on radio. "Madly Off In All Directions" became a weekly national forum for regional sketch and stand-up comics, a practice that continues in the more recent series "The Debaters".

Laugh Attack, a channel programmed by XM Radio Canada and broadcast by XM Satellite Radio to Canada and the United States, features predominantly Canadian comedy.

Television

Many of Canada's most popular and enduring comedy shows are in the sketch comedy genre. Paradoxically, Canadian television has fared poorly with conventional, American-style sitcoms, but has often had much greater success with dramedies and other types of programming that break the sitcom form.

Canadian television comedy begins with Wayne and Shuster, a sketch comedy duo who performed as a comedy team during the Second World War, and moved their act to radio in 1946 before moving on to television. They became one of Canada's most enduring comedy teams, not just on Canadian television, but in the United States as well: they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 67 times, a record for any performer. They were particularly famous for their Julius Caesar sketch, "Rinse the Blood off My Toga", with its legendary catch phrase, "I told him, Julie, don't go!"

Wayne and Shuster continued to appear on CBC Television until the late 1980s, with specials that mixed new sketches with their classic material.

"La famille Plouffe", the first regularly scheduled television drama in Canada, was produced in 1953 by Radio-Canada, in French. The program was broadcast on both English and French networks of CBC TV from 1954 to 1959, (in English as "The Plouffe Family"). It was a mix of drama, humour and social commentary about a working-class Quebec family in the post-World War II era. Another of the CBC's earliest productions was a television adaptation of one of the enduring classics of Canadian humour writing, Stephen Leacock's "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town".

Another pioneer in Canadian television comedy was, oddly, a "news" series. "This Hour Has Seven Days," which debuted in 1964, was primarily meant as a newsmagazine, but its segments included political satire as well as serious news reports. Later series such as "Royal Canadian Air Farce", "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and "Rick Mercer Report" have all drawn on the tradition of political satire established by "Seven Days", and have been among Canadian television's most popular comedy series in recent years.

Canadian born Lorne Michaels, who had moved from Toronto to Los Angeles in 1968 to work on Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In", launched the NBC comedy show "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. Over the years, several Canadians came to fame as part of the SNL cast, including Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, and Mike Myers. Michaels also produced "The Kids in the Hall" for Canadian TV in the 1980s.

Many Canadian comedy shows, while not directly about politics per se, have made profound political statements by satirizing society and pop culture. This includes shows such as "SCTV", "Buzz" and "CODCO". "CODCO", in particular, was intensely controversial at times for its use of comedy in tackling sensitive subjects; the show ended when Andy Jones quit in protest after the CBC refused to air a sketch that made a very explicit political statement about the Mount Cashel child abuse scandal.

Other shows, such as "The Kids in the Hall", "The Frantics", "Bizarre" and "Puppets Who Kill", revelled in absurdist humour, making household names out of characters such as Chicken Lady, Mr. Canoehead and Super Dave Osborne.

Other notable sketch series have included "Zut!", "The Gavin Crawford Show" and "The Holmes Show". Canadian television also frequently showcases stand-up comedians. The popular series "Comics", based around one comedian each week, has been the first national television exposure for many of Canada's current comedy stars. Another series, "Just for Laughs", has for many years presented comedians appearing at the Montreal International Comedy Festival. That series has also spawned the more recent "Just For Laughs Gags", a practical joke show similar to "Candid Camera".

Although several notable Canadian sitcoms have been produced, such as "King of Kensington", "Hangin' In", "Corner Gas" and "Little Mosque on the Prairie", Canadian TV has also produced what is widely regarded as one of the worst sitcoms in television history, "The Trouble with Tracy". Other sitcoms, including "Material World", "Mosquito Lake", "Snow Job", "Check it Out!", "", "Excuse My French" and "Not My Department", have generally fared poorly with critics and audiences as well. Critic Geoff Pevere has pointed out, however, that American television has produced a lot of bad sitcoms as well. The difference, according to Pevere, is that the economics of television production in Canada mean that whereas an unpopular American sitcom may be cancelled and largely forgotten after just a few weeks, Canadian television networks can rarely afford to lose their investment — meaning that a Canadian sitcom almost always airs every episode that was produced, "regardless" of its performance in the ratings.

On the other hand, Canadian television comedy fares much better when it breaks the sitcom form, especially with dramedy. Unconventional comedy series such as "The Beachcombers", "Due South", "Made in Canada", "Chilly Beach", "The Newsroom", "Primetime Glick", "The Red Green Show", "La Petite Vie", "Seeing Things", "Trailer Park Boys", "Supertown Challenge", "Les Bougon" and "Twitch City" have been much more successful than most of Canada's conventional sitcoms, both in Canada and as international exports.

Canada has a national television channel, The Comedy Network, devoted to comedy. Its programming includes some of the classic Canadian comedy series noted above, repeats of several hit American and British series such as "The Simpsons", "South Park" and "Absolutely Fabulous", and original series such as "Kevin Spencer", "Odd Job Jack", "The Devil's Advocates", "Improv Heaven and Hell" and "Puppets Who Kill".

One of the most famous figures in Canadian television comedy in the 1990s and 2000s has been Rick Mercer. Mercer began his career in 1990 with a touring one-man show, "Show Me the Button, I'll Push It", about Canadian life in the immediate aftermath of the failed Meech Lake Accord. That show was a sellout success; in 1993, he made his television debut as one of the writers and performers on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". Mercer's "rants", short op-ed pieces on Canadian politics and culture, quickly became the show's signature segment. When he published a collection of rants in 1998 as "Streeters", the book quickly became a bestseller. Mercer left "22 Minutes" in 2000 to devote more time to his other series, "Made in Canada". When that series ended its run, he launched the new "Rick Mercer Report".

Another famous comedic export in the same era was Tom Green, whose surreal and sometimes grotesque humour on "The Tom Green Show" began as a community cable show in Ottawa before becoming a momentary hit on MTV.

As with many other genres, Canadian television comedy also frequently plays with the topic of Canada's relationship with the United States. Mercer turned another "22 Minutes" segment, "Talking to Americans", into a 2001 television special, which was a ratings smash. In "Talking to Americans", Mercer, in his "22 Minutes" guise as reporter "J.B. Dixon", visited American cities to ask people on the street for their opinion on a Canadian news story -- the joke for Canadians was that the news story was always fabricated, and either inherently ridiculous (e.g. a border dispute between Quebec and Chechnya or an annual Toronto polar bear hunt) or blatantly out of context (e.g. wishing Canadians a "Happy Stockwell Day".)

Another notable show, the sitcom "An American in Canada", reversed that formula, finding comedy in the culture shock of an American television reporter taking a job with a Canadian TV station. Tom Green once played with this staple of Canadian comedy as well, during a controversial segment in which he burned a Canadian flag.

Comedy clubs

Notable Canadian comedy clubs and showcases include The Second City branch in Toronto (originally housed at The Old Fire Hall), the Yuk Yuk's chain, and The ALTdot COMedy Lounge.

The Canadian Comedy Awards

[http://www.canadiancomedyawards.ca] The Canadian Comedy Awards were founded by Tim Progosh and Higher Ground Productions in 1999. Over the past 8 years they have given out more than 160 awards in three categories - Live comedy, film and Television. The comedy Association made up of: the writers, directors and performers guilds as well as industry professionals; does the voting and nominating.The awards are handed out at the annual Awards and Festival each year.

Personalities

Other famous Canadian humourists and comedy-professionals include:
* Roger Abbott ("Royal Canadian Air Farce")
* Dan Aykroyd ("Saturday Night Live", "The Blues Brothers", "Ghostbusters")
* Bob Bainborough ("The Red Green Show", "History Bites", "Men With Brooms")
* Samantha Bee ("The Daily Show")
* Arthur Black ("Basic Black")
* Mark Breslin (stand-up; founder of the Yuk-Yuk's chain)
* Dave Broadfoot ("Royal Canadian Air Farce", "XPM", stand-up)
* Pat Bullard ("The Pat Bullard Show")
* Mike Bullard ("Open Mike with Mike Bullard", "The Mike Bullard Show")
* Brent Butt ("Corner Gas", stand-up)
* Craig Campbell
* John Candy ("SCTV", "Uncle Buck", "Spaceballs", "Canadian Bacon")
* Lorne Cardinal ("Corner Gas")
* Jim Carrey ("", "Man on the Moon", "The Mask", "Liar Liar", "In Living Color")
* Maggie Cassella ("Because I Said So")
* Michael Cera ("Arrested Development", "Superbad")
* Tommy Chong (Cheech & Chong, "That '70s Show")
* Carla Collins (stand-up)
* Michel Courtemanche (stand-up)
* Gavin Crawford ("The Gavin Crawford Show", "This Hour Has 22 Minutes")
* Sean Cullen ("Corky & the Juice Pigs", "The Sean Cullen Show", stand-up)
* Roman Danylo ("The Holmes Show", "Comedy Inc.")
* Yvon Deschamps (stand-up)
* Filipe "Folopo" Dimas (stand-up, "TheLaughTrack")
* Harry Doupe (stand-up/comedy writer)
* Ed the Sock ("Ed's Night Party")
* Derek Edwards (stand-up, "The Red Green Show")
* Joey Elias (stand-up)
* Fred Ewanuick ("Corner Gas", "Robson Arms")
* Mark Farrell ("The Newsroom")
* Don Ferguson ("Royal Canadian Air Farce", "XPM")
* Joe Flaherty ("SCTV")
* Dave Foley ("The Kids in the Hall", "News Radio")
* Michael J. Fox ("Family Ties", "Back to the Future", "Spin City")
* Stewart Francis ("An American in Canada", "You Bet Your Ass")
* Vicki Gabereau ("Vicki Gabereau")
* André-Philippe Gagnon (impressionist)
* Luba Goy ("Royal Canadian Air Farce", "Bizarre")
* Rick Green ("The Frantics", "The Red Green Show", "History Bites")
* Bowser and Blue
* Graham Greene ("The Red Green Show")
* Kathy Greenwood ("Whose Line is it Anyway?", "XPM")
* Paul Gross ("Due South", "Men With Brooms")
* Ben Guyatt ("Comedy at Club 54")
* Don Harron (aka "Charlie Farquharson" Spring Thaw, Hee Haw)
* Phil Hartman ("Saturday Night Live", "The Simpsons", "NewsRadio")
* Jessica Holmes ("The Holmes Show", "Royal Canadian Air Farce")
* Jeremy Hotz (stand-up)
* Donald Jack (author)
* Ron James ("Blackfly", stand-up)
* Mario Jean (stand-up, actor)
* Andy Jones ("CODCO")
* Cathy Jones ("CODCO", "This Hour Has 22 Minutes")
* Daryn Jones ("Buzz", "Rick Mercer Report")
* Jason Jones ("The Daily Show")
* Helene Joy ("An American in Canada")
* Peter Keleghan ("The Newsroom", "Made in Canada", "The Red Green Show")
* Tom King ("The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour")
* Gordon Kirkland (humour author, syndicated columnist, entertainer)
* Elvira Kurt (stand-up, "PopCultured")
* Greg Lawrance ("Kevin Spencer, ")
* Eugene Levy ("SCTV", "American Pie")
* Rich Little (impressionist)
* Tim Long (Head-writer for "The Simpsons")
* Jeff Lumby ("The Red Green Show")
* Bette MacDonald ("")
* Mike MacDonald (stand-up)
* Norm MacDonald ("Saturday Night Live", "The Norm Show")
* Shane MacDougall (stand-up/comedy writer)
* Shaun Majumder ("This Hour Has 22 Minutes", "Just For Laughs")
* Greg Malone ("CODCO", "The S&M Comic Book")
* Howie Mandel ("Bobby's World", "The Tonight Show")
* Andrea Martin ("SCTV")
* Rachel McAdams ("The Hot Chick", "Mean Girls")
* Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace")
* Bruce McCulloch ("The Kids in the Hall")
* Kevin McDonald ("The Kids in the Hall")
* Wade McElwain ("Gutter Ball Alley"), "Ultimate Destination", (stand-up)
* Patrick McKenna ("The Red Green Show")
* Mark McKinney ("The Kids in the Hall", "Robson Arms")
* Stuart McLean ("The Vinyl Cafe")
* Lorne Michaels ("Saturday Night Live")
* Gabrielle Miller ("Corner Gas", "Robson Arms")
* Mista Mo/Morgan Smith ("Buzz")
* Colin Mochrie ("This Hour Has 22 Minutes", "Supertown Challenge", "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", "Improv Heaven & Hell", "Blackfly")
* Rick Moranis ("SCTV")
* John Morgan ("Royal Canadian Air Farce")
* Mike Myers ("Saturday Night Live", "Wayne's World", "Austin Powers")
* Leslie Nielsen ("Liography", "Zeroman", "Men With Brooms", "The Naked Gun")
* Catherine O'Hara ("SCTV", "Best in Show", "A Mighty Wind")
* Peter Oldring ("History Bites")
* Tim Progosh (stand up/writer/producer)("CCA Naughty","CCA Nice,"CCA Best of the Fest","500 miles Off Broadway","The Just For Laughs Comedy Revue","Supertown Challenge")
* Ron Pardo ("History Bites")
* Jenny Parsons ("Supertown Challenge")
* Teresa Pavlinek ("History Bites", "Improv Heaven & Hell", "The Jane Show")
* Russell Peters (stand-up)
* Eric Peterson ("This is Wonderland", "Corner Gas")
* Gordon Pinsent ("The Red Green Show")
* Leah Pinsent ("Made in Canada")
* Dan Redican ("Puppets Who Kill", "The Frantics")
* Ryan Reynolds ("Two Guys and a Girl", "National Lampoon's Van Wilder")
* Caroline Rhea ("The Caroline Rhea Show")
* Rick Roberts ("An American in Canada")
* Kenny Robinson (stand-up, radio)
* Nancy Robertson ("Corner Gas")
* Wayne Robson ("The Red Green Show")
* Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up", "Superbad")
* Saul Rubinek ("Frasier", "Bizarre")
* Will Sasso ("Mad TV")
* Mort Saul (stand-up)
* Tommy Sexton ("CODCO", "The S&M Comic Book")
* Sandra Shamas (stand-up)
* William Shatner ("Star Trek" and various spoofs thereof, comedic commercials)
* Martin Short ("SCTV", "Primetime Glick", "Saturday Night Live")
* Mike Smith ("Trailer Park Boys")
* Steve Smith ("The Red Green Show", "Smith & Smith's Comedy Mill")
* Ron Sparks (writer, stand-up)
* Winston Spear (stand-up, Comedy Inc.)
* Tara Spencer-Nairn ("Corner Gas")
* David Steinberg (stand-up, Second City, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)
* Ryan Stiles ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?", "The Drew Carey Show")
* Dave Thomas ("SCTV", "The New Beachcombers")
* Greg Thomey ("This Hour Has 22 Minutes")
* Scott Thompson ("The Kids in the Hall")
* Jonathan Torrens ("Jonovision", "Trailer Park Boys", "")
* John Paul Tremblay ("Trailer Park Boys")
* Janet van de Graaff ("History Bites", "Improv Heaven & Hell")
* Ron Vaudry (stand-up)
* Mary Walsh ("CODCO", "This Hour Has 22 Minutes")
* Robb Wells ("Trailer Park Boys")
* Peter Wildman ("The Red Green Show", "The Frantics")
* Harland Williams ("Just for Laughs")
* Janet Wright ("Corner Gas")

ee also

* List of Quebec comedians
* Blame Canada ("South Park")
* British humour
* American humor

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thetoque.com The Toque] Online Canadian humour and satire
* [http://www.thehammer.ca The Hammer] Canadian humour website