Monday, May 14, 2012
HEADLINING GRINDHOUSE COMEDY IN TORONTO MAY 19TH
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Battle of the Blames
By Tyler Morrison
In the span of a few months the National Hockey League has lost three of the biggest fan favourites in the game to tragic circumstances, their lives cut way too short, and in the aftermath of the loss a nation has been swept up in a quest for answers. The answers however, are not black and white like many wish to propagate. In fact the only thing black and white about this set of coincidental circumstances is the fact that members of the media and former players seeking attention are using the deaths of three young men as a springboard to feverishly beat the drum of their agenda to ban fighting.
I am writing this not in defense of fighting but in response to the people who try and make it a scapegoat for larger problems beyond their understanding.
To start I would like to shatter the common perception that NHL enforcers are not compensated well. These enforcers made good money, although I have seen it in the press portrayed that they do not. They may be at the bottom of the NHL pay scale but the NHL pay scale is still way more money than the average person makes, let alone enforcing is a job they signed up for, playing a game they loved. They were honourable men who had integrity and respected others who shared their job. I think the last thing they would have wanted was to be the catalyst for some self-serving suits who have never laced up and skated a mile in their Bauer Vapor 60’s to determine the fate of their profession.
These fallen enforcers willingness to defend teammates and take on a role of sacrifice that many others simply cannot fathom is the only thing tying these deaths together, a role that many media pundits believe is unnecessary and will never relate to. However if given the natural gift and opportunity to play the game you love while earning a salary of 1.6 million per year respectively, as was the case in Derek Boogaard’s last contract, there is no doubt in my mind that any journalist who loves hockey (as much as these media types claim to) would trade in the belief that the pen is mightier than the sword. These men were enforcers, not goons, and what they did for their profession was admirable.
Trying to misguide and sway readers by drawing negative attention to their profession, when the fact is that these deaths are completely unrelated, is only cannibalising the argument to banish fighting from hockey. Boogaard’s death was caused by mixing alcohol with pain killers, Rypien’s self-inflicted from depression, and Belak’s passing has been claimed to be accidental. Anyone wishing to blame the game of hockey can go right ahead but they would be missing the bigger picture here. Approximately 3.5 million people in Canada will suffer from depression in their lives, two people out of those 3.5 million passed away from something that cannot accurately be tied to their profession. There are very few articles that will ever be written about the others in that statistic. If anything good could ever come from the passing of these young men it is that more attention needs to be drawn to the issue of depression, not the issue of fighting in hockey, as it is something that has soaked up way too much limelight over the years from the same tired sides.
As per Boogaard, the NHL substance abuse program was in place and with dangerous drugs like Oxy Contin one slip up can cost you your life. The program seems to have worked for other enforcers like Brian McGrattan but help is something that is up to the individual and the margin for error when using powerful drugs is razor thin and can never be 100 percent fully controlled by a rehabilitation program. Injury from enforcing is what the writers like to blame for this loss, there is no denying it was a contributing factor, but Sidney Crosby, a non-fighter has been out of the game with a head injury doled out by another non-fighter for what seems like forever. He is just as likely to get hooked on pain meds as anyone else. Rule changes to a product that has been around for 100 years are not going to solve chemical imbalances in humanity. Trying to trump decisions that have already been made with the best interest of the players and the product will not solve anything, we live in an imperfect world, maybe it is time to we embrace the imperfections.
So before people jump on the bandwagon of one of these pretentious hockey puritans who swarm like vultures around controversy with their I-told-you-so attitude there is something I would like them to think about long and hard. Sport is one of the last places where the alpha male is still allowed to be king, and if you are not an alpha male you will be intimidated. The alpha male offends the media tastemakers because they do not understand the art of domination in sport. There are two major factors in winning championships; a combination of skill and intimidation and a combination of skill and not being intimidated. Thanks to pressure from the media the NHL has slowly whittled tough hockey down to a twig with rule changes that have been mandated over the years. Toughness in hockey now stands alone as one of the last bastions in our culture that represents accountability through a natural instinct to protect and defend. To put it in terms some of these glorified journalists can understand, toughness in hockey is the last rain forest and they want to cut it down. Every piece of paper they write an anti-fighting article on represents a tree. Getting rid of it is not going to solve the world’s problems. Maybe it is time we put down the axe and look at the bigger picture.
In the span of a few months the National Hockey League has lost three of the biggest fan favourites in the game to tragic circumstances, their lives cut way too short, and in the aftermath of the loss a nation has been swept up in a quest for answers. The answers however, are not black and white like many wish to propagate. In fact the only thing black and white about this set of coincidental circumstances is the fact that members of the media and former players seeking attention are using the deaths of three young men as a springboard to feverishly beat the drum of their agenda to ban fighting.
I am writing this not in defense of fighting but in response to the people who try and make it a scapegoat for larger problems beyond their understanding.
To start I would like to shatter the common perception that NHL enforcers are not compensated well. These enforcers made good money, although I have seen it in the press portrayed that they do not. They may be at the bottom of the NHL pay scale but the NHL pay scale is still way more money than the average person makes, let alone enforcing is a job they signed up for, playing a game they loved. They were honourable men who had integrity and respected others who shared their job. I think the last thing they would have wanted was to be the catalyst for some self-serving suits who have never laced up and skated a mile in their Bauer Vapor 60’s to determine the fate of their profession.
These fallen enforcers willingness to defend teammates and take on a role of sacrifice that many others simply cannot fathom is the only thing tying these deaths together, a role that many media pundits believe is unnecessary and will never relate to. However if given the natural gift and opportunity to play the game you love while earning a salary of 1.6 million per year respectively, as was the case in Derek Boogaard’s last contract, there is no doubt in my mind that any journalist who loves hockey (as much as these media types claim to) would trade in the belief that the pen is mightier than the sword. These men were enforcers, not goons, and what they did for their profession was admirable.
Trying to misguide and sway readers by drawing negative attention to their profession, when the fact is that these deaths are completely unrelated, is only cannibalising the argument to banish fighting from hockey. Boogaard’s death was caused by mixing alcohol with pain killers, Rypien’s self-inflicted from depression, and Belak’s passing has been claimed to be accidental. Anyone wishing to blame the game of hockey can go right ahead but they would be missing the bigger picture here. Approximately 3.5 million people in Canada will suffer from depression in their lives, two people out of those 3.5 million passed away from something that cannot accurately be tied to their profession. There are very few articles that will ever be written about the others in that statistic. If anything good could ever come from the passing of these young men it is that more attention needs to be drawn to the issue of depression, not the issue of fighting in hockey, as it is something that has soaked up way too much limelight over the years from the same tired sides.
As per Boogaard, the NHL substance abuse program was in place and with dangerous drugs like Oxy Contin one slip up can cost you your life. The program seems to have worked for other enforcers like Brian McGrattan but help is something that is up to the individual and the margin for error when using powerful drugs is razor thin and can never be 100 percent fully controlled by a rehabilitation program. Injury from enforcing is what the writers like to blame for this loss, there is no denying it was a contributing factor, but Sidney Crosby, a non-fighter has been out of the game with a head injury doled out by another non-fighter for what seems like forever. He is just as likely to get hooked on pain meds as anyone else. Rule changes to a product that has been around for 100 years are not going to solve chemical imbalances in humanity. Trying to trump decisions that have already been made with the best interest of the players and the product will not solve anything, we live in an imperfect world, maybe it is time to we embrace the imperfections.
So before people jump on the bandwagon of one of these pretentious hockey puritans who swarm like vultures around controversy with their I-told-you-so attitude there is something I would like them to think about long and hard. Sport is one of the last places where the alpha male is still allowed to be king, and if you are not an alpha male you will be intimidated. The alpha male offends the media tastemakers because they do not understand the art of domination in sport. There are two major factors in winning championships; a combination of skill and intimidation and a combination of skill and not being intimidated. Thanks to pressure from the media the NHL has slowly whittled tough hockey down to a twig with rule changes that have been mandated over the years. Toughness in hockey now stands alone as one of the last bastions in our culture that represents accountability through a natural instinct to protect and defend. To put it in terms some of these glorified journalists can understand, toughness in hockey is the last rain forest and they want to cut it down. Every piece of paper they write an anti-fighting article on represents a tree. Getting rid of it is not going to solve the world’s problems. Maybe it is time we put down the axe and look at the bigger picture.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Seen Ya Don't Like Ya (Comedy Album)
I've been wanting to put out a comedy album for a while now and in June I had an opportunity to professionally record some performances that I was hoping would become the comedy album "I Seen Ya, Don't Like Ya". I got the footage and it is high quality and I did really well on the shows but because it happened to be at The Cottage Country Comedy Festival my voice was in pretty rough shape. I battled through the last set and I'm proud of it, the crowd was super supportive too but I just want it to be right. Over 200 phone calls a day for tickets plus being the ringleader of a party that crazy will do that to your voice. I am thinking I may end up doing a special DVD/CD recording at the end of October because I want it to be top shelf for you guys. I may include the sets recorded at the festival as a bonus as well.
Watching Comedy
The Cottage Country Comedy Festival has kept me working and I am always out scouting new talent and seeing what is going on. Quite often people will send me videos for submission to the festival which is what we encourage but I will be out watching as much live comedy as I can this fall, which means I will be at any live show I can make it to.
Saturday night we went down to The Just For Laughs Nasty Show at Casino Rama. It was a really nice night out as I don't get out to the casino very often. This time I was able to bring my parents and my fiance Jenna out for the show to see Jeff Ross, Ari Shaffir, Thea Vidale, and good friend Mike Wilmot rock the house. It was also nice that my parents and Jenna finally got to watch a show that I wasn't producing or performing on so it helped them enjoy comedy a little more without the stress.
We went down early to meet up with Mike and his wife Elaine who had just been up in Muskoka at our festival so it was great to get to see them before and after the show. Before the show my parents, Jenna, and I went to an excellent Italian restaurant in the Casino called Lombardi's for dinner and drinks. It was reasonably priced, food was delicious, and the service was top notch. Plus we only lost like 50 bucks gambling so it wasn't too big of a hit.
The show was a lot of fun. To start things off Roast Master General Jeff Ross was in fine form, laid back, and just destroying audience members as expected. Although it was the Nasty Show I felt there was a lot of reserved people in the room which happens at casinos where the elderly roam and plenty of free tickets are distributed to people who may not know what they are getting into. It took some really good legwork by Ross who worked the audience and Ari Shaffir who delivered a tight, hilarious set that really got the crowd into the show. Thea Vidale, I've seen her on TV but seeing her live and the command she had on the room is something to behold. The crowd wasn't expecting her and they loved it.
Then came Wilmot. Wilmot is a destroyer. One of Canada's best international exports, he is in the upper echelon not just in Canada but worldwide. On stage Wilmot can take the crowd wherever he wants whenever he wants them to go there and he makes no appologies for it. His ability and comedic license to take it to the edge and back were no doubt the highlight of the night.
Jeff Ross, truly is a general, and used his poise to guide the ship to a nice close even after a volunteer piano player ended up not being able to play almost ended things on an awkward note. All the comedians on the show were solid and it was a nice representation of fun dirty comedy.
Now that September has arrived I am really looking forward to two events, The Durham Region Comedy Festival which is a new event taking place in Oshawa next week, and The Yuk Yuks Festival Showcase. I am going to be down taking in The Durham Region Comedy Festival with my friend Wade Dabrowski who works with me on the CCCF and just bought a house in Oshawa so it couldn't have worked out more perfect. Friends Kristeen Von Hagen, Bryan O'Gorman, Hunter Collins, Ron Josol, Debra DiGiovanni, and Aaron Berg are just some of the great comics who will be a part of this fest so I highly reccommend going and checking out a cool new festival!
The Yuk Yuks Festival Showcase is something I attend each year where we go down to their Super Club in Toronto and see about 40-60 performers from their roster showcase. It is always a lot of fun and I love seeing the comics all at once to really get a good handle on who is doing what since I'm not always out on the road with these guys. Plus we always get to hang out with friends like Al Rae from Winnipeg Comedy Festival, one of the funniest comics in Canada.
After writing this I realized just when I think things have slowed down, they keep getting busier.
Saturday night we went down to The Just For Laughs Nasty Show at Casino Rama. It was a really nice night out as I don't get out to the casino very often. This time I was able to bring my parents and my fiance Jenna out for the show to see Jeff Ross, Ari Shaffir, Thea Vidale, and good friend Mike Wilmot rock the house. It was also nice that my parents and Jenna finally got to watch a show that I wasn't producing or performing on so it helped them enjoy comedy a little more without the stress.
We went down early to meet up with Mike and his wife Elaine who had just been up in Muskoka at our festival so it was great to get to see them before and after the show. Before the show my parents, Jenna, and I went to an excellent Italian restaurant in the Casino called Lombardi's for dinner and drinks. It was reasonably priced, food was delicious, and the service was top notch. Plus we only lost like 50 bucks gambling so it wasn't too big of a hit.
The show was a lot of fun. To start things off Roast Master General Jeff Ross was in fine form, laid back, and just destroying audience members as expected. Although it was the Nasty Show I felt there was a lot of reserved people in the room which happens at casinos where the elderly roam and plenty of free tickets are distributed to people who may not know what they are getting into. It took some really good legwork by Ross who worked the audience and Ari Shaffir who delivered a tight, hilarious set that really got the crowd into the show. Thea Vidale, I've seen her on TV but seeing her live and the command she had on the room is something to behold. The crowd wasn't expecting her and they loved it.
Then came Wilmot. Wilmot is a destroyer. One of Canada's best international exports, he is in the upper echelon not just in Canada but worldwide. On stage Wilmot can take the crowd wherever he wants whenever he wants them to go there and he makes no appologies for it. His ability and comedic license to take it to the edge and back were no doubt the highlight of the night.
Jeff Ross, truly is a general, and used his poise to guide the ship to a nice close even after a volunteer piano player ended up not being able to play almost ended things on an awkward note. All the comedians on the show were solid and it was a nice representation of fun dirty comedy.
Now that September has arrived I am really looking forward to two events, The Durham Region Comedy Festival which is a new event taking place in Oshawa next week, and The Yuk Yuks Festival Showcase. I am going to be down taking in The Durham Region Comedy Festival with my friend Wade Dabrowski who works with me on the CCCF and just bought a house in Oshawa so it couldn't have worked out more perfect. Friends Kristeen Von Hagen, Bryan O'Gorman, Hunter Collins, Ron Josol, Debra DiGiovanni, and Aaron Berg are just some of the great comics who will be a part of this fest so I highly reccommend going and checking out a cool new festival!
The Yuk Yuks Festival Showcase is something I attend each year where we go down to their Super Club in Toronto and see about 40-60 performers from their roster showcase. It is always a lot of fun and I love seeing the comics all at once to really get a good handle on who is doing what since I'm not always out on the road with these guys. Plus we always get to hang out with friends like Al Rae from Winnipeg Comedy Festival, one of the funniest comics in Canada.
After writing this I realized just when I think things have slowed down, they keep getting busier.
Now that the festival is in the bag for the summer I am already on to the next thing, booking my own shows and working on some special CCCF events that will be announced soon! The fall is my favorite time of year for stand up in Toronto and I will be making appearances down there working some of my new stuff and fine tuning a few things. I will also be featured on CBC's Laugh Out Loud on CBC Radio One this fall (The set was recorded at The Gravenhurst Opera House at The CCCF in June). I should also be getting some new video footage as well from the festival including footage from my Roast Roulette series that we premiered. The show was electric and I'm really looking forward to sharing some of the footage with everyone.
The summer has finally wound down and what a summer it has been for The Cottage Country Comedy Festival. This year saw the event expand rapidly from a one weekend 5 show event into a multi-production experience with two full weekends (6 days and 12 shows) all over Muskoka and surrounding area. Cottage Country Comedy Festival has kept its tradition of mixing top up and coming talent with the premier Canadian headliners.
This year the lineup included hilarious performances from:
Steve Patterson
Mike Wilmot
Tim Steeves
Rob Pue
Gilson Lubin
Debra DiGiovanni
Dave Hemstad
Jeff McEnery
Tom O'Donnell
Kathleen McGee
Christina Walkinshaw
Nile Seguin
Craig Van Kasteren
Nathan Macintosh
Bobby Mair
Andrew Schulz
Myles Morrison
Graham Chittenden
John Hastings
Rob Bebenek
Jason Rouse
Arthur Simeon
Dan Guiry
Brian Hope
Guy Alaimo
Kirk Jorgensen
Dave Martin
I would like to thank all these performers for being a part of our event and helping us move to the next level. The Cottage Country Comedy Festival would not be where it is today without the support of the Canadian comedy community!
This year the lineup included hilarious performances from:
Steve Patterson
Mike Wilmot
Tim Steeves
Rob Pue
Gilson Lubin
Debra DiGiovanni
Dave Hemstad
Jeff McEnery
Tom O'Donnell
Kathleen McGee
Christina Walkinshaw
Nile Seguin
Craig Van Kasteren
Nathan Macintosh
Bobby Mair
Andrew Schulz
Myles Morrison
Graham Chittenden
John Hastings
Rob Bebenek
Jason Rouse
Arthur Simeon
Dan Guiry
Brian Hope
Guy Alaimo
Kirk Jorgensen
Dave Martin
I would like to thank all these performers for being a part of our event and helping us move to the next level. The Cottage Country Comedy Festival would not be where it is today without the support of the Canadian comedy community!
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