Canadian comedians have been recognized internationally since the 1910s and were embraced as the country sought a national identity distinct from that of Great Britain and the United States. Canadians closely identify with their sense of humour, and working-class Canadians popularly consider
comedians
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dire ...
, along with singers and musical acts, as the country's cultural best. Canadians are known to value modesty, politeness and social responsibility, and comedians who develop their craft before such audiences become acutely aware of the fine lines of comedy.
Overview
Types of humour
Many
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...
s have been influenced by American and British culture and humour. They blend the comic traditions of these cultures with
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 C ...
while maintaining an outsider perspective, the latter providing a separation or ironic distance which has allowed for keen observational humour, impressions and
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
. Comedy critics have described this as absorbing and adapting a dominant culture.
Dark and fatalistic humour is also used extensively by Canadian comedians. This is generally attributed to the common reference point of the Canadian climate, the dangers of which are well known to comedians who tour the vast and often sparsely populated country. It may be impossible to change one's fate in the face of overwhelming forces, but the comedian allows the audience to use laughter as a coping mechanism.
Social pressures
Domestic audiences traditionally value the collective good over individual freedom of expression, and as a consequence also value politeness and modesty. To overcome the taboo against social criticism, some Canadian comedians will link comedic discontent to group survival. Others will use a character or persona as a comedic mask, a tool which has allowed
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
to gain mainstream popularity. Comedic characters with broad appeal are typically low-status, non-threatening, and likeable despite their misbehaviour.
While social pressures cause Canadians to repress their fears and anxieties, comedians expose such through comedic art. Individual audience members externalize their reaction as laughter, publicly displaying their value system. When an audience laughs together it creates consensus at sharing a common worldview. Canadian comedians thus learn to be surrogates, using individual expression to reaffirm the collective while voicing and soothing the audience's troubles.
Industry
Due to limited opportunities in Canada's entertainment industry, most comedians struggle to earn a living. Those who persevere have tended to place importance on artistic freedom, and are more likely to maintain creative control of their work. Some Canadian comedians move to the larger and more lucrative market of the United States, where they are perceived as "seasoned newcomers", having spent years developing their craft outside the notice of Hollywood.
Since 2000, Canadian comedians have been recognized by the
Canadian Comedy Awards
The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000.
T ...
(CCA), which has bestowed over 350 awards for comedy in live performances, film, television, radio, and Internet media. Television comedy has also been recognized by the
Canadian Screen Awards
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
.
Film and broadcast performers are represented by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (
ACTRA
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...
), theatre performers by the
Canadian Actors' Equity Association
Canadian Actors' Equity Association (CAEA) is an association of performers in English Canada who are engaged in live performances before paying audiences in theatre, opera and dance. It negotiates agreements and working conditions for its members ...
(CAEA), comedy writers by the
Writers Guild of Canada
The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movie ...
(WGC), and stand-up comedians by the Canadian Association of Stand-up Comedians (CASC).
List
Notable Canadian comedians include:
A
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Roger Abbott
Roger Abbott (July 10, 1946March 26, 2011) was an English-born Canadian sketch comedian who was a founding member of the long-lived Canadian comedy troupe ''Royal Canadian Air Farce'', and remained one of its stars and writers until his death.
Ea ...
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Raymond Ablack
Raymond Ablack (born November 15, 1989) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He began his career in the early 2000s as a child actor on stage, performing as Young Simba in ''The Lion King'' at the Princess of Wales Theatre. He later gained recogni ...
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Aaron Abrams
Aaron Abrams (born 12 May 1978) is a Canadian actor and writer, who has worked in both film and television.
Born in Toronto, Abrams has appeared as a regular on several series, including Hannibal, Blindspot, ''The State Within'', ''Slings an ...
Marty Adams
Marty Adams is a Canadian television and film actor/writer and comedian.
He began a football program at McMaster University but injured his knee. His sister encouraged him to get involved in a comedy program at Humber College which got him hi ...
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Matt Alaeddine
Matt Alaeddine is a Canadian-based entertainer from Edmonton, Alberta who is the world's fattest contortionist. He has travelled around the world performing in a variety of venues. After getting his start at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, he has go ...
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Aisha Alfa
Aisha Alfa is a Canadian comedian and actress, best known for her recurring role as teacher Ms. Grell in the ''Degrassi'' franchiseBrad Oswald, "The farce is with her". '' Winnipeg Free Press'', January 27, 2014. and her appearances as a reporter o ...
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Todd Allen
Todd Allen (born May 31, 1979, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a comedian, writer and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, California.
Personal
Todd Allen grew up in Victoria, British Columbia with one year stints living ...
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Aba Amuquandoh
Aba Amuquandoh (born 1994-1996) is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known for her work on the sketch comedy series '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. She first joined the show in the 2020 season, both as a writer and as a supporting performer in s ...
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Trey Anthony
Trey Anthony (born 1983) is a British-born Canadian playwright, actor, and producer, best known for her award-winning play and television series ''Da Kink in My Hair''. As a producer, she worked for the Women's Television Network and the Urban Wom ...
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Nicole Arbour
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Career
Arbour is a former cheerleader for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. While studying at Humber College, she started her chee ...
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Will Arnett
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Lauren Ash
Lauren Elizabeth Ash (born February 4, 1983) is a Canadian actress and comedian based in Los Angeles, but originally from Belleville, Ontario. Ash is best known among television audiences for her role as Dina Fox on the sitcom '' Superstore''. ...
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Brandon Ash-Mohammed
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A Black Canadian of Trinidadian heritage, he is an alumnus of the comedy school at Humber College. He also has some Muslim an ...
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Dan Aykroyd
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Yank Azman
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Early life
Azman was born in a displaced persons camp in Bad Wörishofen, Germany to Cesia (née Waishand), a sales clerk, and Kuba Zajfman, a tailor and furrier, Holoc ...
Bob Bainborough
Bob Bainborough (born 1951) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is known for playing the role of Dalton Humphrey in the Canadian comedy series ''The Red Green Show'', and appearances on ''History Bites''. Bainborough was nominated for a Gemini ...
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Rupan Bal
Rupanjit Singh Bal (born January 26, 1990) is an Indian-Canadian YouTuber, actor, director and comedian. Bal became famous for his comedic roles in videos produced by fellow Indo-Canadian comic and YouTuber Jus Reign, and parleyed that role in ...
John Barbour John Barbour may refer to:
* John Barbour (poet) (1316–1395), Scottish poet
* John Barbour (MP for New Shoreham), MP for New Shoreham 1368-1382
* John Barbour (footballer) (1890–1916), Scottish footballer
* John S. Barbour (1790–1855), U. ...
Michel Barrette
Michel Barrette (born April 26, 1957 in Chicoutimi, Quebec) is a television and movie actor, television and radio host and stand-up comedian. He has played various roles in Quebec movies and television shows since 1982.
Profile
After serving ...
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Jay Baruchel
Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the '' How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies ...
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Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on '' The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot '' Fairly Odder'', Thunderbol ...
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Jennifer Baxter
Jennifer Baxter (born 1976) is a Canadian actress and comedian formerly based out of Toronto and currently living in Los Angeles with her husband Mike Beaver.
Her best-known roles include Number 9 in George A. Romero's ''Land of the Dead'', W ...
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Samantha Bee
Samantha Anne Bee (born October 25, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actress, and television host.
Bee rose to fame as a correspondent on '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', where she became th ...
Ryan Belleville
Ryan Belleville (born May 8, 1979) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor.
Career
Belleville became the youngest person to tape his own ''Comedy Now!'' special for CTV. He also appeared in CBC's '' The Sean Cullen Show'' and the film '' Goin ...
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Paul Bellini
Paul Bellini (born September 12, 1959) is a Canadian comedy writer and television actor best known for his work on the comedy series '' The Kids in the Hall'' and '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He has worked on several projects with Josh Levy and ...
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Carolyn Bennett
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Tricia Black
Tricia Black is a Canadian actress, writer and comedian.Glenn Sumi"How two East Coasters are changing Toronto’s queer comedy scene" ''Now'', June 12, 2019. She is most noted for her role in the 2020 web series '' Band Ladies'', for which she won ...
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Ben Blue
Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein; September 12, 1901 – March 7, 1975) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian who had a career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Early life
He was born Benjamin Bernstein in Montreal, Quebec on Septe ...
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Joe Bodolai
Joe Bodolai (May 11, 1948 – December 26, 2011) was an American film and television producer and writer.
Born and raised in the United States, Bodolai was opposed to the Vietnam War and moved to Canada in order to avoid being drafted. He mov ...
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Michael Boncoeur Michael Boncoeur was the stage name of Michael Vadeboncoeur, a Canadian sketch comedian, most noted as one half of the comedy duo La Troupe Grotesque with Paul K. Willis in the 1970s and 1980s.
Career
Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, ...
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Ian Boothby
Ian Boothby (born June 8, 1967) is a multiple Shuster Award, Harvey Award and Eisner Award nominee and an Eisner Award–winning comic book creator best known for his work as the lead writer on '' Simpsons Comics'' and ''Futurama Comics'' for M ...
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Trevor Boris
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Television work
Boris is one of the stars of MuchMusic's '' Video on Trial'', and is also a star of ''Stars Gone Wild''. He has also appeared on many ...
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Pierre Brassard
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Thinly disguised as a clowning television repo ...
Mark Breslin
Mark Breslin, is a Canadian entrepreneur, producer, stand-up comedian and actor best known for being the co-founder (along with Joel Axler) of Yuk Yuk's, the largest chain of comedy clubs in Canada. On December 29, 2017, he was appointed a Me ...
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Dave Broadfoot
Dave Broadfoot (December 5, 1925 – November 1, 2016) was a Canadian comedian and satirist. He is best known for his performances as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce.Lois Bromfield
Lois Bromfield is a Canadian-American comedic actor, writer, and television producer originally from Toronto, Ontario. Her credits include ''Roseanne'', ''Grace Under Fire'', '' The Jackie Thomas Show'' and ''The New Hollywood Squares''. In 1990, ...
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Valri Bromfield
Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...
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Martin Bronstein Martin Bronstein (born 1935) is a British-Canadian actor, writer, columnist, broadcaster and journalist.
Early life and education
Bronstein was born in London, England.
Career
Bronstein moved to Canada in 1959 and worked as a copywriter, journali ...
Aurora Browne
Aurora Browne is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known as one of the creators and stars of the sketch comedy series ''Baroness von Sketch Show''.
Early life
She is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto.
Car ...
Sophie Buddle
Sophie Buddle is a Canadian stand-up comedian, originally from Ottawa. She is most noted for her 2019 comedy album ''A Lil Bit of Buddle'', which won the Juno Award for Comedy Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020. She was the first woma ...
Pat Bullard
Patrick Bullard (born February 6, 1959) is a Canadian television writer and comedian.
Biography
Born in Mississauga, Ontario, Bullard wrote for such sitcoms as ''Roseanne'', '' Reba'', '' Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place'', ''Grace Under Fire'' ...
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Howard Busgang
Howard Busgang is a Canadian comedian and television producer."A comic with chutzpah: He opens a Montreal-style deli in B.C". ''Montreal Gazette'', August 25, 2018.
Comedy career
Originally from Montreal, Quebec, he studied political science at Mc ...
Brent Butt
Brent Leroy Butt (born August 3, 1966) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Brent Leroy on the CTV sitcom ''Corner Gas'', which he created. He also created the television series ''Hiccups'' and wrote ...
C
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Inga Cadranel
Inga Cadranel (born April 30, 1978) is a Canadian film and television actress. She is best known for playing the roles of Brooke Fairburn on '' The Eleventh Hour'', Liz Santerra on '' Jeff Ltd.'', Francesca on ''Rent-a-Goalie'', Aife on '' Lost G ...
John Candy
John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...
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Bill Carr
William "Bill" Arthur Carr (October 24, 1909 – January 14, 1966) was an American athlete and double Olympic champion in 1932. Called the "Arkansas flyer," Carr never lost a race during his college and Olympic career.
Early life and educati ...
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Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy t ...
John Catucci
John Catucci ( , ; born July 11, 1973) is a Canadian sketch comedian, singer,John Catucci at Diamon ...
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Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...
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Paul Chato
Paul Chato is a Canadian comedian and writer, the president of a web design company, and a former television executive. He was born in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Hungary, Hungarian parents. Chato grew up in the first planned community in ...
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Martha Chaves
Martha Chaves is a Nicaraguan-Canadian comedian, actress, activist and playwright. She performs standup in English, Spanish, French and Italian. She is a regular in the comedy circuits in Canada, the United States and Latin America, at Jus ...
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Boris Cherniak
Boris Cherniak (born 12 December 1964) is a Soviet-born Canadians, Canadian and US based comedian hypnotist and motivational speaker, entertainer and author that performs internationally.
Cherniak performs under the stage name Hypnotist The Incre ...
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Jonas Chernick
Jonas Chernick (born July 16, 1973) is a Canadian actor and screenwriter.
Tommy Chong
Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox ...
Gay Claitman Gay Claitman is a Canadian sketch comedian and writer, who won two ACTRA Awards for Radio Variety Performance and Radio Variety Writing at the 8th ACTRA Awards in 1979 for her work with Nancy White and Robert Cameron on the radio play ''Lies My Mo ...
Penelope Corrin
Penelope Anne Corrin (born 28 November 1975) is a Canadian actress and writer.
Corrin was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She was seen nationally on CBC Television's '' Royal Canadian Air Farce'' comedy broadcasts for nine years, originally as a repl ...
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Michel Courtemanche
Michel Courtemanche (; born December 11, 1964) is a Canadian comedian and actor from Quebec, performing in Quebec, France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Career
His debut one-man show, ''A New Comic is Born'', ran for more than five hundred perf ...
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Susan Coyne
Susan Coyne (born 16 June 1958) is a Canadian writer and actress, best known as one of the co-creators and co-stars of the award-winning ''Slings & Arrows'', a TV series which ran 2003–06 about a Canadian Shakespearean theatre company. She ...
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Gavin Crawford
Gavin Crawford (born 2 April 1971) is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for '' The Gavin Crawford Show'' and '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He currently hosts the panel show, ''Because News'', on CBC Radio One.
Early life
Crawford wa ...
Mark Critch
Mark Critch (born May 14, 1974) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on the comedy series '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', initially as a writer and then as a regular cast member beginning in 2003.
Career
Cri ...
Steven Crowder
Steven Blake Crowder ( ; born July 7, 1987) is an American-Canadian conservative political commentator and media host.
Early in his career, Crowder worked for Fox News and posted satirical videos on conservative media platforms. He then began ...
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''Transformers'' animated series, reprising the role many times since 2007. He has also voiced many other ...
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Seán Cullen
Seán Cullen (born August 29, 1965) is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. He is known for providing voices of characters in shows like '' Best Ed'', '' Seven Little Monsters,'' ...
Ola Dada Ola Dada is a Canadian stand-up comedian,Shawn Conner"Vancouver comic Ola Dada’s accidental break into the stand-up world" ''Vancouver Sun'', May 24, 2022. most noted as a finalist in the 2019 SiriusXM Top Comic competition.Audrey Carleton"Adam Ch ...
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Roman Danylo
Roman Danylo (born in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of ...
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Tracy Dawson
Tracy Dawson is a Canadian actress, comedian and writer. She is best known for her role as Meghan Fitzpatrick in ''Call Me Fitz'', for which she won the Gemini Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series or Program at the 2011 Gemini Awards. Sh ...
Dashan
Mark Henry Rowswell, CM (born May 23, 1965), better known by his Chinese stage name Dashan (), is a Canadian comedian and television personality popular in China. Relatively unknown in the West, from the late 1980s through the early 2000s Da ...
, born Mark Rowswell
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Gerry Dee
Gerry Dee (born Gerard Francis-John Donoghue;Profile , oct.ca; accessed February ...
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Jason Deline
Jason Deline is a Canadian actor, voice actor, comedian, and director. He is best known for his role as Ernie in '' Ready or Not'', and for voicing the character of Drago in ''Bakugan Battle Brawlers'' and its reboot '' Bakugan Battle Planet''.
...
Charles Demers
Charles Demers (; born 1980), sometimes credited as Charlie Demers, is a Canadian comedian, political activist, voice actor, and writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, but self-identifies as Quebecois.
Writing
Demers has published f ...
Yvon Deschamps
Yvon Deschamps (born July 31, 1935, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1 ...
Chris Diamantopoulos
Chris Diamantopoulos (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor. He played Russ Hanneman in the HBO series '' Silicon Valley'' and starred in the film '' The Three Stooges'', and the TV series ''Good Girls Revolt''. He currently voices Mickey Mouse ...
Dini Dimakos
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Early life
Dimakos was raised in the rural town of Shelburne, Ontario, an hour north of Toronto. Her family ran a restaurant in the nearby town of Primrose, Ontario. She ...
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Melissa DiMarco
Melissa DiMarco is a Canadian actress, producer, and television personality. She has made acting appearances in feature films and television. She is best known for her role as Daphne Hatzilakos in the teen drama series '' Degrassi: The Next Gene ...
Jon Dore
Jonathan David Dore (born November 2, 1975) is a Canadian comedian and actor currently based in Juneau, Alaska.
Education
Dore attended Brookfield High School and studied broadcasting at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
Career
Jon Dore was forme ...
Harry Doupe
Harry Doupe is a Canadian stand-up comedian, producer, and writer from Fort Langley, British Columbia. He has performed shows at clubs, theatres, and arenas across North America. He was the first comedian to perform three times at Toronto's Air ...
Jo-Anna Downey
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She was the host of two popular weekly Toronto, Ontario comedy shows, ''Open Mike at Spirits'' (since 1996) and ''Standing on th ...
Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy (September 27, 1926 – May 19, 2008) was a Canadian singer, comedian and actor.
Life and career
Born in Montreal, Duffy grew up in Toronto, dropping out of Central Technical School to become a singer. At age 19, he was hired as a st ...
Steve Dylan Steve Dylan is the stage name of Steve Patterson, a Canadian comedian and television writer from Kingston, Ontario,Peter Hendra"Dylan engineers standup career" ''Kingston Whig-Standard'', January 24, 2014. most noted as a writer for '' Still Standi ...
E
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Sam Easton
Sam Easton (born October 4, 1979) is a Canadian actor.
Biography
Easton was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He studied at Humber College, winning the Phil Hartman Comedy Award for best student in 2000 Later that same year he was ...
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Derek Edwards
Derek Edwards (born 1958) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor from Timmins, Ontario. He went to Timmins High and Vocational School.
In 1995, he was the winner of the Vail National Comedy Invitational in Vail, Colorado. He is the only Ca ...
Laurie Elliott
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Career
She has appeare ...
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Lorne Elliott Christopher Lorne Elliott, known by his stage name Lorne Elliott is a Canadian comedian, musician, author, and award-winning playwright.
He is best known for his 11 years as host of the CBC Radio program ''Madly Off in All Directions''.
Career
Elli ...
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Anke Engelke
Anke Christina Fischer ( Engelke; born 21 December 1965) is a German comedian, actress, voice actress and television presenter.
Personal life
Born in Montreal, Canada, Engelke moved to Cologne, Germany in 1971 with her German parents. Earl ...
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Ennis Esmer
Ennis Esmer (born December 29, 1978) is a Turkish-Canadian actor, comedian, voice actor, writer, producer and presenter. He is best known for his roles as Osman 'Oz' Bey in ''The Listener'', Kurtis 'Maz' Mazhari in ''Private Eyes'', Nash in '' ...
Anthony Q. Farrell
Anthony Q. Farrell (born May 13, 1977) is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer. He has written for ''The Office'', presided as executive story editor for ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' as well as produced and performed in various stand-up and s ...
Marypat Farrell
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Nathan Fielder
Nathan Joseph Fielder (born May 12, 1983) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for co-creating, directing, and starring in the Comedy Central parody reality show ''Nathan for You'' (2013� ...
Chris Finn
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Finn was raised in Ottawa, Ontario. He has written for several television shows, including MAD TV'' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', '' Talking to Americans'', '' The Rick Mercer Report' ...
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Joe Flaherty
Joseph Flaherty (born June 21, 1941) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a writer), and as Harold Weir on '' Freaks and ...
Mark Forward
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He is the winner of the 2005 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Newcomer. He also won the Homegrown Competition at the 2006 Just for Laughs festiva ...
Glen Foster
Glen Seward Foster II (August 14, 1930 – October 1, 1999) was an American sailor. He won a bronze medal in the ''Tempest (keelboat), Tempest class'' with Peter Dean (sailor), Peter Dean at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
In 1971, when he won the na ...
Stewart Francis
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Francis was born in Saint Joseph's ...
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Matt Frewer
Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor, singer and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV movie and 1987 television series of the same names.
He became prominent when playing role ...
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Ajay Fry
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Holly Gauthier-Frankel
Holly G. Frankel (born July 13, 1979), also known as Holly Gauthier-Frankel, is a Canadian voice actress and voice director. Frankel is best known for playing Fern Walters in ''Arthur'', Sagwa in ''Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'', Rita in '' Go ...
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Kevin Gillese
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Career
Gillese started as a performer with the improv company Rapid Fire Theatre and also works regularly with the Atomic Improv and per ...
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Courtney Gilmour
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Nadia G
Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both.
In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...
Janet van de Graaf Janet van de Graaf (born April 5, 1965) is a Canadian improv artist and television actress.
She has worked with Toronto's The Second City and has played various roles in the TV series ''History Bites'' on Canada's History Channel.
She was marrie ...
Deven Green
Deven Green (born January 31, 1975) is a Canadian comedian who produces comedy parody videos, including as the satirical character Mrs. Betty Bowers, "America's Best Christian".
Early life and career
Green was born and raised in Thompson, Ma ...
Tom Green
Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted ''The Tom Green Show'', which a ...
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Kathy Greenwood
Kathryn Greenwood (born March 21, 1962) is a Canadian actress and comedian. She appeared on the American version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' numerous times, and played Grace Bailey on the Canadian television drama series '' Wind at My Bac ...
Dean Haglund
Dean Haglund (born July 29, 1965) is a Canadian actor, known for the role of Richard "Ringo" Langly, one of The Lone Gunmen on ''The X-Files''. Haglund is also a stand-up comedian, specializing in improvisational comedy, including work with the ...
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Geri Hall
Geri Hall (born May 2, 1972 in Oakville, Ontario) Age 35 in April 2008. Indicates Oakville, Ontario origin, age 35 in September 2007. is a Canadian actress and comedian.
She has appeared on the CBC's ''This Hour has 22 Minutes'' in October a ...
Don Harron
Donald Hugh Harron, (September 19, 1924 – January 17, 2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running co ...
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Jonny Harris
Jonathan Harris (born September 22, 1975) is a Canadian actor and comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador.Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
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Ellie Harvie
Elinor Anne Harvie (born April 7, 1965) is a Canadian actress who portrayed Morticia on ''The New Addams Family''. Later, she starred as Dr. Lindsey Novak in ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis''.
Harvie was the youngest of five childre ...
Ed Hill
Edward Monroe Hill (born in Hanford, California) is an American country music songwriter. Hill has been active since the early 1970s. Hill plays piano and keyboard and has backed Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson.Matt Hill
Matthew Hill (born January 19, 1968) is a Canadian voice actor working for Ocean Productions.
Career
His roles include Ed in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'', Kevin Keene/Captain N in '' Captain N: The Game Master'', Kira Yamato in ''Gundam Seed'' and ''Gun ...
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Darryl Hinds
Darryl Hinds is a Canadian actor and sketch comedian, best known as a cast member of Royal Canadian Air Farce's annual New Year's Eve specials in the 2010s."Brampton's Darryl Hinds will add comedic excellence to Air Farce's New Year's eve special". ...
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Karen Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actor, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions." Born in Chicago, raised in Toronto, she now lives in Calgary where she was playwright in Residence at Albert ...
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Norm Hiscock
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
Jessica Holmes
Jessica Holmes (born August 29, 1973) is a Canadian comedian and actress. She is best known for her work with the '' Royal Canadian Air Farce'', which she joined in 2003, after starring in her own show, ''The Holmes Show'' in 2002. She is marri ...
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Jeremy Hotz
Jeremy Hotz (born May 31, 1965) is a Canadian–American actor and stand-up comedian. Hotz won a Gemini Award for his role on the television series '' The Newsroom'' in 1997. He has appeared on ''Comedy Central Presents'', the Just For Laughs co ...
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Kenny Hotz
Kenneth Joel Hotz (born May 3, 1967) is a Canadian comedy writer, producer, entertainer and television personality. He is best known as the star of the reality comedy show '' Kenny vs. Spenny'' alongside Spencer Rice. Hotz is the creator of the ...
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Louis-José Houde
Louis-José Houde (born October 19, 1977 in Saint-Apollinaire, Quebec) is a French-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his performances in films such as ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'' in 2006, ''Father and Guns (De père en flic)'' in 2009 ...
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Patrick Huard
Patrick Huard (born January 2, 1969) is a Quebec-born Canadian actor, writer and comedian.
Career
Patrick Huard broke into the Quebec show business scene in 1989 as a comedian, actor and television personality. A hard-working multifaceted talen ...
Jennifer Irwin
Jennifer Irwin is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Dolly Durkins on iZombie and as Laurie Neustadt in the comedy '' Superstore''.
Irwin is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She worked with The Second City in ...
Cathy Jones
Catherine Frederica "Cathy" Jones (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian actress, comedian and writer. She is known for her work for 28 years on the Canadian television series ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. Jones left the show in 2021.
CODCO
Jones w ...
Anthony Kavanagh
Anthony Kavanagh (born September 26, 1969) is a Canadian stand up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. After a successful career on the francophone stand-up scene in Quebec, he became a major star in France and is now a popular television ho ...
Peter Kelamis
Peter Kelamis (born December 11, 1967) is an Australian-Canadian actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He is known for playing Tail Terrier in ''Krypto the Superdog'', Dr. Adam Brody in ''Stargate Universe'', Goku in Ocean's English dubs ...
Ed the Sock
Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...
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Deborah Kimmett
Deborah Kimmett is a Canadian writer and comedian.
Biography
Originally from Napanee, Ontario, she was a member of The Second City's Toronto cast in the 1980s, and appeared as a stage actress in productions of Norm Foster's ''Windfall'', Lawrenc ...
Paul Kligman
Paul Kligman (21 January 1923 – 29 August 1985) was a Canadian actor.
Biography
Born in Romania, he emigrated to Canada where he spent his youth in Winnipeg and studied at the University of Manitoba. He moved to Toronto in 1950 and estab ...
Elvira Kurt
Elvira Kurt (born December 9, 1961) is a Canadian comedian, and was the host of the game show '' Spin Off''. She hosted the entertainment satire/talk show '' PopCultured with Elvira Kurt'', which began on The Comedy Network in Canada in 2005. Tha ...
Jeremy Lalonde
Jeremy LaLonde (born January 7, 1981) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is known for his work in Canadian film and television.
Early life
LaLonde grew up in Cayuga, Ontario. After graduating from Niagara College, LaLonde moved to Toronto to begin ...
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Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
Mado Lamotte
Mado Lamotte is the stage name of Luc Provost, a Canadian drag queen, author, singer and gay community personality, most noted as the owner of the Cabaret Mado drag club in Montreal, Quebec.
Career
Provost, who studied theatre at the Université ...
The Unknown Comic
Murray Langston (born June 27, 1944), who frequently performed using the stage name "The Unknown Comic", is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian best known for his performances on ''The Gong Show'', during which he usually appeared with a paper ...
Craig Lauzon
Craig Lauzon is a Canadian actor, writer, comedian, and member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. His main caricatures on the Farce include George Stroumboulopoulos, John Baird, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Lauzon is ...
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Tony Law
Tony Law (born 20 September 1969) is a Canadian stand-up comedian. Originally from Lacombe, Alberta, he has been based in London, United Kingdom since the age of 19.
He is known for his surreal material and delivery. Many of his stand-up routin ...
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Chas Lawther
Charles "Chas" Lawther is a British-born Canadian actor, comedian and writer.
Lawther came to local prominence in Toronto when in the 1980s he created the character of Chuck The Security Guard for CFMT-TV's '' The All-Night Show'', on the osten ...
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Patrick Ledwell
Patrick Ledwell is a Canadian stand-up comedian, best known as a frequent guest on the CBC Radio comedy series ''The Debaters''. The brother of musician and artist Daniel Ledwell, he is from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
In 2012 Ledwell pu ...
Claude Legault
Claude Legault (born May 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor and television writer from Quebec.
Biography
Legault was a star (2000-2003) of the Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation and has since appeared regularly on television, stage and film. He was par ...
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Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress.
Career
Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in ''Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moon ...
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Sylvia Lennick
Sylvia Lennick (née Paige; November 14, 1915 – August 10, 2009)
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Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.
In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...
Caroline Lesley
Caroline Lesley is an American-Canadian actor and singer.
She had a role in the movie ''Fruitvale Station'' which won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at Sundance Film Festival, and the Future Award at Cannes Film Festival.
Lesley's recent w ...
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Dan Lett
Daniel Frederick Lett (born April 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He has acted in films, theatre and television. His principal roles have been in the series '' F/X'', ''The X-Files'', '' E.N.G.'', '' Street Legal'', ''Wind at My Back'', and '' Mad ...
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...
Natalie Lisinska
Natalie Lisinska (born 11 January 1982) is a British-Canadian actress.
Lisinska was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England and grew up on Vancouver Island in British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmo ...
Kayla Lorette
Kayla Lorette is a Canadian actress from Ladysmith, British Columbia.Cole Schisler"Ladysmith’s Kayla Lorette to release new series on Crave New Year’s Day" '' Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle'', December 27, 2019. She is most noted for her perfo ...
Marla Lukofsky
Marla Lukofsky is a Canadian-American stand-up comedian, actress, singer, writer, and keynote speaker. She's one of the pioneers of stand-up comedy in Canada and has performed in every major city in North America, the UK and the first female come ...
Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
Cory Mack
Cory Mack is a Canadian comedian, emcee, writer and producer based in Calgary, Alberta.
Biography
Mack is originally from Dodsland, Saskatchewan, where she grew up as a farmer's daughter. She moved to Calgary in the early 1980s and began pe ...
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Meredith MacNeill
Meredith MacNeill (born 1975) is a Canadian actress and comedian.Michael Magee
Michael Magee (October 11, 1929 – July 15, 2011) was a Canadians, Canadian actor, singer and author. He was known for voicing Cyril Sneer and his pet half dog/half aardvark Snag in the Canadian animated series ''The Raccoons'' and the voice for T ...
Shaun Majumder
Shaun Vincent Majumder (born January 29, 1972) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his role on '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes,'' where he worked from 2003 until 2018. He won a Gemini Award for his work on the series in 2006.
Earl ...
Jay Malone
Jay Malone is a Canadian comedian from Kentville, Nova Scotia.
Early career
Malone began doing standup comedy in 1999 while studying at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. He entered a comedy competition at a local pool hall call ...
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Howie Mandel
Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film '' Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. ...
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...
Mae Martin
Mae Martin (born 2 May 1987) is a Canadian-born comedian, actor, and screenwriter based in England. They wrote and starred in the Netflix comedy series ''Feel Good'' and won two Canadian Comedy Awards as part of the comedy troupe The Young an ...
Paul Mather
Paul Mather is a Canadian TV writer and producer. He is most known in Canada for his work on ''Corner Gas'', ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' and ''Rick Mercer Report''. He also created or co-created the sitcoms '' Men with Brooms'' and ''Dan fo ...
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Amy Matysio
Amy Matysio is a Canadian theatre, television and film actress.
Early life and education
Matysion was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre (Performance) from the University of Regina and has also studied at ...
Bruce McCulloch
Bruce Ian McCulloch is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, musician and film director. McCulloch is perhaps best known for his work as a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, including starring in the TV series of the same name. He ...
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Stuart McLean
Andrew Stuart McLean, (April 19, 1948 – February 15, 2017) was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program ''The Vinyl Cafe''.Drew McCreadie
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Kevin McDonald
Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably th ...
Jeff McEnery Jeff McEnery (1984)"Small town, single and microwave mac'n cheese", CBC Radio Laugh Out Loud podcast, 27 January 2017. is a stand-up comedian and actor born and raised in the small town of Acton, Ontario, Canada.
He is a graduate of Humber College' ...
Debra McGrath
Debra McGrath (born July 5, 1954) is a Canadian actress and comedian.
Education
Debra McGrath was born in Toronto in 1954. She studied theatre at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University).
Career
McGrath first sta ...
Terry McGurrin
Terry McGurrin (born November 5, 1968) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and writer from Ottawa, Ontario. He was the story editor for the 2011 YTV show ''Scaredy Squirrel''. He has most recently been story editing and executive producer for th ...
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Don McKellar
Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave.
He is known for directing and writing th ...
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Patrick McKenna
Patrick McKenna (born May 8, 1960) is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series '' The Red Green Show''.
Early life
Patrick McKenna became interested in Second City when a high-school teac ...
Mark McKinney
Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series ''The Kids in the Hall'' and 1 ...
Mark Meer
Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numbe ...
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Rick Mercer
Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and ''Rick Merc ...
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Claudine Mercier
Claudine Mercier (born November 3, 1961) is a Québécoise comedian, singer, actress and impressionist.
Mercier began her performing career in the early-80's singing with the a cappella vocal group Artishows for several years, and with Canadian ...
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Jean-François Mercier
Jean-François Mercier (born 19 July 1967) is a comedian, screenwriter and television host from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Mercier's comedy features his scruffy appearance and mixes social criticism with vulgarity, curse words and expressions o ...
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Lisa Merchant
Lisa Merchant is a Canadian comic improviser and actress. She played Brenda Murphy on ''Train 48'', and appeared on ''Improv Heaven and Hell''.
She has won three Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Female Improviser (in 2001, 2003 & 2005).
Alongside ...
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Dave Merheje
Dave Merheje is a Canadian stand-up comedian.
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Darcy Michael
Darcy Michael is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his stand up comedy, his viral tiktok accoun@thedarcymichaeland his role in the Canadian television sitcom ''Spun Out''.Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
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Dominique Michel Dominique Michel, OC, CQ (born ''Aimée Sylvestre''; September 24, 1932 in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec) is a Quebec comedian, actress, singer and artist.
Biography
She began her career in cabarets performing songs written by Raymond Lévesque and sub ...
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Gabrielle Miller
Gabrielle Sunshine Miller (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress who, since the start of her career in 1993, has appeared in many television films and series episodes, including leading roles in two of Canada's most popular concurrently-r ...
Colin Mochrie
Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and US versions of the improvisational TV show '' Whose Line Is It ...
Doug Morency Doug Morency is a Canadian actor and comedian who was a member of The Second City comedy troupe and The Williamson Playboys. He played Al Gore in a comedy show about global warming called ''An Inconvenient Musical''.
Morency has won three Canadian ...
Jordi Morgan Jordi Morgan (born September 27, 1958) is a well-known radio and television broadcaster in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Morgan worked in a number of capacities for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) throughout the 1 ...
Kirby Morrow
Kirby Robert Morrow (1973 – November 18, 2020) was a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. In animation, he was known as the voice of Miroku from ''InuYasha'', its four movies, and '' Inuyasha: The Final Act'', Van Fanel from the Ocean dub o ...
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...
Zarqa Nawaz
Zarqa Nawaz (born 1967 in Liverpool, England) is a Canadian creator and producer for film and television, a published author, public speaker, journalist, and former broadcaster.
Biography
Zarqa Nawaz was raised in the Toronto area and attended ...
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Nick Nemeroff
Nick Nemeroff (December 28, 1989 – June 27, 2022) was a Canadian stand-up comedian. He was most noted for his 2020 comedy album ''The Pursuit of Comedy Has Ruined My Life'', which was a Juno Award nominee for Comedy Album of the Year at the ...
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Phil Nichol
Phil Nichol is a Canadian comedian, singer-songwriter and actor.
Early life and career
Comedy
Nichol was born in Scotland to a Scottish mother, but raised in Canada. He first found fame as a member of the musical comedy trio Corky and the Juice ...
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Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen was bo ...
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Rebecca Northan
Rebecca Northan is a Canadian actor, improviser, theatre director, and creative artist. She is known for playing the hippie mother Diane Macleod on the CTV & The Comedy Network sitcom '' Alice, I Think''. She is a graduate of the University of Ca ...
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Alex Nussbaum
Alex Nussbaum is a comedian, actor, character designer, and writer.
He has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Standup.
He has appeared on '' Just For Laughs'', ''Comedy Now!'', and is a regular judge on the MuchMusic show ...
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Dave Nystrom
Dave Nystrom is a Canadian comedian and writer who has appeared on CTV's ''Comedy Now!'', Comedy Central, VH1 and won a Canadian Comedy Award
The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Ca ...
O
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Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her comedy work on ''Second City Television'' (1976–84) and ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020) and in films such as '' After Hours'' (1985), '' Beetlej ...
Rose Ouellette
Rose-Alma Ouellette OQ, (August 25, 1903 – September 14, 1996) also known by her stage name La Poune was a Quebec actress, comedian, theatre manager and artistic director. Ouellette was born to François Ouellette and Josephine Lasanté in the ...
Candy Palmater
Candy Palmater (December 4, 1968 – December 25, 2021) was a Canadian actress, comedienne, and broadcaster. She was the creator and writer of her own national television show for APTN, ''The Candy Show'',Angelina ChapinSweet, hard-earned succes ...
Alan Park
Alan John Park (November 5, 1962 – November 10, 2022) was a Canadian comedian and political satirist best known for his appearances on the ''Royal Canadian Air Farce'' where he gave humorous commentary on current events. Though originally not ...
Teresa Pavlinek
Teresa Pavlinek (born August 11, 1970) is a Canadian actress, writer, and television producer best known as the creator and star of ''The Jane Show''.
Career
Pavlinek studied at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and became part of Secon ...
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Nikki Payne
Nikki Payne (also credited as Nikkie Payne), is a Canadian comedian and actress, from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Born with a cleft palate, she is well known for incorporating her lisp into her comedy act. She has won three Canadian Com ...
Ron Pederson
Ronald Pederson (born January 8, 1978) is a Canadian (Métis) actor, comedian and theatre director who has worked extensively throughout Canada and in the United States. He has performed with most of Canada's major theatres including The Stratfo ...
Renee Percy
Renee Percy (born November 14 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian actress, writer, and comedian. Percy is best known for her work on the sketch comedy shows Air Farce Live and CTV/ Comedy Network's '' Comedy Inc'', and for her Comedy Now! Special ...
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004).
As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...
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Eric Peterson
Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (2004–2009), and '' This is Wonderland'' ...
Kathleen Phillips
Kathleen Phillips is a Canadian actress based in Toronto, Ontario. She is most noted for her roles in the sketch comedy series '' Sunnyside'', for which she and the other core cast collectively won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in ...
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Andrew Phung
Andrew Phung is a Canadian actor, improviser, and comedian. He played the character Kimchee Han on the CBC Television sitcom ''Kim's Convenience''."A Convenience truth; Andrew Phung stars in new TV series about an Asian corner store". ''Ottawa C ...
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Andrew Pifko
Andrew Pifko is a Canadian actor, who has worked on numerous projects since beginning his career in 1999.
Career
Andrew has both appeared as and voiced various characters in several TV series such as ''Queer as Folk'', ''Rescue Heroes'', and '' ' ...
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Nestor Pistor
Nestor Pistor is the stage name of Don Ast, a Canadian comedian of Romanian heritage who performs in the character of a heavily accented Ukrainian immigrant. He has been a three-time Juno Award nominee for Comedy Album of the Year, receiving two ...
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Sarah Polley
Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...
Rosemary Radcliffe
Rosemary Radcliffe (born 1949) is a Canadian comic actress, writer, composer and painter. She graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, then began her television career on ''Sunday Morning'' at CBLT Toronto.
Career
She perf ...
Simon Rakoff
Simon Rakoff (born August 30, 1960) is a Canadian comedian who began performing professionally in 1978. A veteran of the Canadian comedy scene, he has performed in every province and is widely regarded as one of the quickest and cleverest Canadian ...
Dan Redican
Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, '' The Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage ...
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion.
He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
Caroline Rhea
Caroline Gilchrist Rhea (; born April 13, 1964) is a Canadian actress and stand-up comedian, who is best known for her role as Hilda Spellman on the ABC series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''.
She has performed numerous comedy specials, including t ...
Edward Riche
Edward Riche (born October 24, 1961) is a Canadian writer. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Background
Riche was born in Botwood, Newfoundland. For three years he attended Memorial University, and then transferred to Concordia U ...
Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
Evany Rosen
Evany Rosen is a Canadian comedian and actress, most noted as a founding member of the comedy troupe Picnicface and as co-creator with Kayla Lorette of the Crave original series '' New Eden''.
Early life and education
Originally from Ontario, ...
Les Rubie
Les Rubie (July 19, 1916 - March 27, 1994) was a Canadian film and television actor."Les Rubie, 77 played 'Mr. Hall' in Lottario ads". '' Toronto Star'', April 2, 1994. He was best known for his longtime role as a supporting member of the '' Wayne ...
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Mag Ruffman
Margaret "Mag" Ruffman (born 28 February 1957) is a Canadian comedian, actress and television host.
She has played roles in films such as ''Anne of Green Gables'' and ''Anne of Avonlea'' and TV series ''Road to Avonlea''. She was reunited with ...
Ed Sahely
Ed Sahely is a Canadian actor who is best known for his role as Possum Lake business entrepreneur Murray Woolworth on the second season of ''The Red Green Show''.
Career
Sahely spent seven years performing and writing with The Second City and re ...
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Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...
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Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain, formerly known as Paulina Gillis Germain and also known as Tabitha or Kitanou St. Germain, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is known for a variety of roles across many different shows. She has been actively doing voi ...
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Josh Saltzman
Josh Saltzman is a Canadian Comedy Award winning comedian, writer and director from Toronto, Ontario who currently resides in Los Angeles. He was the head writer of DHX Media's new ''Inspector Gadget'' series produced for Teletoon in Canada (seen ...
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Sugar Sammy
Samir Khullar (born 29 February 1976), better known as Sugar Sammy, is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer from Montreal, Quebec. Being fluently quadrilingual, his is comedy routines are delivered in English and French, a ...
Will Sasso
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...
Ken Scott
Ken Scott (born 20 April 1947) is a British record producer and engineer known for being one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, as well as engineering Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Duran Duran, the Jeff B ...
Jeff Seymour
Jeff Seymour is an American-Canadian actor. He is most noted for his role as Kamal Azizi in the Canadian television drama series '' The Eleventh Hour'', for which he won the Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the 18th Gemini Awards i ...
Sandra Shamas
Sandra Shamas (born 1957) is a Canadian puppeteer, comedic actress, writer, director and producer.
Biography
Shamas was born in Sudbury, Ontario. She moved to Toronto in 1980, where she held a variety of jobs before a workshop at The Second City ...
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
He ...
Tim Sims
Tim Sims (1962 – February 2, 1995) was a Canadian actor and comedian.
He is known for his roles as Jack the Cave Man on ''The Red Green Show'' and as Circle Researcher Rory Tate in a series of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercials in the 1990 ...
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Lilly Singh
Lilly Saini Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber. Singh began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username until 2019. In 2016, she was in ...
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Ian Sirota
Ian Sirota is a Canadian stand-up and sketch comedian, who was a cast member of the television sketch series '' Comedy Inc.'' in the 2000s.
A native of Montreal, Quebec, Sirota began his comedy career as a solo stand-up comedian, before becoming ...
Lee Smart
Lee Mitchell Smart (born 5 April 1988) in Swindon, Wiltshire, is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England.
Career
Smart raced for the Mildenhall Fen Tigers in the Premier League in 2008 after being released by the Birmingham Brummies ...
Morag Smith
Steven Smith Jr., (born December 24, 1945) is a Canadian actor, writer and comedian. He is best known as the co-creator and star of the sketch comedy show ''The Red Green Show'' (1991–2006), for which he portrayed the title character.
Early ...
Naomi Snieckus
Naomi Snieckus is a Canadians, Canadian actress and comedian, best known for her regular television role as Bobbi in ''Mr. D'' and her appearance as Nina in ''Saw 3D''."As seen on TV, a lot". ''The Globe and Mail'', June 29, 2012. She is also a po ...
Winston Spear
Winston Spear (born 1965) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor originally from Montreal, Quebec. He is the winner of the 2003 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Stand-up and was a member of the cast of sketch comedy shows '' Comedy Inc.'' ...
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Tom Stade
Tom Stade is a Canadian comedian who currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife Trudy and their two children. Stade was encouraged to move from his hometown of Vancouver to the UK in 2001 by his friend and fellow comedian, Craig Campbell ...
David Steinberg
David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid 1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on ...
Ryan Stiles
Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22, 1959) is an American-Canadian actor, comedian, and producer whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his work on the original British series and American version of '' Wh ...
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Raymond Storey
Raymond Storey (born in Brampton, Ontario) is a Canadian playwright and television writer." ...
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Janine Sutto
Janine Sutto, (20 April 1921 – 28 March 2017) was a French-born Canadian actress and comedian.
Career
Born in Paris to Léopold Sutto and Renée Mamert, she emigrated to Canada in 1930, with her family settling in Montreal.
At age 14, Su ...
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Gordie Tapp
Gordon Robert Tapp, (June 4, 1922 – December 18, 2016) was a Canadian entertainer, best known as a radio and television presenter, comedian and a CBS broadcaster. He was introduced to U.S. President Gerald Ford as the world's funniest storyte ...
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Carolyn Taylor
Carolyn Taylor is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known as one of the creators and stars of the sketch comedy series ''Baroness von Sketch Show''.
An alumna of The Second City's Toronto company, she was a writer for ''This Hour Has 22 Minut ...
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Alan Thicke
Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey; March 1, 1947December 13, 2016) was a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is the father of singer Robin Thicke. In 2013, Thicke was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Thicke was b ...
Jacob Tierney
Jacob Daniel Tierney (born September 26, 1979) is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1990–1992) and as the co-writer, director, and executive producer of ...
Angelo Tsarouchas
Angelo Tsarouchas () is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer living in Los Angeles. He is known for incorporating Greek culture into his stand-up comedy routines, and has been called the "King of Greek Ethnic Comedy." He organized World Dafni D ...
Billy Van
William Allan Van Evera (11 August 1934 – 8 January 2003), known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor, and singer.
Biography
Van was born in Toronto, Ontario, and dropped out of Bloor Collegiate Institute in Grade ...
Morgan Waters
Morgan Waters (born August 25, 1981) is a Canadian actor, comedian and musician.
Waters was first seen on the CBC's children's program '' The X'', which was canceled in 2003. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Waters moved to Toronto, Ontario ...
Johnny Wayne
Johnny Wayne (born Louis Weingarten; May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) was a Canadian comedian and comedy writer best known for his work as part of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster alongside Frank Shuster.
The son of a successful clothing manuf ...
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Dave Weasel
Dave Wezl (born September 22, 1984), better known by his stage name Dave Weasel is a Canadian-American stand-up comedian and writer known for his debut album ''I'm 30'', which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts for 5 straight weeks, and ...
Jason John Whitehead
JJ Whitehead is a Canadian born stand-up comedian, who was based in the United Kingdom until 2014. He lives in Hollywood, California. He has made appearances at 14 Edinburgh Festival Fringes including 7 solo shows.
Stand-up
In 2000 Whitehead was ...
K. Trevor Wilson
Trevor K. Wilson (born March 9, 1981), known professionally as K. Trevor Wilson, is a Canadian comedian, writer and actor. He grew up in Toronto, Ontario and is best known as the character Squirrely Dan in '' Letterkenny''.
Career Standup comed ...
Glenn Wool
Glenn Wool is a Canadian stand-up comedian now living in England. He has released six albums, including 2020's ''Viva Forever'', produced by Dan Schlissel for Stand Up! Records.
Early life
His father, who was Estonian, escaped a concentration cam ...
Scott Yaphe
Scott Yaphe (born February 16, 1970) is a Canadian actor and comedian best known as a cast member of the YTV variety show '' It's Alive!''. After its cancellation in 1997, Yaphe and a few other ''It's Alive!'' regulars such as Mike Beaver and Pa ...
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Alan Young
Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British, Canadian and American actor, comedian, radio host and television host, whom ''TV Guide'' called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". His notable roles includ ...
Andrew Younghusband
Andrew Younghusband (born December 14, 1970 in Canberra, Australia) is a Canadian television personality, writer and journalist best known as the host of the reality shows ''Canada's Worst Driver,'' '' Canada's Worst Handyman,'' '' Don't Drive He ...
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Pete Zedlacher
Pete Zedlacher is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor and television writer. Originally from Wawa, Ontario, he has appeared at Just for Laughs and the Halifax Comedy Festival, and won the 2006 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Stand-Up. He h ...
Duos
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Bowser and Blue
George Bowser and Rick Blue (real name Richard Elger), better known as Bowser and Blue, are a musical duo from Montreal who write and perform comedic songs. Their material ranges from absurdist humor ("I've Got a Great Big Dick", "Canadian Psyc ...
Double Exposure
In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be i ...
Bob and Doug McKenzie
Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on '' SCTV'' for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and ...
The Ryan and Amy Show
The Ryan and Amy Show is a Vancouver-based Canadian sketch comedy duo composed of Ryan Steele and Amy Goodmurphy. They have toured Canada and the United States including doing Sketch Fest in Montreal and Vancouver as well as Just For Laughs. The ...
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of ''The Army Show'' that enter ...
Troupes
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The Arrogant Worms
The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio founded in 1991 that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music. The members since 1995 are Trevor Strong (vocals), Mike Mc ...
The Bobroom The Bobroom was a Canadian sketch comedy troupe, active in the late 1990s and early 2000s.Jim Bawden, "Bobbing for laughs in all the right places ; Toronto troupe's show lampoons Canadian culture". ''Toronto Star'', February 27, 2000. The troupe con ...
CODCO
''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.Die-Nasty
* The Frantics
* Hot Thespian Action
* IFHT
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The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995, on CBC, ...
Rapid Fire Theatre
''Rapid Fire Theatre'' (RFT) is an improvisational theatre company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
History
The origins of the company stretch to 1981, when Edmonton's Theatre Network became the third company in the world to regularly pro ...
Royal Canadian Air Farce
The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...
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The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...
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The Sketchersons
The Sketchersons are a sketch comedy troupe based in Toronto, Ontario. They are winners of the 2007 Canadian Comedy Award for best Sketch Troupe, an award they had been nominated for each of the 3 years prior. The Sketchersons were again nominat ...
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TallBoyz
''TallBoyz'' is a Canadian television sketch comedy troupe best known for their 2019-2022 CBC Television sketch comedy series.
The series stars Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair and Franco Nguyen, who have worked for several years in stage-base ...
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Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie (aka 'The Trolls') was a Canadian comedy group from Edmonton, Alberta formed in 1987. Their credits include numerous stage productions, a television show and five albums.
The Trolls did sketch comedy, often on risqu� ...
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 C ...
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List of comedians
A comedian is one who entertains through comedy, such as jokes and other forms of humour. Following is a list of comedians, comedy groups, and comedy writers.
Comedians
''(sorted alphabetically by surname)''
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* Rose Abdoo (born 1962)
* Ray ...
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List of Quebec comedians This is a list of Québécois people, Quebecers who have performed as comedians on stage, on television, or on the radio.
This list also includes Acadians, Acadian humorists and French Canadians, Franco-Canadian humorists who have mostly worked in ...
Comedians
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dire ...
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...