83. Kliph Nesteroff: Sorry, We’re Funny

Update: This event will be moderated by Lisa Christiansen! Charlie Demers is unfortunately no longer able to join us.

“You can hardly move about Hollywood and Manhattan without bumping into Canadians,” wrote Variety in the 1960s. Scores of talented Canadian comics had already infiltrated American writers’ rooms and studios, while dreaming of a comedy scene they could call their very own. The infrastructure didn’t exist at home yet, so our comedians began to build it independently. Pushing back against cultural conservatism, media control, and national modesty, they invented a new and distinctly Canadian kind of comedy—sly, smart and subversive, character-driven and absurdist, and quietly revolutionary. Kliph Nesteroff, the “premier popular historian of comedy” (The New York Times), shares the impressive history of Canadian comedy in Sorry, We’re Funny and at this entertaining event. Moderated by Lisa Christiansen.

Presented in partnership with The Improv Centre.

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Event Participants:

Lisa Christiansen

LISA CHRISTIANSEN is a retired CBC broadcaster and former Pop This! podcaster. She is a two time Polaris Music Prize grand juror and four time Juno Award judge in the Metal/Hard Rock category. She reads a lot and continues to add to her impressive band t-shirt collection.

Kliph Nesteroff

KLIPH NESTEROFF is the author of four books, including The Comedians. Called the "historian of comedy" by The New York Times, his work is praised by Mel Brooks and Steve Martin. A regular on WTF with Marc Maron, he appears on CNN and HBO, and has worked with Judd Apatow and Rob Reiner. Born in Castlegar, BC, he grew up watching Wayne and Shuster and The Kids in the Hall on CBC.