Podcast episode 460ish: Bob Robertson tribute

This podcast episode is a loooong one. But well worth it. We paid tribute to the late, great Bob Robertson, who passed away earlier this year. Bob – along with his wife and comedy partner Linda Cullen – was a guest on What's So Funny? three times over the years and in this episode, we take clips from all those shows. Bob talks about his early years, pre-Double Exposure fame, and works right up to his post-Double Exposure projects. It's a good little overview of the man's career, I think. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed going back and compiling it.

You can click below to listen. Or you can find us on your own. Click around at iTunes or Stitcher or wherever fine podcasts are dispensed and we'll be waiting for you.

Podcast episode 459ish: David Beckingham

David (right) enjoying the swanky Co-op doorless studio.

With a name like David Beckingham, you'd expect a posh English accent. And that's exactly what Beckingham had for the first eight years of his life before Canada beat it out of him. We talk about that with one of the founding members of Hey Ocean! as well as other topics, such as why the band split up, why it's back together, and what it was like living in Kenya. It's his first ever podcast appearance! I love the band, by the way, so we play a tune from them as well as a song from David's solo album, Just When the Light. Oh, mark this down on your calendars: Hey Ocean! is doing a cross-Canada tour in October and November. Check your local listings! Or something like that.

Enjoy this one. We've got another coming right around the bend. You can listen here or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favourite podcast server.

Aug. 6: Johnny Perrotta

They say you can't go home again, but that's precisely what we did. CFRO left the Downtown Eastside three years ago for life on Wall Street. As of last week, we're back where we started, in the newly renovated studios in the DTES. Tonight we have our first guest of the new era, standup comic and actor Johnny Perrotta. His Twitter will tell you he's not only John Perrotta, but THE John Perrotta. I wonder what the Rhode Island standup comic John Perrotta thinks about that! So I'll call our guy Johnny, as I first knew of him many, many, many years ago. How long ago was it? It goes back to the Urban Well days, but I don't know the exact year. We'll find out tonight. Strangely, this is Johnny's first appearance on What's So Funny? so we've got tons to talk about.

Even though we've moved physically, you don't have to go looking for us. We're still on the air in Vancouver at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM. Or you can livestream us at coopradio.org. Or find us on the TuneIn Radio.

Podcast episode 458ish: Diana Frances

Here's an episode that's so old, it's new. Sorry, it's been a busy month. Diana Frances was our guest on the radio back on June 18. Here it is July 24 and it's just coming out in podcast format. If you're a long-time listener to the show, you'll know Diana is a Vancouverite through and through. She was our guest back in our fifth ever episode, back in 2004. Now she lives in Toronto where she's busy writing for TV, award shows and radio. And she still performs when she can. In this episode, we talk about her early days in standup, why she's such a good podcast guest/lousy softball player, a bit about her crazy childhood/life, complaints about traffic/linguistics, and, of course, vagina jokes.

Listen to this now before it gets even older! You can do it here, or over at iTunes or Stitcher, et. al.

July 16: Chuck Byrn

Tonight we bid a fond adieu to our temporary radio station on Wall Street. We've been there for three years. We move back to our old space in the downtown eastside next week. Our last guest in this spot is a good one: Chuck Byrn! Chuck has been in Toronto for longer than I remember, but he's a Vancouver boy. He started out here in the 1990s with the likes of Tim Nutt, Glenn Wool and Kevin Foxx. We'll find out who else tonight. Chuck's only been with us once before and that was part of a comedy round-table, with Dylan Rhymer, Toby Hargrave and Steve Bays. Tonight he gets the hour all to himself. I'm writing this on the BC Ferries so barring a nautical disaster on the high seas, I'll be there, too.

We are on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver. If you're not in Vancouver, you can still join us by livestreaming at coopradio.org or find us on TuneIn Radio.

July 9: Christina Sicoli

Tonight on your radio, we're welcoming Christina Sicoli. It's been a long time coming getting her in here but our schedules finally aligned. Her hubby, David Milchard, has been on the program a couple of times but not for years and years. But it's Christina's turn tonight. She's an actress, improviser, writer, and producer. Perhaps you've seen her in the web series Paranormal Solutions, Inc. or Convos with my 2-Year-Old. Or maybe in the TV series Supernatural or Psych. Or maybe it was her first listed credit, from 1999, when she played "Foxy Girl" in Detroit Rock City. We'll get her complete story at 11 (or whatever will fit into the hour).

Get your radios warmed up. We're on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver. (For those without such fancy contraptions, you can always stream us online at coopradio.org or find us on the TuneIn Radio app.)

July 2: Bob Robertson Tribute

Tonight we're going to pay tribute the great Bob Robertson, who passed away in March. There was a beautiful (and hilarious) memorial service for him at Bard on the Beach on Friday afternoon, but if you didn't get there, this might help.

Bob, along with his comedy – and life – partner Linda Cullen, was a guest on What's So Funny? three times over the years: on episode 41 in 2005, then on episode 69 in 2006 (along with Trevor Devall), and again in 2011. Tonight I'm going to play clips from all three of those episodes. You'll hear Bob talking about his early days in commercial radio, the Double Exposure heyday, the live revue called the Snides of March they did on Granville Island, and his book Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012. Along the way, we'll hear some old clips and he'll do some voices.

They say never meet your heroes, but Bob Robertson was an exception. He was a superstar to me growing up in Victoria. He was the funniest deejay I'd ever heard. As the weekend man on CFAX 1070 from noon to six, I'd listen all day, often with my cassette recorder poised to record one of his numerous regular segments, like Little Mansion in Oak Bay, the Moldy Oldie Music Vault, a conversation with Old Ernie (with Bob doing both parts), and always a phone call from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (also voiced by Bob), who always condescendingly got Bob's name wrong. Bob was the best.

He went on, of course, to real fame with his wife Linda on CBC radio for 10.5 years, then over to CTV, with Double Exposure.

In the late '90s, I had a job where I had to do the daily banking. More than a few times, I saw the great Bob Robertson in the bank but he was too mythic for me to approach him. Cut to: 2004, when I started hosting What's So Funny? on Co-op radio. I figured, what the hell, I'll contact Bob and Linda and see if they'd come down to the downtown east side to do my rinky-dinky little show. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. And they graciously accepted. They couldn't have been nicer.

Bob gave me an autographed copy of his book on their last visit to the station in 2011, but even better, knowing that I was such a big fan of his early CFAX days, he gave me a disc with a bunch of his old radio bits.

He was a great guy and he is missed.

We're on the air at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM. You can livestream us at coopradio.org or find us on TuneIn Radio. I think it's going to be a long one, in the 90-minute range, so get a nap in!

June 25: David Beckingham

It's the first show of summer! I don't know why I'm excited. It just means the studio is going to be stinking hot. It would be hot anyway because our guest tonight is the very hot David Beckingham: singer, songwriter, pop star. David is in the fantastic indie pop band Hey Ocean! I don't know the status of this band, since he and Ashleigh Ball both have recently released solo projects, but they're playing at Canada Place on Canada Day to celebrate the country's 150th birthday. We'll find out tonight if they have plans for other shows, too. I hope so. But we'll talk about all sorts of things, as we do, like the time he couldn't speak for a month. In the meantime, check out to the two videos below: one is David as a solo artist; the other is David with Hey Ocean!

We're on the air at 11 pm in Vancouver at 100.5 FM. Livestream us at coopradio.org or find us on TuneIn Radio if you don't have a radio. They'll work, too.

June 18: Diana Frances

Could it really be six years since Diana Frances last visited us? That's what my records indicate. They also show that she was on one of the very first episodes of What's So Funny? back in 2004. She was also in studio with Urban Improv in 2009, setting the record for most number of guests on one show. And the records also show... that's it. Just three appearances?! There must be some missing episodes because I could have sworn she's been with us more than thrice. Diana's now living in Toronto where she's making a living writing for TV, but she still hits the stage when she can, and comes back to town on occasion. So we've nabbed her while we can.

We'll find out everything that's new since 2011 so tune in tonight at 11 pm to CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver or livestream us on coopradio.org or tune in to the TuneIn Radio app. So many options.

Podcast episode 457ish: Kevvy

Have you bought/streamed the new Fake Shark album yet? You really should. It's called Faux Real and I never got the punny title until I said it out loud in this episode where we talked with front man Kevvy. You expect something humorous from Kevvy. Not only is he an accomplished musician, but he's recorded probably more standup comedians than any other individual. He talks about all of the above, as well as about his high school daze, tattoos and hair dye. Plus I challenge him to a jazz-off. I won't tell you who wins but suffice it to say if I lost, chances are that segment would be edited out of the podcast.