EB : I have been involved in the comedy business for about 22 yrs. ..on a pretty consistent
basis as a club manager..then ....comedy course designer and advisor..radio host and
party thrower and guest ..oh yeah!!
CN : What first attracted you?
EB : The void..there wasn't anything going on at the time..it seemed like a good idea. The
first club was.."Stitches" talk about small...it is where Ziggy's is now on Crescent St.
It was new, exciting and every night was opening night.
CN : How did you get your start?
EB : I was in San Fransisco and some friends of mine had the management contract on a
place called "The Wrong Number" ..they asked me to come up with something to
attract people in on a Sunday to Thursday schedule. I wanted to use the name as a
jean label but it worked out as a comedy club name.
CN : Do you still remember your first time on stage? If so, can you recall it for us?
EB : No I don't..did I fail to mention that every night was opening night..we used to close
up Crescent St. as the sun came up. I had been on stage most of my life as a
singer..then drummer..then singer again..then actor..then once there was the police
line-up but that's another story so going in front of an audience was not new to
me..using material that I had heard over the years..that was new!!
CN : What is your fondest memory on stage?
EB : One falling on Tim Steeves the Canadian comic. We were doing a TV show for CTV
and they had built a false brick wall as a back drop. It was secure but not as secure as
we thought.
Picture this Steeves is facing the audience being his tongue in cheek cute little self..
the cameras are rolling and so is the back drop. He picks up the look of horror on the
audience faces and turns to see what is up.... just as the wall hits him full force in the
back. He was not injured and the audience loved him..some even thinking it was part
of his act..that's a hell of a prop to carry around.
To this day I believe that we played a key role in his success. From that day on
nothing ever bothered old Tim while performing and he always kept eye contact with
the audience and today he occasionally looks over his shoulder.
industry going pretty much the way it has?
EB : No not at all...when we started there were bombs in mail boxes going off in this
city..it was a good time for laughter..a real tension breaker. Comedy is like fashion in
many ways it moves in cycles and keeps itself and its ebbs and crests with the times.
The Festival Just for Laughs was a great idea that grew from the French comedy
scene..we thought for a moment that performance art (comedy without laughter) may
hit and stick but the bottom line is that a good solid comedy performance has
endurance and staying power because people laugh at it and that IS the key.
CN : Where do you see the industry in 7-10 years from now?
EB : Ottawa...I have a feeling that a lot of comedy performance will find itself to the net. It
is important to distinguish live performance from the rest of the comedy industry.
How people spend their disposable income and if there is any disposable income to
spend after taxes will dictate the future of comedy club performance as we know
it. By monitoring the cost of the entertainment that competes with live comedy it will
give you a pretty good indication of the future, in terms of maintaining and financing
a live stage.
CN : What would be the best piece of advice you could give to someone who was thinking
about starting out as a stand-up?
EB : Bend over and kiss you morals goodbye !!