SHORTLIST: Canadian Comedians You Should Know Aboot

As long as I’ve been alive and laughing, Canadian entertainers have been changing the comedy game. Saying so is not a remotely hot take (and yet, we don’t talk about it enough here in the States.)

In an obvious (but also sort of sneaky) way, Canadians have altered North American comedy culture. They are trailblazers in what is considered both stupid and good, shaping what makes audiences laugh, and influencing future generations of comedians north and south of the border. Obvious iconic examples include Kids in the Hall, SCTV, and Lorne Michaels. Today’s top Canadian culture makers are some of my favorites — Seth Rogen, Nathan Fielder, Mae Martin — creating singular comedy by simply doing their own damn thing with a level of craft that is undeniable.

There’s a clichéd origin story you’ll hear about many now-or-once famous Canadian comedians: they arrive in LA or New York (seemingly out of nowhere), talented and craft honed, with a unique sensibility untarnished by... whatever it is that tarnishes artists here. They have a style all their own (people I know who truly give a shit about comedy will often claim that Canadians are “more UK influenced”1 than in the States).

Speaking for myself, Canadians (especially the ones that don’t speak French) have never struck me as particularly “international,” despite that technically being true. Most people might not realize Rick Moranis is Canadian unless it’s their type of trivia (that said, anyone can tell without having to Google it that Tom Green isn’t from here.)

Call it a response to the current fuckery of US foreign trade policies2 or just a result of cultural frequency bias (back to back, Dead Lover and Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie3 both secured distribution after premiering at SXSW). But after a lifetime of not really distinguishing between Canadian versus American comedy, I have recently started to see the difference EVERYWHERE.

And it boils down to this: I harp constantly on the needlessness of permission to make comedy4, but it seems like Canadians totally already know about that. Their work demonstrates a self-assuredness and originality that you can speculate might not have survived in the competitive, commercial, and fictitiously “life changing” landscape of Hollywood.

So lately, I’ve been obsessed with speculating what their national mindset must be like, to allow citizens to dream up (and then federally invest in) some of the craziest shit I’ve ever seen. Then, the more ironic part: ideally, they bring that work to the US.

Question is, are they any different than US comics when they get here? Or do they blend in amongst us, as though international borders are basically a construct and culture is becoming more of a shared, global experience?

Ladies and gentleman of the Substack, those answers are well beyond my pay grade.

With that in mind: here is my list of Groundbreaking Comedy Talent who just so happen to be from Canada. (If any Visa people are reading this, everyone on this list should qualify for O-1.)