Published on July 18th, 2011 | by Sharilyn Johnson

Comedy Bar

I get a lot of requests from comedy filmmakers to post their web videos, and I never do it. I feel it would be akin to feeding a stray cat. I love a lot of what I’m sent (so I don’t mind the emails), but if I started posting everything, this blog would be overrun.

I’m making a well-deserved exception for the BiteTV series Comedy Bar, for two very important reasons.

1) I saw the first 13 episodes at a screening last week, and I’m in head over heels in love with the wry meta-humor of the whole premise.

2) Comedy Bar is a real place, and my comedy hangout of choice in Toronto. It has killer shows (it’s where Kindler, Glass, Bamford, etc play) and it’s simply a great room. It’s also the hub of the Toronto comedy scene, and the biggest reason I moved into the neighborhood a few years ago (“stumbling distance away”, I like to say). I think everyone needs to have their own version of Cheers in their life.

Gary Rideout Jr. is the owner of Comedy Bar, both in real life and in the series. He’s made a lot of money off me (again, the “stumbling distance” thing). If enough of you watch this videos, maybe I’ll score a free pint out of this plug.

Here’s episode 1 of 50 (yes, 50):

Several more episodes can be found on the Bite website, with many more being released in the weeks ahead.

And if you’re in Canada, you can watch ’em on Bite TV using your old-fashioned teevee set.

About the Author

Sharilyn Johnson is the author of the book Bears & Balls: The Colbert Report A-Z. Called "one of the city’s most discriminating comedy critics” by NOW Magazine, Sharilyn has been covering comedy for longer than she cares to admit. She served as the comedy reporter for Winnipeg's Uptown Magazine for five years, and was the host of the radio show Laugh Tracks for three seasons. Her work has also appeared in the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, The Apiary, and on CBC Radio's national comedy programs LOL and Definitely Not the Opera.