Ron James

Canadian treasure Ron James talked to me about coming to L.A.; becoming a stand up comedian; Second City cast mates; My Talk Show; Bob Tischler; Texas; George Carlin; Richard Pryor; John Cleese; having funny friends; getting advice from Lorne Michaels; Americas influence in his Canadian childhood; Nova Scotia; opening for the Martin Scorcese SCTV reunion; corporate gigs; tough crowds in Alberta; guns; January 6th; Justin Trudeau; clean water on Canadian Native American reservations; Robin Duke; knowing a show is not going well by caterer and guest stars; Chubby Checker;  a bad gig in Cancun; The Bear Pit in Edinburgh; Dennis Miller; joke context; people who think they could "try" stand-up; Nova Scotia being his tuning fork; his parents; stand up in person vs. on tv vs. sketch comedy troupes