Comic Mark Forward talks about dealing with the pressure of headlining,
Comic Mark Forward tells TONY LOFARO it’s scary to be the big name on the marquee.
Canadian comic Mark Forward says it’s a big leap going from the safety of playing a comedy club to headlining your own show.
Headliners face plenty of pressure, he says: tickets have to be sold and paying customers have expectations. And he’s ready for the challenge — sort of.
“In the clubs everything is set up and all you have to do is show up,” says Forward, 39, a veteran comic who has performed regularly at the Just for Laughs Festival and written for the comedy series Mr. D and The Newsroom.
“It’s a scary thing to be promoting your own show and carrying it on your back. But I’m a worrier, so even if it’s sold out I would be worrying about something. You can always find something to worry about,” says Forward in a phone interview from his Toronto home.
Forward performs Saturday night at the Ottawa Little Theatre in a solo show with opening act Steve Dylan.
At last report, the show is more than half sold, so he doesn’t have to worry that much. He promises the Ottawa show will be different and playful.
“I’m not ‘what’s the difference between men and women’ kind of comic, or I won’t be talking about airplane food or Tim Hortons. I like people leaving the show thinking my show was different from others they’ve seen,” says Forward, who was nominated for Best Male Standup Comedian at the recent Canadian Comedy Awards held in Ottawa. (He lost to Steve Patterson from CBC’s The Debaters).
He leans toward more abstract humour, such as his rant about chipmunks.
“I have nothing against chipmunks,” he laughs. “I was sitting on the road one time near Minden (Ontario) feeding a chipmunk peanuts. The next thing I know I had a 10-minute bit about talking chipmunks and their relationship problems. I just like things that are abstract, but are also connected to what people can relate to.
“I like playing with the audience and sometimes I like to come out of left field with a line. It’s a give-andtake.”
He avoids political humour. As for embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, Forward says he’s too easy a target.
“I go to write jokes about it and they just come out angry. The funny to me is gone, he’s a sad wounded animal, so why poke it?”
Ford’s antics have provided tons of fodder for late-night talk-show hosts and comedians, Forward calls the mayor a “disgrace” to the city of Toronto.
“It’s hard because I want the man to get help and I don’t want him to continually fall apart to the point he can’t fix himself. You wake up every morning and you say ‘is he finding ways to be more of a goof.’ Some people will argue he’s bringing attention to the city and that’s all that matters. Toronto is going to be known as the city with the crack mayor.”
Forward says his fellow comics think the Ford episodes have become too blown up, and there’s nothing left to say. “It’s not funny to us anymore.”
Forward recently finished a writing gig (along with four other writers) on Mr. D, the CBC-TV series with comic Gerry Dee that will air next February.
He also wrapped production on the feature film No Stranger Than Love, starring Colin Hanks (The Good Guys) and Alison Brie (Mad Men). He’s appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and John Oliver’s New York Standup Show for the Comedy Central.
For the Ottawa show, Forward says he’ll probably touch on familiar Ottawa landmarks such as BeaverTails, the Rideau Canal and Senators — the politicians, not the hockey players.
“Ottawa is a great comedy town, I don’t know why, but the audiences are so receptive. Ottawa and Winnipeg audiences are great. Weird isn’t it?”