Canadian Heritage committee  I was going to start with a joke, but Madam Chair used my favourite joke when she petitioned on our behalf to get it recognized as an art form. It's one of my favourite knock-knock jokes, so I had to—

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, it would be an insistence by the private and public sectors and this committee to the Department of Canadian Heritage and to the Canada Council for the Arts of more comedy creation in this country. Right now, whether it be live or produced—and obviously, as I mentioned, th

Canadian Heritage committee  Well, the support would have to come from all the facets of public support programs. The Canada Council for the Arts is just one avenue for a population within the comedy community across the country. There would be other streams for artists who want to reposition themselves, b

Canadian Heritage committee  Everybody we talk to in government and in industry and the many people, the thousands of people, we talk to in public spaces all seem to agree, “Of course comedy is art. Isn't it already recognized as an art form?” The government has told us in response to our e-petition to have

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to the rest of the committee for inviting me to speak to you today on behalf of the Canadian Association of Stand-up Comedians, CASC. I want to take a moment to clarify that our newly incorporated not-for-profit organization, as of May 1, also