Comedian Mark Forward appears throughout this year’s massive JFL42 comedy festival.
He's not shy, and, contrary to what you may have read a few years ago, he's not retiring. We spoke to the Toronto comedian Mark Forward, who appears throughout this year's massive JFL42 comedy festival, about the state of stand-up and where he stands.
In 2010, you wrote an article in which you declared that you would be retiring from stand-up comedy. You're giving a string of shows at this year's JFL42 festival, though, so what happened to that retirement?
I'd been joking about retiring from stand-up for about a year, on Twitter. The Toronto Star contacted me and asked me to write about it. It was actually the first print coverage I'd received in the 10 years I'd been doing stand-up. But, really, I had no intention of retiring. I did retire from a lot of the type of shows I wasn't enjoying. All the hockey fundraisers in Northern Ontario, and all those small legions that hire comics.
What was the problem with those shows?
I didn't feel they were about stand-up. I was just doing it for the money. They were painful. They stay with you for weeks. So, I stopped doing them, and I've been happier ever since. And, after I wrote that article, my career has gotten better.
But, in that article, you did raise some points about your dissatisfaction with stand-up comedy. You wrote "some would argue that comics such as Dane Cook had hurt comedy, by diluting it to appeal to the masses."
I would argue that, yes. But since I wrote that article, there's been a real turn. I had mentioned Louis CK as someone who should be more popular. Since then, he's become huge. I mentioned Zach Galifianakis, who was not a household name then. So, the cream rises to the top.
The cream rises to the top, but is the top the same any more? There are a lot of great comedians out there, but I think the household names like Joan Rivers and Robin Williams are dying out.
I agree. I don't think we're going to see those legends any more. But you can definitely see more people in the mid-range. You can find the comedy you're looking for.
I know you're no longer on the CBC show Mr. D, but how are things going for you otherwise?
I'm having fun. I'm doing the shows I want to do. You know, I think all comics have to wake up every morning and settle themselves down. It's easy to get frustrated.
With the suicide of Robin Williams, do you buy into the sad clown thing?
I don't. We all have bad days. Everybody is down sometimes. Life is a mess. It's hard. It's work. So, I don't subscribe to the idea that comedians are prone to depression. But I'll ask my therapist about it later.
Brad Wheeler