Taggart and Torrens bring their podcast to a P.E.I. audience
CBC News | Posted: January 28, 2016 11:53 PM | Last Updated: January 28, 2016
'We're choosing to celebrate some of the cliches that we sometimes roll our eyes at'
It's about as entertaining as watching a radio podcast being taped — which is to say, very entertaining, especially if the hosts are Sherwood, P.E.I.-born Jonathan Torrens of Mr. D and Trailer Park Boys fame, and former Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart.
Taggart and Torrens have been recording a podcast for two years now, and they've taken their tapings live across the country in a tour called Comedy and Canadianity Live, playing Thursday night at the PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown.
"We actually learned from our listeners that podcasting is a really warts-and-all environment," Torrens told CBC Radio Mainstreet host Karen Mair. "They want to feel like they're sitting in the back seat with two friends who are on a road trip."
"We actually learned from our listeners that podcasting is a really warts-and-all environment," Torrens told CBC Radio Mainstreet host Karen Mair. "They want to feel like they're sitting in the back seat with two friends who are on a road trip."
The two met through their mutual friends on the Trailer Park Boys about a decade ago and found they had a similar sense of humour, especially their loving irreverence about what it means to be Canadian, which spawned their catchword, Canadianity.
"We realized that Canadianity sounds like a religion, but the bigger movement is bahd-ism," Torrens joked. Bahd is the pair's term for bud or buddy, a word many Canadians use to refer to one another. "And bahd-ism is being kind and nice to each other."
The podcast is a recorded, improvised chat between the two about random topics including their lives in showbiz – for instance, tour bus etiquette. Taggart usually comes up with a top 5 jam list of the most Canadian songs for occasions such as breakups or cleaning out the cottage. They also drop a few f-bombs along the way.
"It can be stream of consciousness, it can be serious, it can be funny, it can have music. The only thing they [the audience] want it to be is one of the most over-used words in the English language — authentic," Torrens said.
The guys also enjoy listing their discoveries of what they call "the greasiest places in Canada," using #TheGreasies for places like burger joints, dive bars, and The Charlottetown Mall.
"We're choosing to celebrate some of the cliches that we sometimes roll our eyes at," Torrens said.
People are 'right into it'
The podcast is close to celebrating a million downloads from people around the world, Taggart added. "People are just right into it."
Torrens lives in Nova Scotia, plays in a country cover band called Miniature Ponies, is married with two children, and runs a business renting trailers to the film industry. He also famously offered to fly film workers affected by tax credit cuts home for the holidays in December.
Taggart lives in Toronto and also has a family.
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