The Richard Crouse Podcast

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet producer/writer/comedian Dan Galea. The two-time Canadian Comedy Award winner’s debut musical comedy album “Inter-Dan-Mensional” on Comedy Records, executive produced by Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall who also appears on the album, is available next week at dangalea.ca. Dan spent twenty years working on the album, which he describes as a comedic diary of his life. It has everything from Disco to Metal and every song gives you a peek into who he is and what he is all about. Some songs are just silly, he says, “but so am I.” Scott Thompson joins us late to talk about his involvement with the record and why he loves comedian Flip Wilson.

Then we’ll get to know bestselling Edmonton author and professor Thomas Wharton. He has written several books, including his award-winning debut novel, “Icefields,” and “Salamander” which was shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. His latest book is “The Book of Rain,” a suspenseful sci-fi novel about nature, environmental stewardship and the fate of the planet. “The Book of Rain” is a multi-plotted novel set in a world where ghost ore, a new minable energy source much more lucrative than gold, can disrupt time and space and slowly make an environment inhospitable. In one of three ghost ore hotspots in the world, the Alberta mining town of River Meadows, residents have been evacuated, except Amery Hewitt can't seem to stay away

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet director Chandler Levack, whose debut feature film, “I Like Movies,” will be in theatres on March 10. The film festival hit is based on her experiences working at a Blockbuster Video in Burlington, Ontario in the early 2000s. It’s the story of how movie obsessive Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) allows his love of film, dream of attending NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and anxiety, alienate the most important people in his life. Part work-place comedy—think “High Fidelity” only set in a video store—part character study, “I Like Movies” is sweet-natured, funny film that digs deep to make us feel empathy for Lawrence, a socially awkward character who hides his real feelings behind a facade of bluster and pretension. Strong performances and a genuinely heartfelt script make this take on adolescent angst a winning debut for Levack.

Then, C. J. Tudor, bestselling author of “The Burning Girls,” “The Other People,” “The Hiding Place” and “The Chalk Man,” which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, stops by. Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, who asked Tim Robbins an embarrassing questions, a voice-over artist, and dog walker. Today we’ll talk about some of those jobs and her new novel, “The Drift,” a heart-pounding new novel about three ordinary people who risk everything for a chance at redemption.

And finally, we spend time with “In the Key of Dale” author Benjamin Lefebvre. He is a writer based in Kitchener, Ont. His edited books include the anthology “The L.M. Montgomery Reader,” which won the 2016 PROSE Award for Literature from the Association of American Publishers, and an edition of L.M. Montgomery's rediscovered final book, “The Blythes Are Quoted.”

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2021, and CMT’s 2022 “Breakout Artist of the Year” Lainey Wilson. Her highly anticipated album “Bell Bottom Country” is out now and she recently announced a 27-city headlining tour, that will visit Vancouver and Edmonton this year.

Then welcome Slava Pastuk, the co-author of “Bad Trips,” a book recounting  how he went from an editor for VICE media, to being to sentenced to nine years in prison for recruiting friends into a scheme to smuggle cocaine from the U.S. into Australia.

Finally, we’ll meet Maya Macatumpag, a Filipino Canadian stuntwoman whose work can be seen in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the Ryan Reynold's movie “Deadpool 2”, and the TV shows “Supergirl” and “Supernatural.”

Guest:

Sarah Laing - Contributing writer at The Kit

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show we meet Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2021, and CMT’s 2022 “Breakout Artist of the Year” Lainey Wilson. Her highly anticipated album “Bell Bottom Country” is out now and she recently announced a 27-city headlining tour, that will visit Vancouver and Edmonton next year.

 

“Bell Bottom Country” draws its title directly from the name people use to describe the Louisiana native’s unique sound, style, and aesthetic — it’s Country, but with flare, mixing in elements of ‘70s Rock, Funk, and Soul.

We talk about her new record, what influence Hannah Montana had on her career… it’s not what you might think, and why she only wears bell bottom pants.

We’ll also meet Fab Filippo, co-creator, executive producer, co-showrunner on the CBC original series “Sort Of.” We’ll talk about the hit show and how the stories in “Sort Of” resonate across all genders, races, and ages – they are universal no matter how one identifies.

Then, we’ll meet Barry Avrich, director of “The Talented Mr. Rosenberg,” a new documentary about a lifelong con artist with a stunning history of heartbreaking betrayal, outrageous lies and elaborate masquerades.

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show we meet Nuela Charles. This year the SOCAN Foundation announced Nuela as a winner of the second annual Her Music Awards. She has amassed over 4 million career streams to date and over 738,309 total YouTube worldwide views and now, her self-titled album is available on all streaming platforms.

Over the last few years, Nuela has brought her distinct voice to various stages, having performed at Reeperbahn Festival in Germany, London, UK, and has shared the stage as direct support for some of Canada’s musical icons including Sam Roberts Band, Jann Arden and Stars.

Then, we’ll meet Barbie Latza Nadeau. She has worked as the Rome bureau chief for Newsweek Magazine and currently holds that position for The Daily Beast. She is an on-air contributor for CNN and a writer for Scientific American. She is also a true crime novelist, with a new book, The Godmother, about the rise of women in the mafia. Publishers Weekly calls it “A must for true crime fans,” and it is a great read.

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show we meet Peter Hitchcock, director of ‘A Song For Us,’ a new film about a British folk singer who reconnects with her long-lost lover. The world of folk music is a subject Peter knows well. As a younger man he ran beatnik folk clubs in England and hired Paul Simon for a mere £20 when the future superstar was unknown in the UK. He also has a rich background in film, from working as an extra at age ten to working with Wes Craven and so much more.

Then, Ayan Tani and Émeraude Domingos Mbuku, co-directors of “Reel Black: Our Film Stories,” an exploration of Black Canadian filmmaking, you can see in person and on line at the 17th Annual CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, stop by. Find out more details at caribbeantalesfestival.com

Later in the show we’ll hear from some people you’ve been listening to you entire lives. The American TV Guide ranked Sharon, Lois and Bram the number two children’s entertainers of all time, just behind Fred Rogers. Sharon Hampson, the late Lois Lilenstein and Bram Morrison are iconic for generations of Canadians. Today, Sharon, Bram and Sharon’s daughter Randi join me to talk about their new picture book, Sharon, Lois & Bram’s One Elephant Went Out to Play, and we’ll reveal s tightly held secret… the true meaning of the word Skinnamarink!

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show, Zac Hanson, drummer of the multi-platinum band Hanson, visits on a quick stop between gigs to talk about tjeir new album "RGB," how he juggles having five kids with life on the road, Hop Jam, Hanson’s annual beer and music festival and why he thinks Hanson has always been a bit of an anomaly.

Then we’ll meet Award winning and bestselling Canadian author Lilian Nattel. Her new book “Only Sisters” follows the lives of two sisters: Joan, the reliable one who stayed behind to care for their widowed mother, and the globe-trotting Vivien. When Vivien dies while working in a remote village, Joan is pushed to impersonate her online, leaving Joan tangled between right and wrong and adventure and tragedy.

On this episode of the Richard Crouse Show we meet father and daughter Neil Osborne and singer/songwriter Kandle. Neil is the lead singer of 54-40, and has a remarkable catalogue of hit songs, including "Baby Ran," "I Go Blind," "Ocean Pearl" and the award-winning "Since When."

Kandle is a musician, singer and songwriter with a solo career, and has collaborated with her father in the past, but they’ve now officially formed their own band: a modern-day psychedelic blues rock duo called A Family Curse.

The A Family Curse collaboration actually began a few years ago when Neil and songwriter Danny Michel, recorded some instrumental jams together. But due to their busy schedules, the songs were left to collect dust until Neil sent them to Kandle. She added fresh new melody and lyrics and from there, Kandle and Neil decided to form the band and make an entire album.

Then, Kelly McCormack stops by. You know her as combative hockey player Betty-Anne on the hit show Letterkenny, but she is back in a new show now streaming on Amazon Prime. In “A League of Their Own” Kelly plays Jess, a shortstop from Moosejaw who utters the original film’s most famous line, there’s no crying in baseball.’

We round things out with Joy Fielding, the New York Times bestselling author called "an ingenious master of domestic suspense," joins me to talk about her new novel “The Housekeeper.” It’s a suspenseful story about a woman who 

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show Martin Freeman stops by. You know the Emmy, a BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award winning actor from playing Tim Canterbury in the original British series of “The Office.” He was Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama series “Sherlock” opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit” film trilogy and will soon be seen in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” reprising the role of Everett K. Ross. Today we’ll talk about his newest project, the critically acclaimed police series “The Responder,” now playing on Brit Box.

Then, we meet Emmy-award winning documentary filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine who have created a fascinating look at iconic Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen called “HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” that uses one of his most famous songs as a starting point. We’ll find out why one of Cohen’s most famous songs was rejected by his record company and more.

Later in the show we’ll meet Gregory Sestero, star of a new found footage film called “Infrared.” In the film he plays the creepy caretaker of an abandoned schoolhouse. If Greg’s name rings a bell, it’s likely because you’ve attended one of the midnight madness screenings of “The Room,” a movie so deliciously awful, it has become a cult favorite since its release in 2003. Gregory turned the experience of making the so-bad-it’s-a-hoot movie into a book, which eventually went on to become the Oscar nominated movie The Disaster Artist, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. We talk about “Infrared” and whether or not, twenty years on, if “The Room” is an embarrassment or a source of pride.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show we meet Chris Strikes and Joella Crichton. Their movie “Becoming a Queen,” which is now on VOD, is a documentary about Joella Crichton, Canada’s most decorated Caribbean Carnival Queen. The film, directed by Chris Strikes, covers Joella’s attempt to win a historic tenth title in her last ever competition. The movie explores expressions of cultural identity, Caribbean artistry and a community’s struggle against a lack of understanding of Carnival in the larger society. We’ll also meet author KL Armstrong. She has written over 40 books, including the bestselling young adult series the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising, the YA book Aftermath, the middle-grade novel A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying and the adult thriller Alone in the Wild. On television the SyFy series Bitten was based on her book the Women of the Otherworld. Her new novel is “The Life She Had,” a thriller about two women with secrets they want to keep buried, but when a body is discovered nearby, they must move quickly to prove their innocence and protect the lives they've built for themselves. We talk about how she comes up with her intricate stories and characters, and why she sometimes writes under a pseudonym.   Finally, we’ll get to know Jon Harvey, bassist and lead singer of Monster Truck. The JUNO Award-Winners are one of Canada's hardest-working rock and roll bands, a reputation they've cemented by touring relentlessly. Their new single, “Get My Things & Go” is available now wherever you legally buy and download great music.