When you’re on the phone on a wintry Thursday morning talking to world renowned comic Jeremy Hotz, you know the day is going to be a fabulous one. Interviewing him in light of his Canadian tour – Just For Laughs JEREMY HOTZ INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY – that has a stop in Ottawa on February 13th, 7 pm at the National Arts Centre turns out to not only be entertaining but one full of life’s lessons indeed.
Firstly, I didn’t know Just For Laugh’s one-time award winning comedian Jeremy Hotz is Canadian and from Ottawa at that. Secondly, he’s got a new dog Shackleton and a new girlfriend whom I suspect we’ll hear much about during his fast selling show JEREMY HOTZ INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY. Thirdly, Canadian-born Jeremy Hotz is certainly no stranger to Just For Laughs. He has performed multiple times at JFL’s Montreal festival to critical praise – including being hailed Best Performer by the Globe and Mail and Best in Fest by the Montreal Gazette – and on national Just For Laughs tours including his sold-out What A Miserable Tour This Is in 2008 and Magical Misery Tour in 2013. On the small screen, Jeremy was a staff writer and performer on the critically acclaimed Jon Stewart Show.
ABOUT JEREMY HOTZ – STAR OF JUST FOR LAUGH’S INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY
Did you know he’s also performed on Letterman, Leno and MTV, filmed his own half-hour special for Comedy Central plus a one-hour special for CTV, and released his hit DVD What a Miserable DVD This Is in 2010. For this new Canadian tour, Jeremy Hotz will pit his wits against the harsh Canadian winter with his all-new stand-up show, Jeremy Hotz: International Man of Misery, from February 2 to 28, 2016. The tour will have the lovably miserable comedian brave the cold once again to entertain audiences nationally from coast to coast, from Newfoundland to British Columbia. With the Valentines a mere days away, these miserable show tickets make a great gift for your loved ones!
So with a very promising show at the NAC on Saturday, February 13th… Why Jeremy Hotz International Man of Misery is the BEST gift for Valentines?
As the man himself said… since the show is on the day before #ValentinesDay, you’re not even waiting for Valentines Day to show your LOVE?! What better gift is there to give?
Jeremy Hotz said jeremy Hotz International Man of Misery is the BEST gift for Valentines!
Well, since laughter is the best medicine, it could very well make for the best Valentines gift as well! Read on to learn more about Jeremy Hotz – the infamous International Man of Misery!
THE GLORIOUS AND (NOT SO) GLORIOUS PAST
As we’ve broken up the interview with 3 sections: the past, the present and the future with a bonus round of career advice… you’re in for quite a treat!
SO YOU’RE CANADIAN! AND FROM OTTAWA AT THAT. TELL US ABOUT GROWING UP IN OTTAWA, WAS IT CONDUCIVE FOR YOUR CAREER AS A COMIC?
I’ve lived in Ottawa until I was about 18 years old, I did my high school here and my parents and brother are still here. I’ve performed at local comedy bars like Yuk Yuk’s. I wouldn’t say Ottawa itself was very conducive but Canada was (and is) in general.
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE A STAND UP COMEDIAN? DID YOU HAVE A PLAN B OR PLAN C FOR THAT MATTER?
Growing up, I didn’t really fit in. People didn’t really like my face so I really didn’t have a career in mind. But my parents were very supportive and they let me do whatever I wanted. One day, my brother and I went to the National Art Centre to see George Carlin. I turned to him and said, I WANT TO DO THAT.
I guess the rest is history!
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE AS A COMEDIAN WHO’S ‘MADE IT.’
Everything else. I HATE everything else about the process except PERFORMING. The writing, the preparation, the logistics and all that, it gives me added anxiety. But once I’m on stage and start performing, the anxiety disappears. I’m on a zone… it’s like MAGIC!
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THE WONDERFUL PRESENT
Fast forward from the past to the future…
SO YOU HAVE A NEW DOG, A NEW GIRLFRIEND… DOES THAT HELP SHAPE YOUR NEW TOUR? IS SHACKLETON GOING TO BE IN THE SHOW?
Oh yes, absolutely! There’s going to be a lot of talk about that but sadly, Shackleton is only 3-months old. He’s a small baby and UNFORTUNATELY, Air Canada does not allow him to fly with me. Darn you Air Canada! I guess I’ll be taking United on the way back to Los Angeles and I’ll see him at the end of my tour.
INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY – WHAT’S IN THE NAME?
I’m this miserable guy. This tour is about that as all my other shows in the past and I just ran with it with Just For Laughs. It’s not an act, I don’t make anything up… I’m really this miserable person and people come to see me for it. (Check out #INTLMANOFMISERYTOUR for more updates!)
WHEN DID YOU FEEL THAT MOMENT THAT “YOU’VE FINALLY ARRIVED?”
My first big gala with Just for Laughs in Montreal, probably in ’95?
Apart from being a winner of the prestigious Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Show or Series for his work in the celebrated series The Newsroom on the CBC and PBS in the US, and received Gemini nominations for: Best Writing in Comedy or Variety Show or Series for his half-hour comedy special Whatever Happened to Jeremy Hotz? and for the CBC’s Oh Cana-duh, Jeremy Hotz was also awarded the Jury Prize for Best International Performer at the Sydney Comedy Festival after headlining the Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland Comedy Festivals.
WHAT CAN AUDIENCE EXPECT FROM THE NEW TOUR? WE HEARD IT’S ALL BRAND NEW MATERIALS!
New materials of the same things people know of me. I go up there and somehow the MAGIC just happens! 50 to 70% of the show is made up right on stage so what people will see in Moncton will not be the exact same show they will see in Kingston or in Ottawa. In fact, we offer a new feature at the end of the show. People can get the audio recording of the show they’ve just seen, it’s available to everyone in the audience.
THE BRIGHT FUTURE PLUS BONUS CAREER ADVICE FROM FAMOUS COMIC JEREMY HOTZ
Now let’s get a bit serious and ask some VIQ: Very Important Questions…
YOU’RE A MULTI-AWARD WINNING ARTIST AND COMIC. YOU’VE WON PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS INCLUDING A GEMINI AND THE DAVE BROADFOOT COMIC GENIUS AWARD. TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY TO GET HERE. DOES THAT CHANGE YOU?
No, not really. It doesn’t change me, who I am or what I do. I’m not like to L.A. (bleep!) actors and actresses, awards are great but that’s not why I do what I do. How did I get here? You have to do you. You have to continually be you.
I’m a pretty miserable individual. None of that is fabricated, I do me.
LET’S TALK ABOUT JUST FOR LAUGHS – HOW IS YOUR EXPERIENCE AND RELATIONSHIP WITH JFL IMPORTANT TO YOUR CAREER?
INCREDIBLY HUGE. Just for Laughs was INSTRUMENTAL to my success! They provided me the platform and the support and look at where I am now. At first, people thought I was a fluke. I was a Canadian and people say, we were a bunch of Canadian guys… of course you succeeded in your turf, you have home court advantage. Let’s see how you do in L.A. And Just for Laughs changed it for me. JFL helped made who I am now and I am tremendously grateful and thankful.
WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE TO YOUNGER PEOPLE LOOKING TO GET IN TO YOUR INDUSTRY? BEING A STAND UP COMEDIAN SEEMS TO BE HARD, HARD WORK.
Like any other line of work, it’s hard but you JUST HAVE TO GET UP AND DO IT. And you have to get up there and do it again and again again.
Say Hello! Let’s be connect in social media, you can find us at:
Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook | Twenty York Street aka @20YS
If you haven’t heard of him or seen his many, many posters plastered around Ottawa, perhaps it’s time to go see him this Saturday, February 13th at the National Arts Centre. Tickets has been running out fast so you better hurry! If you’re lucky, you might have a chance to not only meet and greet Jeremy Hotz but also his mum, who will surely be there backstage ordering people around like she’s the Queen of England. Jeremy’s words, not ours!
Buy your tickets here and give the best gift this Valentines, give the gift of JEREMY HOTZ – THE INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MISERY! See you there!
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