Jon Dore, Comedian & Class Act

Jon Dore is a celebrated comic and actor with a career that reaches beyond his Canadian roots. Recently, he appeared on The Tom Henry Show to discuss showbiz, family, side tables, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome and standup comedy micro-aggressions (among other topics).

Tom introduced him as “Canada's finest comic", adding that he is the greatest gift we've bestowed upon the U.S. One TH Show commenter said:

Jon Dore is a damn class act: what a fantastic guest! This is hands down my new most anticipated pod of the week! - Matt Gifford. Ep 18.

Despite having only a brief stopover in Toronto, where Tom is located, Jon made time to do the podcast. Flying from his home in Alaska to Vancouver Island (where he did four shows), Jon then caught a flight to Toronto where he hightailed it over to Tom’s place to shoot the pod before jetting off to more shows in other lands.

JD to TH: You met me outside which was lovely. You're a lovely ambassador to your show.

TH: Well, that's my job.

JD: Yeah. And you do it well… I got off an airplane and raced here, knowing full well I'm in good company. We're having beers...we're talking. We're doing something that's necessary to our industry. Which is fun. We make our own talk shows.

At one point, Jon posits that Tom's show could be called the Mental Skirmish Pod. This is because Tom told him (and us) of an incident with a certain tattooed comic in a bar. Without going into the whole story here (see it at 3:25), said comic asked Tom “Should we go outside?”

Tom is a self-reflective guy and so he pondered endlessly what he did to warrant this seemingly over-the-top response from the guy. After some discussion, Jon googles the tattooed funny man, recognizes him and immediately affirms for Tom that “You definitely had the right to react the way you did…. He’s a jerk.”

This is a great moment of affirmation - for the host, sure, but also for us, for who hasn’t experienced the mental skirmish dance, in all its complex moves? And, who hasn’t craved someone who’d listen attentively to the telling? You might not always get that listener in life, but here you do - vicariously, which can soothe your own skirmish-beleaguered brain.

This is one of the finest podcasts I've listened to in a minute. I've been mainlining the show over the weekend, but this one (Jon Dore) really takes the cake. It's aspirational conversation, very genuine and revelatory. - M.G. Ep 18

TH to JD: I have a good fun life. I go into a neurotic headspace for the show but I also feel serene, wise, calm.

You can feel the fun, with serenity peeking around the corner, even as the “neurotic headspace” is making the show interesting and relatable. The humanity and realness of the show is on full display in all the episodes, but two standouts worthy of mention are Nick Flanagan and Todd Graham.

With each guest, we get insights into the hearts and minds of creative people, rather than performers working it for a laugh or a tear.

This show makes all other talk shows feel fake and cowardly. - Luke Ryckman. The Tom Henry Show. Ep 18.

Jon tells Tom about his eleven year old stepdaughter who has night terrors: “She has a…well, I don't know if it's a syndrome, but apparently it's called Alice in Wonderland*…where she feels like her body is getting bigger and she can't stop it. So, she wakes up in the middle of the night. I have to walk her around the house, calming her down. 'Breathe. You're okay. You're safe. You're with everyone you know and love.' And then she'll fall asleep....”

I love this: Breathe. You’re okay. And it’s not the only time in the episode that Jon will invoke a you’re okay perspective. Watch the ep here.

Jon tells Tom: You are someone I would want to hang out with and have a beer with and watch a game with outside of standup comedy ‘cause the conversation would be real. And these concerns you have are what make us human.

A class act for sure.

It's genuinely difficult to pick my favourite episode, but a good case could be made this one's it. Jon is the best, Tom is the best, what more could you ask for? - Luke Ryckman. Ep 18

More about Tom -

A soupçon of Jon's stand-up -

Thank you for reading!

*Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is a perceptual disorder characterized by distortions in vision, body image, and time, causing things to appear larger or smaller and the body to feel larger or smaller.