Finally a Funny Form of Breaking News: THE STAND-UP SHOW WITH JON DORE is Back for a Hilarious New Season

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede When the topic is topical humour, Jon Dore admits it’s a weird time to be a stand-up comedian. “I have no problem talking about what’s going on in the world, but I also feel like audiences are inundated with news,” said Dore, the veteran Canadian comedian who’s hosting a brand new season of THE STAND-UP SHOW WITH JON DORE, debuting Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on CTV Comedy Channel. “The people in the audience all have their own opinions, but depending on where you are, you can find yourself preaching to the converted, for the most part,” Dore continued. “It’s hard not to talk about the news, but for most of the audience, that’s kind of all they hear all day. It’s a different time, for sure, where the President of the United States can send out one tweet that just wipes out the entire news week. It’s weird. It’s very uncomfortable.” But out of great discomfort comes great comedy, perhaps? Is it kind of like songwriting, in that emotional turmoil tends to create great songs? “Yeah … like Van Halen’s ‘Jump,’ ” Dore said. “That came out of deep sorrow. You’re totally right.” Now THAT’S what a good comedian does, right there. Unexpectedly send the conversation in a complete new comic direction. Well done, Jon Dore. And speaking of good comedians, the first episode in the new season of THE STAND-UP SHOW WITH JON DORE is filled with them. They’re all great story-tellers and scene-setters, but just to whet everyone’s appetite, here are a few of their very funny lines that can hold their own without a great deal of context: NIGEL GRINSTEAD: “Did you guys know McDonald’s has daytime hours? People at night go there because they need it. People during the day go there because they want it, and those are scary people.” COMEDIAN CP: “Have you ever noticed how nice you are in traffic when you don’t want to get where you’re going?” MEGAN GAILEY: “If you’re a ‘fun aunt,’ you’re a cautionary tale.” ROBERT KELLY: “You don’t know that you can’t run any more until you NEED to run.” TOM ALLEN: “(Unhappy married couples stay together merely to) just keep paying off the mortgage, just keep paying off the mortgage, just keep paying off the mortgage. And then as you get older, it turns into a bit of a game. Basically, whoever outlives the other one, WINS A HOUSE.” JESSIMAE PELUSO: “There’s a real (dating) website called ‘Farmers Only.’ I just want to sign up to see what the first date is like. It’s probably early as hell.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv