People may be most familiar with Gerry Dee the actor of the CBC series, "Mr. D," or perhaps further back, you remember him as the dry reporter who interviewed sports stars on the Score Network in the late 2000’s.
But comedian Gerry Dee actually started out as a stand-up comedian and he is taking his talents on tour in Ontario with a stop at North Bay’s Capitol Centre on the evening of November 12th.
“Stand-up is where it all started for me, a lot of people do not know that,” stated Dee in an interview with BayToday.ca Thursday morning.
“I have not been to cities like Belleville and North Bay in a while so I added places like that to the tour and I love going to hockey towns and obviously North Bay is one of those towns and my old hockey connections.
“It is really just where I am at now in my life and I talk about it on stage.”
Dee has connections in hockey to Battalion head coach Stan Butler. You see Dee, in fact, came in as an assistant coach for Butler’s junior team in Wexford when the current Battalion skipper took his talents to the Ontario Hockey League.
“We knew each other in the hockey circles,” he said about their Wexford hockey roots.
“I probably knew him more than he knew me, but I knew who he was and met him and he’s done very well.”
Dee admits he may take some jabs at Butler and throw out some Wexford jokes than some may not understand.
Dee also has another local connection in North Bay comedian Francois Weber. Dee and Weber regularly tour together in the Maritimes where Weber currently resides.
See related story: A special homecoming for a local comedian
“He is a great guy, he is a very supportive comic and that is not always the case but he has been from day one,” said Dee about Weber, who did a comedy show in North Bay at the Voyageur this past summer.
“He is just a treat to hang out with, fun to watch on stage, he’s got a ton of energy and I am happy for his success and it is great to work with nice people that are also funny.”
Dee, who has also performed in the show “Last Comic Standing” says he is looking forward to his show in the Gateway City. Despite his years of working comedy on stage or on a movie set, he says his approach to being funny has not really changed that much since he started.
“You evolve as a comedian to a certain point where you finally get comfortable with your voice, your tone, and your writing and that is where I am at now, I’m very comfortable with all of that but it took years and I am still always working on it and trying to make it better,” said Dee.
In the end, Dee says stand-up brings him a great rush.
“It is very rewarding to make people laugh, it’s instantaneous, you hear the response right away,” said Dee.
“There is nothing better than stand-up for me. Acting is great but with the acting, I don’t know if the people are laughing, I have to wait and then it airs on TV and unless I am sitting with a few people, but stand-up is a whole theatre that weighing and you say something and they laugh and it is a very gratifying feeling.”
For more information on the tour go to GerryDee.com