13th Canadian Comedy Awards

The 13th Canadian Comedy Awards, presented by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence (CCFE), honoured the best live, television, film, and Internet comedy of 2011. The ceremony was held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, on 26 August 2012 and was hosted by Alan Thicke.

13th Canadian Comedy Awards
Date	26 August 2012 (2012-08-26)
Location	Fairmont Royal York Toronto, Ontario
Country	Canada
Presented by	Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence
Hosted by	Alan Thicke
Most awards	Television: Picnicface (3) Film: Roller Town (3)
Most nominations	Television: Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays (7) Film: French Immersion Internet: Comedy Bar (3) (5) Radio: The Debaters (2) Person: Darrin Rose, Kevin Tierney, Nathan Macintosh (2)
Website	www.canadiancomedyawards.org
← 12th · Canadian Comedy Awards · 14th →

Canadian Comedy Awards, also known as Beavers, were awarded in 26 categories. Winners in 5 categories were chosen by the public through an online poll and others were chosen by members of industry organizations. The awards ceremony concluded the Canadian Comedy Awards Festival which ran from 23 to 26 August.

The TV series Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays led with seven nominations followed by the bilingual film French Immersion with five. They each won a Beaver for best male performance. The big winner was Halifax-based comedy troupe Picnicface, which won three Beavers for their eponymous TV series and three for their debut film, Roller Town.^[1] This ceremony also introduced the Phil Hartman Award which went to Jo-Anna Downey.

Festival and ceremony

The 13th Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) was held in Toronto, Ontario. The gala awards ceremony was held on 26 August 2012^[1] in the Imperial Room of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.^[2][3] The ceremony was produced by Gary Rideout, Jr.^[3] and hosted by Alan Thicke, a veteran actor who at that time was the honorary chair of Canadians Abroad, a group that organized Canadian events in Los Angeles.^[4]

Each nominee for Best TV Show had already been cancelled.^[2] This was played-up in a video inspired by Billy Crystal's Oscar montages, where Gavin Crawford visited the cancelled shows' empty sets, was faced with his own cancelled shows, and was replaced as CCA host by Thicke. Also entertaining at the ceremony were Seán Cullen and Colin Mochrie.^[3]

The awards ceremony concluded the four-day Canadian Comedy Awards Festival which ran from 23 to 26 August, showcasing performances by nominees at various Toronto venues.^[5] Many stand-ups also took part in a 27 August AltDotComedy Lounge show at The Rivoli.^[6]

Winners and nominees

Nominees were announced on 7 June 2012 in Toronto, and voting took place between 14 June and 29 July.^[7] Members of the Canadian public voted for the categories Canadian Comedy Person of the Year, Best TV Show, Best Film, Best Web Clip, Best Web Series, Best Podcast, and Best Radio Program or Clip, with industry members deciding the remaining categories. There was record participation, with 88% more public voting and 113% more industry members voting compared to 2011.^[8]

This year's ceremony introduced the Phil Hartman Award for "an individual who makes the Canadian comedy community better."^[7] The award went to long-time Toronto open-mic night host Jo-Anna Downey.^[3][9][10] Awards were also introduced for podcasts and web series, giving this ceremony more award categories than any previous year.^[11]

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface:^[11][1]

Multimedia

Canadian Comedy Person of the Year	Best Radio Program or Clip
Nikki Payne Gerry Dee Kenny Hotz Martin Short Steve Patterson	This Is That Am I Right? Anything Goes – "Guy Earle Controversy"^[a] The Debaters – "Fast Food" The Debaters – "Breaking Up"
Best Podcast
Stop Podcasting Yourself Hold Your Applause Illusionoid^[b] The SeanPod The Sunday Service Presents: A Beautiful 45

Live

Best Taped Live Performance	Best Stand-up Newcomer
Mark Forward – The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Steve Patterson, Seán Cullen, Pete Johannson, Derek Edwards, Nathan Macintosh – The Debaters – "Tea vs. Coffee, Too Many TV Channels" Nathan Macintosh – Comedy Now! Darrin Rose – Comedy Now! Graham Chittenden – Comedy Now!	Steve Patrick Adams Heidi Brander Josh Williams Julie Kim Tom Henry
Best Male Stand-up	Best Female Stand-up
Ron Sparks Dave Merheje Mark Forward Pete Zedlacher Ron Josol	Kristeen von Hagen Allison Smith Christina Walkinshaw DeAnne Smith Kate Davis
Best Male Improviser	Best Female Improviser
Matt Baram Alastair Forbes Mark Meer Ryan Beil Taz VanRassel	Rebecca Northan Caitlin Howden Dale Boyer Sarah Hillier Stacey McGunnigle
Best Sketch Troupe	Best Improv Troupe
Falcon Powder Hot Thespian Action Jape Peter N' Chris Uncalled For	The Sunday Service 2-Man No-Show Blind Date on Tour M and M Improv Mantown
Best One Person Show	Best Comedic Play, Revue or Series
Sex, Religion & Other Hang-ups^[c] ELLAmentary Mickey & Judy The Best of The Newsdesk with Ron Sparks The Cockwhisperer: A Love Story	Blind Date^[d] Celebrity Roasts Hypnogogic Logic Rap Battlez! The Script Tease Project

Television

Best TV Show	Best Performance by an Ensemble
Picnicface Almost Heroes The Debaters Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Todd and the Book of Pure Evil	Picnicface Jason Priestley, Donavon Stinson, Ernie Grunwald, Peter MacNeill, Tracy Dawson – Call Me Fitz Ken Finkleman, Lolita Davidovich, Samantha Bee, Jason Weinberg, John Ralston, April Mullen, Stephanie Mills, Janet van de Graaf, Stephen McCarthy, Jud Tyler, Brendan Gall, John White, Doug Murray – Good God Jesse Camacho, Benjamin Arthur, Wendel Meldrum, Nancy Sorel, Brooke Palsson – Less Than Kind Bob Martin, Matt Watts, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Pablo Silveira, Jennifer Irwin – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Best Performance by a Male	Best Performance by a Female
Bob Martin – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Ryan Belleville – Almost Heroes Pat Thornton – Comedy Bar Darrin Rose – Mr. D Bill Turnbull – Todd and the Book of Pure Evil	Lauren Ash – Almost Heroes Samantha Bee – Good God Tommie-Amber Pirie – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Naomi Snieckus – Mr. D Amy Matysio – Single White Spenny
Best Direction in a Program or Series	Best Writing in a Program or Series
Mark McKinney – Less Than Kind episode 313, March Fourth Adam Brodie, Dave Derewlany – Funny as Hell Kenny Hotz, Sebastian Cluer – Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will Don McKellar – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Craig David Wallace – Todd and the Book of Pure Evil	Andrew Bush, Garry Campbell, Kyle Dooley, Cheryl Hann, Mark Little, Brian Macquarrie, Evany Rosen, Scott Vrooman, Bill Wood – Picnicface Russell Peters, Clayton Peters, Luciano Casimiri, Kristeen von Hagen, Jean Paul – A Russell Peters Christmas Ken Finkleman – Good God Bob Martin – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Matt Watts – Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Film

Best Performance by a Male	Best Performance by a Female
Gavin Crawford – French Immersion Robb Wells – Beat Down Boomer Phillips – Bounty Hunters a.k.a. Bail Enforcers Pardis Parker – The Dance Winston Spear – The Trial	Jocelyne Zucco – Funkytown Marthe Bernard – Beat Down Brigitte Kingsley – Dark Rising: Summer Strikes Back Oluniké Adeliyi – French Immersion Carolyn Bennett – The Trial
Best Direction	Best Writing
Andrew Bush – Roller Town Deanne Foley – Beat Down Brett Blackwell – Boss of Me Kevin Tierney – French Immersion Kevin McDonald, Ron Sparks – The Trial	Scott Vrooman, Mark Little, Andrew Bush – Roller Town Jefferson Lewis, Kevin Tierney – French Immersion Rob Baker, Dale Boyer, Adam Cawley, Chris Earle, Brian G. Smith – Live from the CenTre: Animal Literacy Group Paolo Mancini, Thomas Michael – Running Mates Pardis Parker – The Dance
Best Film
Roller Town Dark Rising: Summer Strikes Back French Immersion Long Branch The Trial

Internet

Best Web Series	Best Web Clip
The Casting Room Comedy Bar Goodbye Sara Hennessey Scott Thompson's Fruit Blog Sexy Nerd Girl	Riverdale: The Archie Movie Trailer Acting Real Call Me Dad Comedy Bar – "Makin' a Show" The Fish Bride

Special Awards

Dave Broadfoot Award	Phil Hartman Award
Colin Mochrie	Jo-Anna Downey Colin Mochrie Eric Toth Joey Flaherty & David Flaherty Kate Davis
Roger Abbott Award
Simon Fraser

Multiple wins

The following people, shows, films, etc. received multiple awards

Awards	Person or work
3	Picnicface
	Roller Town

Multiple nominations

The following people, shows, films, etc. received multiple nominations.

Nominations	Person or work
7	Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays
5	French Immersion
4	The Debaters
	The Trial
3	Beat Down
	Comedy Bar
	Good God
	Picnicface
	Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
2	Almost Heroes
	The Dance
	Darrin Rose
	Kevin Tierney
	Mr. D
	Nathan Macintosh

Footnotes

1. Anything Goes is a podcast hosted by Darren Frost and Dave Martin.^[12]
2. The Illusionoid podcast is an improvised serial by Paul Bates, Lee Smart and Mike Nahrgang.^[12]
3. Sex, Religion & Other Hang-ups is a one-person show by James Gangl.^[13][14]
4. Blind Date is Rebecca Northan's improvised stage show.^[8]

References

1. "Halifax troupe Picnicface take 6 comedy awards". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
2. Fraser, Garnet (7 June 2012). "Comedy series are the honoured dead". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
3. Sumi, Glenn (28 August 2012). "The Canadian Comedy Awards". NOW Magazine. Toronto: NOW Communications Inc. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
4. Massarella, Linda (3 August 2012). "Alan Thicke proud of Robin's success". The Toronto Sun. Toronto: Postmedia Network Inc. QMI Agency. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
5. Wheeler, Brad (18 August 2012). "The Lineup: August 18 – August 24". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
6. Fisher, Steve (27 August 2012). "Urban Planner: August 27, 2012". Torontoist. Toronto, Ontario. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
7. "French Immersion, Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays up for comedy honour". CBC News. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
8. "2012 Canadian Comedy Award Winners" (Press release). Marketwire. 27 August 2012. ProQuest 1035116059.
9. Rakoff, Simon (3 February 2017). "Lives Lived: Jo-Anna Downey, 49". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc.: The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
10. Sumi, Glenn (3 December 2016). "In memoriam: Jo-Anna Downey, 1966-2016". NOW Magazine. Toronto: NOW Communications Inc. from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
11. "Nominations & Awards Archives". Canadian Comedy Awards. 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
12. Grignon, Denis (25 August 2012). "T.O.'s pod people". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. E4. ProQuest 2030934164.
13. Leiren-Young, Mark (13 September 2012). "Sex-themed acts heat up the Fringe". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. D10. ProQuest 1980899573.
14. Maga, Carly (27 September 2015). "Top tickets: Three shows to watch this week". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. E11. ProQuest 1716813671.

External links

• Canadian Comedy Awards official website