Charles Demers (/dəˈmɛərz/;[2] born 1980), sometimes credited as Charlie Demers, is a Canadian comedian, political activist, voice actor, and writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, but self-identifies as Quebecois.[citation needed]
Demers has published four books: two novels and two collections of essays. His first essay collection, Vancouver Special, was nominated for a Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.[3] He has also co-written two further books.
Stand-up comedy and voice acting
He frequently performs stand-up comedy at live venues across Canada and on CBC Radio One, where he often appears on the comedy panel show The Debaters.[4] Demers was one of the hosts of the CityNews show The List.
Demers used to be the membership secretary for the Coalition of Progressive Electors.[8] In more recent municipal elections, he has been a supporter of OneCity Vancouver, a progressive civic party of which his wife is a founding member.[9]
On 8 October 2018, Demers was the guest on the popular interview based podcast WTF with Marc Maron.[10]Maron mentioned that Demers has opened for him at stand-up comedy shows in Canada.
In the Marc Maron podcast Demers talks about his political beliefs and his early affiliation as a teenager with a small Marxist activist group in Vancouver. His commitment to the group was such that he initially decided to forgo going to university and instead get a job in a lighting factory where he hoped to increase the political consciousness of his fellow workers. He admitted however that the aims of the organization were somewhat vague and that the efforts to raise the consciousness of fellow workers were mostly met with bemusement. Nevertheless, Demers retains left-wing political views and hosts the monthly podcast Well Reds A Left Book Podcast.[11]
In Maron's interview with Demers, Maron describes himself politically as "a Lefty to a degree"[12] and suggests that Demers is further to the left. Maron notes the struggle in the US Democratic Party between the more leftist section of the party and the centrist section, with the latter considering the Leftists to be in danger of making the party unelectable. Demers responds by stating that "the problem is that the Left and the centre often have to work together but the Left understands the anger that is on the Right and the centre just doesn't understand anger, they think that anger always has to be ugly."[13]
Demers lost his mother to cancer when he was ten years old.[14] He describes the trauma of the experience in the Maron podcast but also describes it as "an early political lesson" in the importance of free healthcare that was embedded in him by that experience and by his father's words at the time.[15] Another such lesson in the benefit of living in Canada came with the experience of Demers' mother-in-law who is originally from Hong Kong and moved to Canada from Chicago as a result of Pierre Trudeau's stated policy of multiculturalism. Demers recounts that on his wedding night his mother-in-law demanded that he acknowledge the part that Pierre Trudeau played in bringing Demers and his wife together.[16] Despite these Canadian advantages however Demers suggests "in Canada in general there is a tendency towards smugness" because Canadians believe their country has far fewer problems than the US but that this leads to "people putting off dealing with Canada's very real problems."[17] He goes on to mention environmental issues, inequality and unclean drinking water on indigenous reserves as examples.
In March 2019 an article by Demers about the rebranding of the SiriusXM Canada satellite radio station Canada Laughs as Just for Laughs Radio and the station's shelved plan to sideline independently produced Canadian content in favour of audio recordings of sets from the Just for Laughs comedy festival from mostly American comedians was published in the socialist magazine Jacobin.[18]
Personal life
Demers is married and has a daughter. His experience as a father inspired his co-writing the book The Dad Dialogues.
^Lederman, Marsha (21 June 2011). "CBC Radio Satirical Show 'This is That' sparks as much outrage as laughs". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
^"Comedian Charlie Demers tackles fascism and fatherhood with new album". The Georgia Straight, 4 December 2017.
^"Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, 6 February 2018.
^"Charlie Demers, Membership Secretary". Coalition of Progressive Electors. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
^"Somebody made a parody song about Vancouver's housing affordability crisis". Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^Demers, Charles (12 March 2019). "Class Struggle at the Comedy Club". Jacobin. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
^Demers, Charles (2 December 2019). "As Old as Mom". Chuckofthesea. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
^Demers, Charles (28 December 2020). "Loosing My Religion: Christmas as a Slippery Slope to God". Vancouver: Anglican Diocese of New Westminster. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
^Dana Gee, "Vancouver novelist’s shrink who thinks is the star sleuth in Primary Obsessions". Vancouver Sun, September 18, 2020.
^"66 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2022". CBC Books, January 11, 2022.
^"The Horrors - Douglas & McIntyre". www.douglas-mcintyre.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
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This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Charles Demers news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Charles Demers d e ˈ m ɛer z 2 born 1980 sometimes credited as Charlie Demers is a Canadian comedian political activist voice actor and writer He was born in Vancouver British Columbia but self identifies as Quebecois citation needed Charles DemersBorn1980 age 42 43 Vancouver British Columbia CanadaOther namesCharlie DemersOccupationsComedianpolitical activistvoice actorwriterPolitical partyNew Democratic Party 1 OneCity VancouverWebsitecharliedemers wbr com Contents 1 Writing 2 Stand up comedy and voice acting 3 Political views and activism 4 Personal life 5 Bibliography 5 1 Fiction 5 2 Essays 6 References 7 External linksWriting EditDemers has published four books two novels and two collections of essays His first essay collection Vancouver Special was nominated for a Hubert Evans Non Fiction Prize 3 He has also co written two further books Stand up comedy and voice acting EditHe frequently performs stand up comedy at live venues across Canada and on CBC Radio One where he often appears on the comedy panel show The Debaters 4 Demers was one of the hosts of the CityNews show The List Demers has provided voices for several episodes of CBC Radio show and podcast This Is That 5 He is the voice of Walter from the 2016 Netflix original series Beat Bugs Demers also voices Night Light in the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic season seven episode Once Upon a Zeppelin and provides the voice of former bully Dirk Savage in another Netflix series The Last Kids on Earth In 2017 he released the comedy album Fatherland 6 At the Juno Awards of 2018 the album was nominated for the Juno Award for Comedy Album of the Year 7 Political views and activism EditDemers used to be the membership secretary for the Coalition of Progressive Electors 8 In more recent municipal elections he has been a supporter of OneCity Vancouver a progressive civic party of which his wife is a founding member 9 On 8 October 2018 Demers was the guest on the popular interview based podcast WTF with Marc Maron 10 Maron mentioned that Demers has opened for him at stand up comedy shows in Canada In the Marc Maron podcast Demers talks about his political beliefs and his early affiliation as a teenager with a small Marxist activist group in Vancouver His commitment to the group was such that he initially decided to forgo going to university and instead get a job in a lighting factory where he hoped to increase the political consciousness of his fellow workers He admitted however that the aims of the organization were somewhat vague and that the efforts to raise the consciousness of fellow workers were mostly met with bemusement Nevertheless Demers retains left wing political views and hosts the monthly podcast Well Reds A Left Book Podcast 11 In Maron s interview with Demers Maron describes himself politically as a Lefty to a degree 12 and suggests that Demers is further to the left Maron notes the struggle in the US Democratic Party between the more leftist section of the party and the centrist section with the latter considering the Leftists to be in danger of making the party unelectable Demers responds by stating that the problem is that the Left and the centre often have to work together but the Left understands the anger that is on the Right and the centre just doesn t understand anger they think that anger always has to be ugly 13 Demers lost his mother to cancer when he was ten years old 14 He describes the trauma of the experience in the Maron podcast but also describes it as an early political lesson in the importance of free healthcare that was embedded in him by that experience and by his father s words at the time 15 Another such lesson in the benefit of living in Canada came with the experience of Demers mother in law who is originally from Hong Kong and moved to Canada from Chicago as a result of Pierre Trudeau s stated policy of multiculturalism Demers recounts that on his wedding night his mother in law demanded that he acknowledge the part that Pierre Trudeau played in bringing Demers and his wife together 16 Despite these Canadian advantages however Demers suggests in Canada in general there is a tendency towards smugness because Canadians believe their country has far fewer problems than the US but that this leads to people putting off dealing with Canada s very real problems 17 He goes on to mention environmental issues inequality and unclean drinking water on indigenous reserves as examples In March 2019 an article by Demers about the rebranding of the SiriusXM Canada satellite radio station Canada Laughs as Just for Laughs Radio and the station s shelved plan to sideline independently produced Canadian content in favour of audio recordings of sets from the Just for Laughs comedy festival from mostly American comedians was published in the socialist magazine Jacobin 18 Personal life EditDemers is married and has a daughter His experience as a father inspired his co writing the book The Dad Dialogues Demers is a practising Anglican 19 20 Bibliography EditFiction Edit The Prescription Errors 2009 Property Values 2018 Primary Obsessions 2020 21 Noonday Dark 2022 22 Essays Edit Vancouver Special 2009 The Horrors An A to Z of Funny Thoughts on Awful Things 2015 23 The Dad Dialogues A Correspondence on Fatherhood and the Universe 2016 Co written with George Bowering City on Edge A Rebellious Century of Vancouver Protests Riots and Strikes 2017 Co written with Kate Bird References Edit A Call for the NDP to Withdraw from the Canada Israel Interparliamentary Group Canadian Dimension 20 June 2018 Retrieved 25 January 2021 Ep1 Home on Deranged Well Reds A Left Book Podcast Spreaker 1 May 2017 Retrieved 27 January 2020 BC Book Prizes Vancouver Olympics amp Positive Thinking Lederman Marsha 21 June 2011 CBC Radio Satirical Show This is That sparks as much outrage as laughs The Globe and Mail Retrieved 2 November 2018 Comedian Charlie Demers tackles fascism and fatherhood with new album The Georgia Straight 4 December 2017 Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations CBC Music 6 February 2018 Charlie Demers Membership Secretary Coalition of Progressive Electors Retrieved 30 January 2021 Somebody made a parody song about Vancouver s housing affordability crisis Retrieved 8 May 2021 Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcast http www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers Apple Podcasts Preview Well Reds A Left Book Podcast Apple Inc Retrieved 30 January 2021 Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 31 Minutes Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 32 minutes Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 19 minutes Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 22 minutes Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 23 minutes Charles Demers 8 October 2018 WTF with Marc Maron Podcasthttp www wtfpod com podcast episode 957 charles demers At 24 minutes Demers Charles 12 March 2019 Class Struggle at the Comedy Club Jacobin Retrieved 15 March 2019 Demers Charles 2 December 2019 As Old as Mom Chuckofthesea Retrieved 25 January 2021 Demers Charles 28 December 2020 Loosing My Religion Christmas as a Slippery Slope to God Vancouver Anglican Diocese of New Westminster Retrieved 25 January 2021 Dana Gee Vancouver novelist s shrink who thinks is the star sleuth in Primary Obsessions Vancouver Sun September 18 2020 66 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2022 CBC Books January 11 2022 The Horrors Douglas amp McIntyre www douglas mcintyre com Retrieved 3 November 2015 External links EditOfficial website Charles Demers at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles Demers amp oldid 1106893370, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
