RAISING THE ROOF’S APRIL FOOL’S COMEDY CABARET with DEBRA DIGIOVANNI, RON JAMES, ADAM GROWE, JONNY HARRIS, MARK LITTLE and GRAHAM CHITTENDEN at the Second City (51 Mercer). Sunday (April 1) at 7:30 pm. $150. 416-481-1838, raisingtheroof.org. See listing.
Mark Little is on a roll.
After winning Yuk Yuk’s $25,000 Great Canadian Laugh-Off competition in 2009, he’s co-starred in two series, the Comedy Network’s Picnicface and the recent CBC hit Mr. D, where he plays a geeky science teacher. And he’s performed two consecutive years at Montreal’s Just For Laughs.
“That Yuk Yuk’s win was great, because I stopped having to worry about finding little part-time jobs that wouldn’t take up too much of my time,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if $25,000 was going to be enough to keep me going, but so far it has.”
Tall and lanky, with trademark glasses, Little has a nerdy presence and a hint of anger he’s drawn on for his stand-up act. But his onstage persona has gradually evolved.
“You know what they say about taking 10 years to find your voice,” he says. “When I look at the footage from three years ago, that’s not me at all. I was definitely in there, but it was much more affected.
“Even since Just For Laughs less than a year ago, I’ve totally changed. I was more quiet and deadpan. I think it’s all from a fear that my real voice isn’t going to be funny.”
This kind of analysis comes naturally to the BC-born Little, who was in grad school studying English lit at Dalhousie when he decided to pursue comedy seriously. In retrospect, he says trying things out in the smaller community was helpful.
“Halifax was just a very open scene. There weren’t a lot of people doing it – maybe 30 comedians total, including improvisers, sketch and stand-up. So you met each other quickly and encouraged each other to try new things.
“Whereas Toronto’s been a great place to come with a certain amount of confidence. Now that I sort of know what I can do and what I want to do, I’m able to look around at these mind-blowing comedians working in Toronto and focus on the ways I want to change and the people I want to work with.”
Paul F. Tompkins and Louis C.K. are among his favourite comics, but he’s also a devotee of the local Laugh Sabbath crew. And on Mr. D, he says there’s a sense of camaraderie – “filtered through Gerry Dee’s wonderful mania” – with comics like Jonathan Torrens, Mark Forward and Naomi Snieckus.
Is he at all like his science teacher character, Simon Hunt?
“I don’t think so,” he says. “Except maybe there’s an awkwardness to him that isn’t necessarily scripted but that comes naturally from my inability to interact with people in a comfortable social manner.”
Additional Interview Clips
Little on bridging the improv, sketch and stand-up communities:
On comedy blog culture (with references to Louis CK and Jim Gaffigan):
On how his Mr. D co-star Jonathan Torrens is “the best human alive”:
glenns@nowtoronto.com
