The name Andrew Grantham ring a bell? Probably not. Regardless, this Haligonian's work was among the most watched of any Canadian entertainer in 2011. Even up there with the Bieb.
Grantham is the comic genius behind the wacky Talking Animals series on YouTube. He gave a voice to a hungry German shepherd, the video of which was the second-most popular on the planet last year. It has registered more than 1.1 million views - and counting - on YouTube.
Corey Vidal - whose Star Wars a cappella tribute to composer John Williams was nominated for a People's Choice Award - and Tony Huynh and Paul Telner are not exactly household names, either. Yet they, too, are YouTube comedy sensations. The Picnicface troupe is better known, so its sizable following on YouTube is understandable.
Then there's Montrealer Jon Lajoie, the Dawson College grad whose YouTube channel has more than 340 million views. He is the most subscribed Canadian comedian on YouTube. And can't forget the Just for Laughs Gags series - produced in Montreal - which has had more than 1 billion hits on YouTube.
All by way of saying that Canada has given rise to some of the biggest comedy stars on YouTube. And that comedy has become a real serious business on YouTube in this country.
Canadians watch more YouTube videos than anyone else. According to comScore, the average Canadian viewed 271 videos on YouTube in 2011, an increase of 170 per cent over 2010. The entertainment category, which includes comedy, saw an increase of 217 per cent.
Google clearly knew what it was doing in purchasing YouTube six years back. YouTube reported 4 billion views a day over an eight-month period as of last January. In 2011, it had more than 1 trillion views - which works out to almost 140 views for every person in the world.
And in what must certainly induce panic in parts of Hollywood, there is more video uploaded to YouTube in a month than what all three major U.S. TV networks have broadcast in the last 60 years - which apparently works out to 60 hours of uploaded video every minute. And 3 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched per month globally.
Aaron Brindle is big into analyses. He is with You-Tube Canada. He has been blown away by the numbers, particularly as they relate to Canadian consumption and Canadian comedians on You-Tube.
"These numbers have become almost absurd," Brindle says in an interview from his Toronto office. "What is really fascinating is how Canadians like Grantham, Vidal, Telner and Lajoie each have their YouTube comedy channels and they are among the most subscribed to on You-Tube. And then again, perhaps it's not surprising, because people are looking for a little pick-me-up."
Brindle is particularly proud that the Canadians have been able to parlay their success on YouTube into a decent living. Because they draw so many hits, they can now run ads against their content which "monetize" every time their videos are watched.
"They end up getting a percentage of ad revenue - and a larger percentage than what Google gets," Brindle notes. "And when you start factoring in hundreds of millions of views, that can turn into a solid career."
YouTube has also served as a stepping stone for many. Picnicface, out of Halifax as well, now has a show on the Comedy Network. And Montrealer Lajoie has established himself as a popular stand-up and stars in the FX network series The League.
"Corey Vidal started making videos - like how to dance like Michael Jackson - as a means to make money to get through university," Brindle says. "Now, solely with the content he creates through YouTube - he doesn't have any other platforms - he employs 12 or 13 people and is hiring. He basically has a YouTube production house. He just bought a house, and he's still in his 20s.
"Not too many people realize that there is a professional class of comedian that exists solely online. Even if viewers don't know who they are, they certainly know their work. Canadians stand out in traditional comedy, so why wouldn't we online?"
Marc Gervais, who passed away Sunday at 82, was a Jesuit priest, but he was no typical man of the cloth. One of the cinema scene's brightest lights, he was a much beloved professor of film and communications at Concordia University and was considered by many to be the world's foremost authority on Swedish directing legend Ingmar Bergman - the subject of the Gervais tome Ingmar Bergman: Magician and Prophet.
Gervais was also one devious tennis player and had nasty elbows, as anyone who crossed his path on the hockey rink could attest. But off the court or rink, there were few more charming and gracious. And forgiving - even to those outside his faith, like yours truly, who had the audacity to trash a lesser Bergman oeuvre like The Serpent's Egg.
In 2001, friends, colleagues and former students held a roast for Gervais - which had to be a first for a Jesuit in this day and age. Film producer and former Gervais student Kevin Tierney had offered this insight on his prof: "Three classes in, and it was clear to me the man was more into Bibi Andersson than old Ingmar. He even brought her to class - his version of show and tell. I started having second thoughts about the priesthood. He was having a much better time than me." Perhaps.
Gervais really did bring Bibi to his film class in the late 1970s. She was in town shooting Robert Altman's Quintet.
The flick also starred one Paul Newman, much pumped after his rough-and-tumble exploits on ice in the hockey romp Slap Shot. Gervais couldn't let that opportunity go by the boards, either, and put together a pickup game, pitting himself against Newman. No telling whether the actor, an epicure and founder of Newman's Own food line, got a taste of Gervais's elbows.
There will be a wake for Gervais at the Jesuit Conference Centre (on the Loyola campus of Concordia), Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral will take place at St. Ignatius Church, 4455 West Broadway St., Friday at 11 a.m.
bbrownstein@ montrealgazette.com
twitter.com/billbrownstein
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