5 QUESTIONS WITH NATHAN MACINTOSH

by Ryan Meehan
 
Nathan Macintosh is an award winning comedian from Halifax, Nova Scotia, who has quickly risen to become one of the hottest young comics in the country.  He’s already piled up a number of accomplishments, including taping his own “Comedy Now!” special for the Comedy Network/CTV, performing at the prestigious 2010 Just For Laughs Festival Homegrown Competition where he placed runner-up, and winning a 2009″Canadian Comedy Award” for best newcomer.  His other credits include:  Being a semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival, appearing at the Halifax Comedy Festival in 2009, taping an episode of CBC radio’s “The Debaters”, and winning the prestigious Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award in 2007.  He has appeared on MuchMusic’s “Stars Gone Wild”, done a guest spot on XM Satellite Radio’s” Chomping at the Bit” and “Laugh Attack”, and has a small role in the critically acclaimed film “The Wait” which premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.  Most recently he was named one of the “Top Five Canadian Comedians being Observed” by the Comedy Network and one of five of the New Generation of Canadian Funny Men by Sharp Magazine.  Nathan has also turned his attention to writing, being a script editor on the Family Channel show “The Latest Buzz” (nominated for a Gemini award.)  MacIntosh has done all of this in a relatively short period of time since moving from Halifax to Toronto only 5 years ago, and he rounds out that remarkable half-decade as our guest this week in 5 Questions.

FOH:  It says in your bio that you are “one of only five Caucasian comedians to have headlined the “All Black Comedy Revue” that has been running for 16 years in Toronto.”  Do you feel like you have to do a different type of set when performing for that audience or do you feel confident enough to just be yourself?

NM:  No, I don’t change. I just be myself. People are people. Only real difference is I can’t reference Ginuwine as much as I would like with a white audience. “Guys, remember when ‘In Those Jeans’ came out? No? Ummmm…Coldplay?”

FOH:  What level of crowd participation do you feel is necessary in order for you to leave the stage saying “Wow, I KILLED tonight…”?

NM:  I like when people yell, “That’s right!” People clapping and laughing helps as well, but then I’ll see an old Tom Jones performance, with women throwing panties at him, and I’ll think, “Man, I’m not doing anything up there. Panties thrown? That’s killing.”

FOH:  Being a script editor sounds like it’s a lot different from working comedy clubs, as in standup I’m assuming you brainstorm the whole idea and move all the way through towards finishing the joke as opposed to just editing.  How do you separate those two and are there any similarities at all? 

NM:  It’s pretty similar. The way I do stand up is just script editing on a nightly basis, really. One just happens alone in a room while I listen to Akon, and the other happens in front of drunk people who wish they were dancing to Akon. “Yo, why is this guy just talking and junk? I thought we were going ou… (Throws up)

 FOH:  What’s the craziest thing that you’ve had happen to you since you began doing standup? 

NM:  I’ve seen a friend of mine get punched in the face by a drunk man who wasn’t even paying attention to what he was saying. Just rushed the stage and started hitting him. The craziest part? The show kept going, and it wasn’t bad! “Man, why’d you punch that guy?” “…What?…(throws up)

FOH:  What do you have planned for the next twelve months?  
 
NM:  I’m going to be performing in South Africa in October, headlining the Comedy Castle in Royal Oak Michigan in December, and I’ll be putting out a CD called “Too Much To Say”. And hopefully, I’ll meet Ginuwine. Where’d that guy go?

Official Website:  http://www.nathanmacintosh.com/

Nathan on Twitter: @nathanmacintosh

Nathan on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/nathan.macintosh
 
Once again thanks for visiting First Order Historians and enjoying more of the internet’s finest in user generated content.
 
Meehan