Albert Howell is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer, most noted as a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

nominee and

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

winner for his work on the writing team for the sketch comedy series ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

''.Scott Stinson, "Going to America; For Albert Howell, it's Rob Ford lessons and a new kind of work". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', December 23, 2013. Originally from

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, where he did improv comedy with

Loose Moose Theatre The Loose Moose Theatre Company (LMTC), is a theater company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was co-founded in 1977, by Keith Johnstone and Mel Tonken. LMTC has an international reputation for developing the theatrical style of improvisatio ...

while studying political science at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

,Eric Volmers, "Night Shift; It's been a wild ride for Calgary native Albert Howell since he got the call from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', November 16, 2013. he later moved to Toronto to join

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

, appearing in several shows with the company in both Toronto and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

between 1993 and 1996.

Sketch comedy

After leaving Second City, Howell and colleague Andrew Currie formed the comedy duo The Devil's Advocates; styling themselves as devil-horned spokesmen for

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, they began regularly appearing on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

's ''

Speakers Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where free speech public speaking, open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London, England. Histor ...

'' to present sarcastic commentary on videos recorded by other contributors. Their segments became one of the most popular features of the program, particularly after a senior citizen named Harry began recording his own videos criticizing their videos, turning into a recurring feud.Maryam Sanati, "Devilish duo score heavenly CTV deal". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', October 19, 1998. They attracted such a following that at least one special episode of the series was devoted entirely to a "best of" compilation of Devil's Advocate appearances."Speakers Corner: an oral history"
''

The Grid The Grid are an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal C ...

'', January 7, 2014. Archived fro
the original
on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2021. In 1998, Howell and Currie were given their own show, '' Improv Heaven and Hell'', on

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming and operates two time-shifted feeds, runni ...

, which saw the duo as the hosts of an improv comedy competition similar to ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. The three major versions of the show are the original 1988 British radio programme (from which all subsequent versions are ada ...

''. The series ran for three seasons, ending in 2001. Following the show's conclusion, Howell and Currie appeared in the improvisational stage show ''Sin City: The Live Improvised Soap Opera'' at the

Poor Alex Theatre Poor Alex Theatre was a theatre company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Poor Alex opened in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood in the 1960s in a property owned by Ed Mirvish and took its name as a parody of the Mirvish-owned Royal Alexandra ...

, alongside Pat Kelly,

Peter Oldring Peter James Edward Oldring (born August 25, 1971) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Early life Oldring was born on August 25, 1971, in Drayton Valley, Alberta. He graduated from Sir Winston Churchill High School in 1989 in Calgary, Alberta, ...

, Herbie Barnes, Kirsten Van Ritzen, Joanne O'Sullivan, Mark McIntyre and

Raoul Bhaneja Raoul Bhaneja is an English-Canadian actor, musician, writer and producer. Early life and studies Bhaneja was born in Manchester. His father is an Indian Sindhi, and his mother is Irish. A graduate of The National Theatre School of Canad ...

. In 2002, Howell appeared in ''Population 282'' at the

Tim Sims Playhouse The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has bec ...

, alongside Janet van de Graaf,

Lisa Merchant Lisa Merchant is a Canadian comic improviser and actress. She played Brenda Murphy on ''Train 48'', and appeared on '' Improv Heaven and Hell''. She has won three Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Female Improviser (in 2001, 2003 & 2005). Alongside ...

, Melody Johnson, Doug Morency, Jack Mosshammer, Leslie Kaz,

Adrian Truss Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

and

Colin Mochrie Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show ''Whose Line ...

. In 2003, he joined the cast of the sketch comedy series '' Comedy Inc.''. In the same year, he mounted a joke campaign for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the Municipal government of Toronto, municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; t ...

in the

2003 Toronto municipal election The 2003 Toronto municipal election was held on 10 November 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to elect the Mayor of Toronto, 44 city councillors, and school board trustees. David Miller was elected mayor ( Results of 2003 Toronto election). ...

, running primarily on a platform of changing the city's

garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

collection practices.

Writing

Following the end of ''Comedy Inc.'', Howell joined the writing staff of ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', remaining with the show for several years.Eric Volmers, "Calgary funnyman returns to his roots". ''

'', December 30, 2011. He subsequently also wrote for the television series ''

That's So Weird! ''That's So Weird!'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television show produced by Halifax Film Company (later DHX Media Halifax), created by Jeff Copeland, broadcast on YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV from September 9, 2009 to March 8, 2012. The show ha ...

'' and ''First World Problems'', and was a story editor on the sitcom '' Satisfaction''. In 2013 he joined the writing staff of ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'', although he noted the irony that even though he had previously lived in Toronto and wrote several

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

sketches for ''22 Minutes'', he was largely sidelined from writing jokes about the crack scandal which broke a few weeks after he joined the show.

Acting

He has also had supporting or guest roles in the films ''

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (released in some international markets as ''Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies'') is a 2004 American Buddy film, buddy stoner film, stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner, written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayd ...

'', ''

Childstar Childstar may refer to: *Childstar (film), a 2004 Canadian comedy film *Childstar (album) ''Childstar'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal, consisting of nine original tracks. It is VanderWaal's second ful ...

'', ''Plain Brown Rapper'', '' Take This Waltz'' and '' First Round Down'', and the television series ''

The War Next Door ''The War Next Door'' is an American sitcom created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi. The show used non-canon humor as one of the two main characters dies at the end of each episode, only to reappear alive the following episode as if nothing ...

'', '' The Endless Grind'', ''

Little Mosque on the Prairie ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Zarqa Nawaz and produced by WestWind Pictures, originally broadcast from 2007 to 2012 on CBC. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the series was ...

'', ''

My Babysitter's a Vampire ''My Babysitter's a Vampire'' (released as ''My Babysitter's a Vampire: The Movie'' in some regions) is a 2010 Canadian comedy horror television film directed by Bruce McDonald. It stars Vanessa Morgan and Matthew Knight. The film's plot cente ...

'', '' The Next Step'' and ''

PEN15 ''Pen15'' is an American comedy television series, created by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman, that premiered on February 8, 2019, on Hulu. The series stars Erskine and Konkle, who also serve as executive producers alongside Zvibl ...

''.

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Albert 20th-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male comedians Canadian sketch comedians Canadian comedy writers Canadian television writers Comedians from Calgary Writers from Calgary Canadian Comedy Award winners Living people University of Calgary alumni Canadian Screen Award winning writers Year of birth missing (living people) Screenwriters from Alberta