Dan Redican (born 1956 in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
) is a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
writer and performer and
puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
, best known for his work with the comedy troupe ''
the Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the ''Frantic Times''
radio show
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio netw ...
, ''
Four on the Floor''
TV show
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...
(which aired in England and the US under the name ''The Frantics''). They also have written and performed many albums which are still available on the website Frantics.com.
Redican started his career as a puppeteer, performing with various partners at birthday parties and church functions, before joining Tom Vandenburg to perform two family shows at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Dupont Street: "The Old Fisherman" and "A Day At Rotten Cheese Gulch". After this, Redican focussed on solo performances in
London, Ontario
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
at
Smale's Pace (later renamed the Change of Pace). Redican entered the world of television puppetry on
CHCH
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over half a million. It is located in ...
's ''Adventures of Snelgrove Snail'' in the role of Conrad Crepidula. Redican left puppetry to focus on comedy when the Frantics formed in 1979 but he returned briefly in the late '80s to appear as a featured actor and puppeteer for the
Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...
on NBC's ''
The Jim Henson Hour
''The Jim Henson Hour'' is an American television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the Muppets.
Nine of the twelve episodes produced aired on NBC ...
''. In the '90s, Redican puppeteered the character Hegdish on YTV's "Groundling Marsh" and Maurice the Maggot on
YTV's ''
Freaky Stories''.
In the late seventies, Redican performed as a folk singer with his band Poopy Dan and his lunch featuring Pat Logier, Rob Minderman and Doug Hux, though 'Poopy Dan' was short-lived.
Redican has worked as an actor, appearing on an episode of ''
Seeing Things'' in the 1980s and in various small roles before landing the role of George, the next door neighbour on CBC's ''
Mosquito Lake''. Redican appeared on ''
Maniac Mansion'', ''
Twilight Zone'', ''
Corner Gas
''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Reruns still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The series ...
'' and ''
Little Mosque on the Prairie''. He also starred as "Dan Barlow" in
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 ...
series ''
Puppets Who Kill'', also working as a writer and story editor.
In 1988, Redican appeared on the hit children's TV show ''
The Elephant Show'' as the
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
's night watchman. He also returned to co-star with
Sharon, Lois & Bram
Sharon, Lois & Bram (also known as Sharon, Bram & Friends, Sharon & Bram or Sharon & Randi) are a Canadian children's music group founded in Toronto, Ontario, 1978. The group's original lineup consisted of Sharon (née Trostin) Hampson, L ...
in their 1994 home video titled ''
Candles, Snow & Mistletoe'', produced by
Glen Roven.
Redican performed a number of times in Toronto as a comic monologist in small shows at
the Rivoli
The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and musi ...
as well as in "The Cheese Stands Alone" and "My Private Hell On Ten Dollars a Day" at the Factory Theatre. His show "Stop Being Stupid" ran at the Tim Sim's Theatre and received rave reviews. "The Devil's Progress Report" enjoyed a short run in a Vancouver theatre. His monology drew the attention of
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
and led to Redican becoming a producer and story editor for ''
The Kids in the Hall''.
He has written and produced a number of television shows in Canada including ''
Blackfly'', ''Not This But This'', ''The Altar Boy Gang'' and ''
The Kids in the Hall''. In the United States he worked as a writer and producer on ''The Jenny McCarthy Show'', ''
Chimp Channel'' and ''Lyricist Lounge''. He has recently written and acted as creative consultant on a number of episodes of
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...
's ''
Little Mosque on the Prairie'', in which he also played a chiropractor in the episode "Marriage Minded".
Along with
Gary Pearson, he is a cocreator of the sketch comedy series ''
Sunnyside'', which premiered in 2015.
He is married to television writer and producer Caroline A. Commisso. He has two children, Madi and Joey.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redican, Dan
1956 births
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian television personalities
Male actors from Toronto
Living people
Canadian sketch comedians
Comedians from Toronto
Screenwriters from Toronto
Canadian television writers
Canadian television producers
Canadian male television writers
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian male comedians
Canadian Comedy Award winners
Canadian puppeteers