Ron Sparks (comedian)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ron Sparks (born May 20, 1977) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is known as an alternative comedian and frequent guest on
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
's The Debaters, and on TV as a regular and favourite juror on
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
's highest-rated show, '' Video on Trial'', also starring as The Judge in the '' Stars on Trial'' Christmas special and various other ''VOT'' spin-offs.


Early life

Sparks was born in
Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 103,988) is a Census divisions of Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallac ...
,
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 ...
.


Comedy


Theatre

As a student at Chatham-Kent Secondary School Sparks enjoyed doing improv and performing in drama class and at assemblies. His first TV appearance was a televised swearing-in ceremony in which he and a friend did a sketch about a border officer interviewing an immigrant. In 1997 his farce ''Chuck Sent Me'' won the Grand Theatre Stage Presence Competition for young playwrights. At York University his one act plays ''Richard Keats' Apartment of Doom'' and ''Home to Mother'' both won the
Vanier College Vanier College () is an Quebec English, English-language public College (Quebec), college located in the Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language public coll ...
playwriting competition in 2000 and 2001 while ''A Thanksgiving That Would Even Make Great Aunt Gladys Proud'' and ''My Favourite Aunt'' also took 2nd and 3rd prize in 1999 and 2001. ''Apartment of Doom'' and ''My Favourite Aunt'' were both remounted as
Toronto Fringe Festival The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been ...
shows. At
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
, Sparks contributed humorous articles and reviews for the student newspaper ''The Vandoo'' and was promoted to an editor, but quit after frequent complaints by Vanier College administration led to tighter guidelines.


Improv and sketch

Sparks first began performing comedy regularly with
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
's ''Vanier Improv Company'' as a student, where he became a standout and met his sketch troupe mates '' The Minnesota Wrecking Crew''. They would go on to be nominated four straight years (2003–2006) for the ''Best Sketch Troupe''
Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. Th ...
, winning in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 they won again for ''Best Taped Live Performance'' for the
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
special '' Sketch with Kevin McDonald''. ''The MWC'' became the "house troupe" at Second City Toronto's ''Sketchy at Best'' showcase, where they would perform sets of mostly new sketches every week. Sparks was a member of the sketch troupes ''Rocket 9'', ''Gazebo Pals'' and the CCA-nominated ''Shoeless'', and has also hosted Comedy Bar's ''Sunday Night Live'' more than any other guest.


Stand-up

After performing on the show with the ''Wrecking Crew'' a few times, he began working the door for Toronto's legendary ALTdot COMedy Lounge at the Rivoli in 2002. At show producer Zoe Rabnett's urging he tried performing stand-up in 2003 at The ALTdot COMedy Lounge and went on to win that year's Tim Sims Award, given to Toronto's most promising new comedy act, in just his 20th set. He then also won the 2004 ''Best Stand-up Newcomer'' Canadian Comedy Award, becoming the first person to win both. After his Tim Sims ''Cream of Comedy'' showcase, he was invited to write and star in his own series of shorts for
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 ...
, ''From the Desk of Ron Sparks'', based on real letters he has written since childhood. Stand-up credits include Just for Laughs as well as the Halifax,
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, Laughing Gas and YYC Comedy Festivals. He was JFL's ''Toronto Homegrown Champion'' in 2007 and has performed in various JFL and JFL-42 shows including ''Set List'', ''The Alternative Show with
Andy Kindler Andy David Kindler (born October 16, 1956) is an American comedian and actor. He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter and friend of sportswriter "Ray Barone" ( Ray Romano) on the TV show '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', was a regular ...
'' and '' The Debaters''. He has opened for such comedians as
Kyle Kinane Kyle Christian Kinane (born December 23, 1976) is an American stand-up comedian and actor from Addison, Illinois. Career Kinane's first television appearance was on ''The Nanny'' playing "Young Roger Clinton". His debut album ''Death of the Pa ...
, Moshe Kasher,
Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born 29 September 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' Forbes Celebrity 100, list o ...
,
Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in ''Grumpy Old Men ...
,
Marc Maron Marc David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and appeared more than forty times ...
,
Janeane Garofalo Janeane Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on Air America Radio's '' The Majority Report''. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Act ...
,
Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
,
Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...
, Brian Posehn, Mike Wilmot,
David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...
,
Andy Kindler Andy David Kindler (born October 16, 1956) is an American comedian and actor. He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter and friend of sportswriter "Ray Barone" ( Ray Romano) on the TV show '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', was a regular ...
,
Tom Green Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian and American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted '' The Tom Green Show'', whi ...
,
Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material consist of profane and confrontational observations of life. Early life Stanhope was born in Worcest ...
and Todd Barry. His 2008 CTV '' Comedy Now!'' stand-up special won a ''WorldFest'' Award and two ''Canadian Comedy Awards''. When the ''ALTdot'' added a second weekly show, the ''SketchDot COMedy Lounge'', Sparks was invited to do a weekly ''
Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast and been featu ...
'' style segment, ''The News Desk with Ron Sparks''.


Film & TV

On television he starred in
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
's highest rated show '' Video on Trial'' and its spin-off, '' Stars on Trial'', also writing for those and other
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
series. He co-wrote and starred as
Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...
in the series You Got Trumped, for which he won multiple awards. He was also a regular panelist on the Super Channel series '' Too Much Information'' and has been a regular on various
Ed the Sock Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...
series (including co-hosting the cult hit
This Movie Sucks! ''This Movie Sucks!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''TMS!'') is a Television in Canada, Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premiering on May 28, 2010, two years after ''Ed's Night Party'' went off the air. The show is similar to ...
), and T1's The Toronto Show as Ron the Hollywood Reporter and other characters. Other TV credits include
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
's
The Firm The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...
, ''
The Beaverton ''The Beaverton'' is a primarily online Canadian news satire publication, based in Toronto, Montreal and Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse.This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Meet the Family,
Straight Man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
, ''Clumsy & Shy'', Dark Rising: The Savage Tales of Summer Vale, The Jon Dore Television Show, ''Sox in a Box'' and ''The Invasion Report''. Film credits include Medium Raw, Dark Rising, By George, Sweetener and Ham & Cheese. He is the subject of the book ''The Essential Actor's Guide: Spotlight on Ron Sparks''.


Radio

Sparks is a regular and favourite guest on
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
's '' The Debaters'' (which he also writes for). He has also appeared on '' Brave New Waves'', '' Definitely Not the Opera'' and ''Out Front''. He had his own weekly segment ''The News Desk with Ron Sparks'' on 102.1 The Edge.


Filmography


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Ron 1977 births Living people Canadian Baptists Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian television directors Canadian television personalities Canadian television producers Canadian male film actors Film producers from Ontario Comedians from Toronto Ed the Sock Film directors from Toronto Male actors from Toronto Canadian male television writers Canadian television writers People from Chatham-Kent 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian sketch comedians Canadian male dramatists and playwrights York University alumni Screenwriters from Toronto This Hour Has 22 Minutes 21st-century Canadian comedians Canadian male comedians Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian male screenwriters