House Of Crouse

Richard joins host Jim Richards of the NewsTalk 1010 afternoon show The Rush for Booze and Reviews! Today we talk about the Tom Holland action adventure “Uncharted,” the newfangled werewolf tale “The Cursed” and the man-and-his-dog tale of “Dog” with Channing Tatum. Then, instead of ordering in a pizza, why not try a pizza beer?

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Haley McGee, a Canadian living in London, England, who has written a book called “The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale,” a memoir about her attempt to pay off credit card debt by selling gifts from her exes. In the book she tries to calculate exactly how much romantic relationships cost in time, money and effort. Then we’ll get to know Celeste Bell, co-director of a great new music documentary called “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché.” It’s the story of Bell’s mother, legendary punk rock singer Poly Styrene, whose band X-Ray Specs were one of the first punk rock bands to find commercial success with their album “Germfree Adolescents.” The documentary is a rarity, a movie about punk rock that casts its eyes beyond the musical anarchy to portray the real person behind the music. Finally, we chat to Clark Backo. You know her as Wayne's love interest Rosie, on the television series “Letterkenny.” You can now see her in “I Want You Back,” a very funny rom com now playing o

This week on the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Jann Arden. With 19 top ten singles, like “Could I Be Your Girl,” “I Would Die For You” and “Insensitive,” she is one of Canada’s best-known singer, songwriters. She has also written five books and has a hit sitcom on CTV called “Jann.” Her latest project is an album of new material called “Descendant,” a 15-song collection that represents the last 18 months of her life and headspace. Then we’ll get to know multi-hyphenate Kevin Smith. He’s a filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, and podcaster. You know his movies like “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” Now he adds another hyphen to his resume. Documentary subject. The documentary “Clerk,” now on VOD, touches on every aspect of his work, from the film that put him on the map to the View Askewniverse to his health problems and a new found self-awareness.

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet David Pevsner. Over the course of his 35-year career in show business, David has done it all. He’s acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, in independent films and on numerous TV network shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family and Criminal Minds. Now he has added author to his resume… Damn Shame is his new memoir. It is a passionate and poignant look at one journey from a thin, shy boy ashamed of his body and sexuality to a defiant, fearless person exploring his erotic desires. David Pevsner joined me via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. Then, stand-up comedian K. Trevor Wilson stops by. You know him as the long-winded Squirrely Dan on Letterkenny. Or maybe you’ve seen him do stand up on the Jimmy Kimmel Show or perhaps you’re a fan of his acerbic jabs on Roast Battle Canada… today he stops by to talk about his latest project, LOL: Last One Laughing Canada. It’s a six-part competition series on Amazon Prime where 10 of the best comedic talents from Canada

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet best-selling author Michael Harris. In his new book, “All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy,” Michael has a look at consumer culture and finds a roadmap to a healthier future through three realms… the worlds of Craft, the Sublime, and Care. Then, “The Montague Twins: The Witch's Hand,” is a graphic novel written by Nathan Page and illustrated by Drew Shannon, and available now wherever you buy fine books. The book, the first in a series for Young Adult readers, tells the story of twins Al and Pete, their stepsister Charlie, and Rowan, their tutor in the ways of magic. It is a return to the old school amateur detective genre with a refreshing modern update that tells a compelling story with important social awareness.

This week on the Richard Crouse Podcast we meet Andrew Phung. You know him as the award-winning actor who played Kimchee in the CBC Television sitcom "Kim's Convenience," and have seen him in guest starring roles on shows like "The Beaverton" and "Wynonna Earp" but he’s back with a new show, now playing on CBC. On "Run the Burbs," he plays Andrew Pham, a suburban stay-at-home dad of two children whose wife is an entrepreneur. Then, we spend some time with Kaya Usher. Her new album, "All This Is," was recorded with two of her children, fulfilling a dream that she and her husband, the late Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie, shared… to create music as a family. The result is an album of songs that represent not only an artistic awakening but personal healing.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet the cast of a new CBC Television show called “Son of a Critch.” If you are a fan of the political commentary and social satire of “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” you already know Mark Critch. Since 2003 he has starred on the political parody show. He’s photo-bombed Justin Trudeau, offered Pamela Anderson a million dollars to stop acting, and poked fun at characters like Rex Murphy, Don Cherry and Donald Trump. His latest project is much more personal. A couple years ago Mark wrote a warm and funny look back at his formative years, growing up in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the 80s called “Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir”. That bestseller is now the basis of Son of a Critch, which airs on CBC television and CBC Gem on Tuesday nights. Later in the show we’ll meet Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, who plays the eleven year old Mark on the show, and we’ll spend some time with the legendary actor Malcolm McDowell, the star of “A Clockwork Orange” and so many oth

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet the "Marie Kondo of Digital." Her name is Christina Crook, and she has written a thoughtful book about realigning our energies, increasing intentionality, and prioritizing our well-being in the digital age. She is a pioneer and leading voice in the field of digital wellbeing and the author of a new book called "Good Burdens: How to Live Joyfully in the Digital Age.' Then, musician Jon Batiste stops by. Perhaps you know him as the bandleader on the "Stephen Colbert Show," or as an Oscar winner for his score to the Pixar movie "Soul." Today we find out about his album “We Are,” which is available now wherever you buy fine music. Then we meet Robert Matzen, acclaimed Old Hollywood biographer and author of the new book "Warrior: Audrey Hepburn," which you may have seen featured in a four-page spread in a recent issue of "People" magazine. Finally, author Jaime Weinman stops by. His new book is Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite "The Unauthorized Biography of Loone

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know legendary film critic Leonard Maltin. His new book “Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood,” is on shelves now and details his 30-year run on Entertainment Tonight, his interviews with golden age of Hollywood elites like Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery, Shirley Temple, and Jimmy Stewart and insights into moviemaking with stories from the past, present, and future stars of film, like George Lucas, Kevin Feige of Marvel, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo del Toro. Then, Helen Walsh, author of "Pull Focus: A Novel," a book that has been described as “Part Real Housewives, part grown-up Nancy Drew,” stops by. Set within the inner workings of an international film festival, the novel details Hollywood power brokers, Russian oil speculators, Chinese propagandists, and a board chair who seemingly has it out for Jane, the book’s main character.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast. If you are like my wife and I, for the better part of fifteen years, most Tuesday nights you would tune into "The Rick Mercer Report," hosted by my guest, Rick Mercer. Part travelogue of our beautiful country, part news satire, part sketch comedy. He golfed with Anne Murray, climbed to the top of a roller-coaster at Canada's Wonderland and even skinny dipped with Bob Rae. Find out how that happened later in the show. And don’t forget the Rants, his minute long diatribes about whatever was on his mind that week. Then, after fifteen years he quit "The Rick Mercer Report," a job he called, the best job in the world, at the peak of its popularity. Why? We'll find out. After that he did stand up and then Covid-19 struck. In lockdown, after four books based on content from the shows, he began writing his most personal story yet. His story. The result is a revealing and hilarious memoir called "Talking to Canadians: A Memoir" and it is available now wherever you buy

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Danny Goldberg. Regular listeners of this show may remember my interview with him from a year or two back when we talked about his rock ‘n roll life as the manager of Nirvana, the publicist for Led Zeppelin and record a company executive who released Stevie Nicks’ solo records and Warren Zevon's Grammy winning "The Wind," Steve Earle’s Grammy winner "The Revolution Starts Now," and the Baha Men’s "Who Let The Dogs Out." What you may not know is that he is also an activist, sitting on the Board of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the Nation Institute and Americans for Peace Now and many others. His new book is "Bloody Crossroads 2020: Art, Entertainment, and Resistance to Trump." It’s available wherever you buy fine books and takes a look at how singer Taylor Swift became an unwitting idol of the neo-Nazi movement, explores the impact of entertainment celebrities in communications, fundraising, and campaigning to support the election of Joe B

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet “Furious Devotion: The Authorised Story of Shane MacGowan” author Richard Balls. The best-selling biography is a portrait either in self-destruction or the indomitable spirit of someone whose demeanor suggests a hangover come to life. It is also a vivid look at the life of the complex, contradictory and talented man best known as the lead singer of The Pogues. Then, we’ll get to know Indigenous singer-songwriter Anyma, whose debut, 6-track EP “Humans” offers a glimpse into what she sees at the center of her balance – art, community, introspection, love, nature, wisdom, and humanity.

On this week's Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Commander Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space and served as commander of the International Space Station. Now, on earth, the astronaut and bestselling author, is turning to fiction for the first time. James Cameron, director of “Avatar” and “Titanic,” called Hadfield’s new book “The Apollo Murders,” “Nail-biting. I couldn’t put it down,” he said. The new thriller is set in 1973. In this alternative history the Cold War is still burning hot and is now being projected into space with the Soviets building an orbiting spy station while looking to mine the moon for precious radioactive minerals. With Apollo 18 (the real Apollo missions ended at 17) the U.S. is out to frustrate these plans. It may be that the Soviets are one step ahead though, as they already have someone inside the Apollo program. Hadfield is also the author of the memoir An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, the children's book The Darkest Dark, which was illustrated by the F

This week on the Richard Crouse Show we celebrate Halloween with two of the stars of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,”Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell. They both appeared in the original stage production and the movie, as castle maid Magenta and the tap-dancing Columbia respectively. Then, we’ll spend some time with horror maestro Guillermo Del Toro, director of movies you love like Academy Award winning “The Shape of Water,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pacific Rim” and many more. In a conversation we recorded nine years ago, we talk about why he is drawn to the horror genre, why children play such large roles in his films and much more. Land finally, I recommend “Let Me In,” a great vampire movie you may not have seen… something fun to watch this weekend. We’ll also meet the director, Matt Reeves, who’ll talk about the movie and why we get scared when we go to the movies.

On this week’s Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know Hilary Brown, author of the new book War Tourist, available now on Amazon and Barnes and Nobel. In a career that spanned almost four decades, she was ABC’s first female foreign correspondent, and reported from every continent except Antarctica. TVO’s “The Agenda” called her “Canada’s best-ever female foreign correspondent.” She was one of the last journalists to be lifted by helicopter from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon in 1975, during the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. One of her ABC reports later appeared in the motion picture “The Deer Hunter” in what Brown calls her “fifteen seconds of fame.” She has interviewed everyone from President Hamid Karzai, Condoleeza Rice and the Shah of Iran to Sidney Poitier, Lawrence Oliver and John le Carre. She retired from what she calls “the best job in the world” in 2009, and has now documented her life in her fascinating new memoir, “War Tourist.” Then Samantha Fish, a guitarist, songwriter

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know Rob Lindsay, director of “No Responders Left Behind,” a documentary about the fight waged by former “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, social activist John Feal and FDNY hero Ray Pfeifer to get health benefits and compensation for 9/11 first responders. The film is now streaming on Discovery Plus in Canada. Then, Rebecca Ferguson, star of the much anticipated sci fi movie “Dune” stops by to talk about her character Lady Jessica, and why she described reading the book to be like doing a crossword puzzle. Then, Elaine Taylor Plummer stops by. She is a former actress. You’ve seen her in comedies like “Diamond for Breakfast” and “Half a Sixpence,” and she was even a Bond girl in 1967's “Casino Royale.” She dropped by the show today to talk about her husband of more than 50 years, the late, great Christopher Plummer and a new commemorative stamp issued by Canada Post in his honor. The couple met while filming Lock Up Your Daughters in 1969, and were to

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know Danis Goulet who wrote and directed “Night Raiders,” a timely sci fi apocalyptic film set in the near future. In her dystopian drama cities in North America are run by the military and all children are property of the state. This Taika Waititi-executive produced film sees a Cree woman team with a group of vigilantes to free her daughter from a “children’s academy.” Goulet, who is of Cree and Métis descent, says everything in the film’s imaginary future is based on true events and “has to do specifically with policies that were inflicted upon Indigenous People throughout history.” Then we meet radio and podcasting legends Humble and Fred, that’s "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson as they celebrate ten years of the “Humble and Fred Podcast.” These days everybody from Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian West have podcasts, but ten years ago they were uncharted territory. Humble and Fred, who, as their website says, “have been

This week on the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Rik Emmett. The musician, professor, writer and sometime cartoonist is in three Canadian “Halls” and two “Walks of Fame.” After 12 platinum LPs in his years as one third of the rock band Triumph, he went on to produce 20 indie projects, from rock and blues to jazz, folk, and classical. These days Emmett is trying something new. He’s reinventing himself as a poet. “Reinvention,” his new book of poetry, is available now wherever fine books are sold. It’s the project that followed on the heels of his retiring from touring and the life of a college educator in early 2019. In this book he makes sense of a life that always went in a lot of different directions all at once. Then, Donna Morrissey author of six national bestsellers novels. She has received awards in Canada, the U.S., and England. Her fiction has been translated into several different languages. Born and raised in Newfoundland, she now lives in Halifax. Today we’ll talk about her new memoir Pluck: A memo

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast: Remember “The Safety Dance”? Of course you do. The Men Without Hats song was a worldwide hit in 1982 and earned them a Grammy nomination but it didn’t end there. It has since been covered by everyone from “Weird Al” Yankovic to the cast of Glee to a recent version by Angel Olsen. The song’s writer and lead singer, Ivan Doroschuk, joins me today from his home on Vancouver Island to talk about some new music and a reimagination of his biggest hit. Men Without Hats have just released “Again (Part 1),” a five-song EP featuring covers of The Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones and Mott the Hoople, along with an all-new version of the group’s signature hit “The Safety Dance,” now called “No Friends of Mine.” Then we meet Emm Gryner. She is a Canadian musician and vocal coach. David Bowie named Emm as one of his two favourite Canadian acts. U2 frontman Bono named her song “Almighty Love” as one of six songs that he wished he had written. Gryner toured in Dav

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know best-selling author Guy Vanderhaeghe. His previous fiction includes the award winning "A Good Man," "The Last Crossing," "The Englishman’s Boy." He is a three -time Governor General’s Award winner. He has the Writers’ Trust Timothy Findley Award, and the Harbourfront Literary Prize. He has received many other honours including the Order of Canada. His first novel in nearly a decade is "August Into Winter" is an epic story of crime and retribution, of war and its long shadow, and of the redemptive possibilities of love. Guy Vanderhaeghe joined me via Zoom from Saskatchewan Then comedian and actor Shaun Majumder joins me to talk about his new CBC television show "Race Against the Tide." On the show 10 teams of two world-class, highly skilled sand sculptors compete to create extraordinary works of art made entirely out of sand while avoiding elimination. Not only are these best-in-show duos competing against each other, they are competing against, as t