Jeremy Hotz

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He's enjoying a Hotz streak
By JIM SLOTEK, SUN MEDIA

An untold story of the Writers Guild strike is that all over L.A. there are comedians with time on their hands -- "pilot season" having been flushed down the toilet along with dreams of sitcom stardom.

"I'm still a member, but I haven't been on the picket line yet," says Jeremy Hotz, the popular hangdog comic who kicks off a nationwide tour of sold-out theatres this week with shows in Toronto (tonight at the Winter Garden), Mississauga (the Living Arts Centre Thursday) his hometown Ottawa (the NAC next Friday and Saturday), plus Hamilton and Halifax. "They had 'Bring An Actor Friend' day, and my buddy (ex Toronto comic) Brian Hartt called me up, but I had a standup job. He was show-running Carlos Mencia's show when the strike started, and he's out there on the line and doing it and I fully support them."

But Hotz -- who has had U.S. network development deals and recently filmed a CBC pilot that was ultimately rejected -- says he wouldn't have been knocking himself out trying to land a sitcom this year anyway.

"Actually, with the state of the sitcom -- well, you've seen it -- I think I'm better off playing theatres right now. These are really weak times. They've got sitcoms with good-looking movie stars and they wonder why they're not funny. Why are there no funny good-looking people. Gee, I don't know, lack of suffering maybe? And you've got shows like Last Comic Standing that take an artform and a craft and turn it into a game show. And the worse TV gets, the better it is for me. You want to see something really funny? Get your ass out of the house and watch me."

Good times for Jeremy Hotz? The guy whose dual mantra is "Everything is sh--" and "What a miserable (fill in subject here) that is!"? As his career progresses, we suggest it must be hard staying miserable. "Oh, don't say that man, you're cutting into my gig!" he says with a laugh from his L.A. home. "There's a lot of miserable people out there, let me be their leader."

Indeed, Hotz's career is proof that your mom was wrong. Some people can attract more flies with vinegar than with honey. Even he professes to be mystified with his popularity in some corners. "I did an Ottawa Senators appreciation thing for 10,000 people late last year. It was really cool, I loved it, but it was like 'We're gonna win the Cup this year! You're the best fans in the world! Now here's a miserable c---------!'"

We suggest that his demeanour might make a better fit at a Leafs rally. "They are really worse than ever, aren't they?" he says. "It's just humiliation. I've had them on the satellite here for years, and for the first time in my life, I can't bring myself to watch Leafs games."

The self-professed "laziest man in showbiz," Hotz has, like many comics lately, discovered that the 'Net will do your promotion for you. "My web designer linked me to YouTube and I get these things all the time saying 'So and so has subscribed to your videos.' And I find I sell out shows real quick with all this Facebook, MySpace bullsh--. I played an Indian casino in Pachanga, Calif., and people showed up. I don't know them, they don't know me, they just saw me on the Internet. However it happens, people seem to be happy about the fact that I'm perpetually miserable. People leave me messages that are versions of my bits, like 'I went to your Facebook page. What a miserable page that is!' And that's a good thing. It's really flattering."

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Jeremy Hotz spreads misery on Just for Laughs tour
Victoria Ahearn,
The Canadian Press
17/10/2010

Canadian comedian Jeremy Hotz doesn't feel so alone in his misery anymore. The standup veteran, who's famed for an anguished act in which he complains about life while holding his right hand over half of his face to appear distressed, says gloom is very "in vogue" these days.

"Look around, man. Everybody's miserable," the Ottawa native said in a recent interview to promote the upcoming 10th annual Just for Laughs Canadian tour, in which he's featured as a special guest. "Ever take the subway in Toronto? Ever have anyone ever make eye contact with you? No! Everyone's miserable: 'Look at the floor, get through your day.'"

The so-called "master of misery" started performing in comedy clubs across the country nearly 20 years ago. His confused, downer persona just came naturally, he says. "One day I started putting my hand in front of my face and turning my back to the audience and speaking about really miserable things — three things you should never do if you're trying to get laughs and yet when you combine all of them, somehow it works," said Hotz. "Misery loves company, I guess. Who said that, anyway? Probably the most miserable guy in the world."

Hotz's life doesn't seem so bad these days, though. He's won a Gemini and two Canadian Comedy Awards, appeared once on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" five times, and written for "The Jon Stewart Show." He also co-starred in CBC's 1990s series "The Newsroom," performed several times at the Just for Laughs Festival and built a fanbase around the world with his "What a Miserable Tour This Is....", now out on DVD.

Pessimism still haunts him, though. "Look, I'm the kind of guy that, you know the glass is half empty (or) the glass is half full? For me, there's no glass," groaned Hotz, who lives in Los Angeles. "Somebody stole the glass. The water is hitting the floor."

Hotz credits his success to his first appearance at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal in 1997. "That's what kind of established me and made me noted," he said. "I had offers from networks, Disney and stuff like this." Hotz is now writing a dark comedy film in which he would star. His co-writer is K.P. Anderson, creator of the TV series "The Soup." He's also developing a half-hour comedy series based on his life with Dakota Pictures, the production company behind comedy shows including "Flight of the Conchords" and "Bored to Death."

TV is in desperate need of comedy to balance out the glut of cop shows, says Hotz. "There's 'CSI' and then just every city in America, you know ... 'CSI: Cheektowaga' — everybody dies in a big vat of buffalo wings," he joked. "Come on! Come up with a different idea. What's the matter with people? Hey, 'Hawaii 5-0' is back on — finally. I've been waiting since the '70s for that remake. My God!"

Hotz doesn't plan to leave standup, though; it's the most lucrative thing he's doing these days, he says. "Playing all these big theatres, when I do my solo tour and everything, that's where the money is," he said. "It's really not on TV that much."

Besides, standup is his therapy for is mounting frustrations, he added. "I would not be gainfully employed by any other institution other than standup comedy. Where are you going to have me? As the guy who works at the complaints department? I mean, come on! I would not have a job."

Here's complete audio of Jeremy on his first Comedy Central Presents... show - download 9mb mp3

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Jeremy Hotz is coming to Victoria.

He seemed all Hotz and bothered. But at first, he wasn't even there. Jeremy Hotz, the headlining comic for the Just for Laughs tour, initially didn't answer the phone at the London, Ont., hotel where he was staying. Finally, in the late afternoon, he groggily picked up. He had been asleep. But Hotz soon heated up."How about someone else on the tour doing a bit of press once in a while," he said, only half joking.

Hotz is the fellow who has made a career out of being professionally unhappy. Previous cross-Canada jaunts reflect this. There was the What a Miserable Tour This Is, followed by the It's the Most Miserable Time of the Year Tour. On stage, the 47-year-old comedian moans and complains, half-concealing his mouth with his hand, crying the blues more than B.B. King and John Lee Hooker put together. It's an amusing shtick that has made Hotz one of Canada's most popular comics. But on this particular day, he seemed to have become the perennially dissatisfied malcontent he plays on stage.

There was a reason for his ire. After a string of Maritime shows, Hotz and the touring Just for Laughs troupe (Frank Spadone, Robert Kelly, Gina Yashere and Ryan Hamilton) had flown into Toronto. They were on the runway, poised to fly to London, when the funny folk got bad news. Their plane was broken. They'd have to bus.

"You could see the guy standing on the wing, with a wrench. I just looked at the producer and said, 'That plane's not flyin' today.' I could see the question mark over his head from 200 yards away," Hotz said. The Just for Laughs gang arrived in London late. Hotz had to rise early the next day for a morning radio interview. And then he collapsed on his hotel room bed ... only to be awakened by a Times Colonist reporter. "Nah, I'm in a fine mood," Hotz said, sounding moody. "Don't worry about it."

Television has made him a familiar face. He has done national specials and standup on Late Show With David Letterman and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Hotz has written and performed for The Jon Stewart Show and won a Gemini for playing a cynical segment producer on CBC's satirical series The Newsroom. Hotz, an Ottawa native based in Los Angeles, is now trying to glean network interest in a sitcom loosely based on his life. He's working with Dakota Pictures, the Hollywood company that produced the comedy shows Flight of the Conchords and Bored to Death.

Seems promising. Yet it's not moving along quickly enough for Hotz. On the day of the interview, he was still waiting for a green light on the TV series. Given Hotz's devoted fan base, it sounds as if it would be successful. "You would think, eh?" he said mournfully. "But we'll have to wait and see."

Hotz's mother swears that when her son was just 10 years old, he announced his intention of becoming a professional comedian. He's not sure about that, but Hotz does remember as a youngster seeing George Carlin perform at the National Arts Centre. "I said, 'Shit, I'm gonna do that.' And I did that, you know," he said, brightening at the thought.

While his air of perpetual misery is an act, Hotz does give humorous voice to the real (albeit often minor) annoyances that plague us all. People like it when a laugh sprouts from an authentic place, he said. "I learned if you bring reality on stage, the way you really feel -- which is the whole miserable thing -- people respond. When I learned that, it really took off."