Each year, thousands of York students graduate from a diverse range of academic degree programs and intent on pursuing their unique personal and professional journeys. It’s no wonder then that we find many of the University’s more than 275,000 alumni living extraordinary journeys in more than 170 countries around the world—and sometimes, we’re lucky enough to have these grads share their incredible stories with us.
Gerry Dee (BA ’92)
One such grad is Gerry Dee (BA ’92). He isn’t just one of Canada’s funniest teachers – both in real life and on television – he is one of the country’s funniest people, period.
After spending 10 years as a high school phys-ed teacher, the York alumnus switched to comedy and acting full time in 2003. In 2002, Dee became the first Canadian ever to win the legendary San Francisco International Comedy Competition, which discovered comedy superstars like Robin Williams and Ellen DeGeneres. A four-time nominee for best male comic in the country, Dee won the coveted honour at the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award Festival.
The educator-turned-comic-turned-TV personality is also the creator, writer, and star of CBC’s hit sitcom, Mr. D, which is based on his real-life experiences as a high school teacher, and author of a classroom memoir, Teaching: It’s Harder Than It Looks. He recently stopped by York to share his success story with students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Currently touring his standup comedy act across the country, Dee spoke to Alumni Matters about life, work, and his time at York:
| Alumni Matters (AM): Have you always been a funny guy?
Gerry Dee (GD): I don’t think I was always funny, but I was always into humour and I loved playing pranks on people. It started in my late teens and early 20’s. I was 18 when I started at York and the comic vibe definitely started during the years I was at York. I would translate the experiences I had into humour. Also, my dad was a great storyteller, so it’s in the genes I guess, but I took it a step further. AM: What was your first comedy experience? GD: It was with my dad. I remember him always having funny stories to tell, even though he was very strict. He told stories very well and he worked for the TTC, so he would do accents, voices, and impersonations of the different characters on the bus. He wasn’t making fun of them, he was telling stories about them in a funny way, and sometimes he was angry. I grew up living with that. AM: You studied kinesiology at York. What inspired you to become a high school teacher? GD: I was gonna go into either athletic therapy or teaching, and I got into teaching first. But it’s worked out well for me. I’m glad I did that. AM: You are a passionate teacher. What made you switch to comedy? GD: I was already doing comedy five years into teaching and was starting to make some money. I thought if I was going to take a full shot at this, I was going to have to take a one-year sabbatical. I did that and then I took another one-year sabbatical, and I just never went back. AM: What are the differences and similarities between teaching high school and comedy? GD: Both require getting the attention of your audience. I mean, if you can get 26 to 36 kids’ attention for 80 to 90 minutes, you are off to the right track for teaching. I always tried to have humour as a teacher. Sometime it didn’t work, sometimes it did. Being a teacher is more like being a parent in that you advise them on life, and each kid comes from a different family. It’s not just pedagogical, it’s also life skills. AM: What is your favourite kind of humour? GD: I like to talk about real things that happened in my own life. My favourite kind of humour is saying something that everyone in the room is thinking, but no one is saying it. For example, a guy gets up at a Christmas party and gives a long, boring speech, and because he’s the president or something, he can’t really say what he wants to say. So I might say something that he really wanted to say, but couldn’t. AM: You have three young children. Do they think you are funny? GD: They don’t. Well, they know what I do, but I don’t think they know what funny is yet. Kids are tremendously funny without knowing it – cute funny, I mean. AM: Looking back, how have your experiences at York as a student shaped you? GD: York wasn’t my first choice, but I made the best of it and I had a great experience. York is a commuter school, but people should really get involved with extracurricular activities. I was a residence don at Bethune and that was a great path to teaching and to balancing discipline and fun. We sat a lot in the commons room and did lots of laughing. I made a lot of good friends then that I’m still in touch with. Coming back to York recently was very nostalgic. Things have changed so much over 20 years I couldn’t find my way around. AM: What do you look forward to the most on tour? GD: Performing. Once I hit the stage, that whole hour or hour and half is the most rewarding for me. Hopefully people are enjoying the show. It may be hard for some people to relate to this, but as a standup comic, you say something, you wait half a second, and a thousand people laugh – that is very contagious, addictive, and rewarding. |
Season 4 of Mr. D airs Jan. 20, 2015. Dee’s standup comedy tour stops by the Richmond Hill Centre for the Arts March 30 and at Massey Hall in Toronto April 13. For complete listing of Dee’s tour dates, visit his website at gerrydee.com.