When Darrin Rose saw that his friend had a show on national television, he instantly wanted one as well.
“I thought, ‘oh I’ll just get one of those,’” Rose recalled. “I didn’t realize that was hard.”
Since that fateful moment, Rose, whose last name is actually Rows, has been pursuing his dream of landing his very own TV show by cracking jokes and making people laugh.
On Sunday (Nov. 16) the award-winning comedian will be performing his routine My Dad’s Other Son at the Port Theatre.
“I think people really get a lot out of it,” Rose said about his show. “I talk mostly about my sibling rivalry with my brother.”
For the last two years, Rose has been a mainstay on CBC’s hit show, Mr. D and the popular Comedy Network show, Match Game.
“It’s hard to get the work, but the work itself is easy and fun,” Rose said. “It’s the stress of not working is what makes comedy difficult, actually doing comedy is the best.”
Rose was born and raised by his father in Oshawa, Ont., a blue-collar community located around 60 kilometres outside of Toronto.
“It was pretty dead emotionally,” Rose said about growing up in an all-male household. “My dad spent his entire life convincing us not to have feelings. Then you grow up and experience the real world and you go, ‘oh man, feelings would really come in handy, especially if I want to interact with a woman in any way.’”
Growing up with an older brother, Rose said they were always vying for their father’s attention and that he was often subjected to his brother’s playful abuse.
“Older brothers are the meanest people on earth,” Rose said. “My brother was vicious to me growing up. He pushed me out of a moving car once, not when we were kids and didn’t understand the consequences, I was 17 and he was driving.”
Rose’s pathway into comedy began after his high-tech company, which had experienced some success, ultimately failed.
“I had a software company and that went belly up and so I took six months off and casted about looking for something to do,” Rose said.
That’s when he decided he wanted to become a comedian and have his own television show.
“I got into comedy because of a desperate need for attention,” Rose said.
Soon after, Rose landed a full-time job at Heinz in Toronto and began performing at comedy clubs during his spare time.
“I would put on my suit and go and try and sell baby food to mothers of Canada,” he said. “Then I would go out at night and tell jokes in seedy bars in Toronto.”
Eventually Rose worked his way through the ranks, landing work as a writer, appearing on TV shows and performing at bigger venues such as Toronto’s Massey Hall and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I started getting more work and I got a job writing on TV and that was really my first time making a living at comedy,” he said.
Recently, Rose, who now resides in Los Angeles, received a Canadian Comedy Award for his appearance on Just for Laughs.
“I was pretty stoked about that,” Rose said about winning the award. said. “I like that we have comedy awards in Canada because they don’t really have them in America.”
While Rose doesn’t have his own show just yet, he is getting closer. There is currently a development deal in the works with CTV, which could ultimately see Rose finally achieve his goal.
“It’s all progressing well,” Rose said.
Darrin Rose performs at the Port Theatre on Sunday (Nov. 16) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28. For more information, please visit www.porttheatre.com or visit www.darrinrose.com.
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