Ian Bagg: From Canada to ‘Last Comic Standing’

Join me Oct 17 at the State Theatre for the Last Comic Standing Tour. I caught up with Ian Bagg who I learned was a Vacouver Canucks fan. I reminded him of 1994 when the New York Rangers defeated them in the Stanley Cup Finals!
Ian Bagg started his comedy career in his native country, Canada. He proceeded to do all the show business things that every successful Canadian entertainer does. He went to a “Hockey Night in Canada” game on a Saturday night, performed at the “Montreal Comedy Festival,” kissed a fish in New Foundland and performed on a “Comedy Now” special on CTV.

So what does a Canadian do when he has done it all? He boards a train to New York City, lives in a youth hostel and ends up on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson” and “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” It is not always fun and games. He was forced to do “Make Me Laugh,” “Showcase Comics with Louie Anderson,” “Fridays” on NBC and the “Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.”

Bagg has acted in Tim Robbins’ “The Cradle will Rock,”  and “MVP 2." Fun fact: he’s the the only known comic to have worked for famed director/producer Judd Apatow and not become a multi-billionaire. Life has been amazing for Bagg being on such diverse platforms as the History Channel, the Food Network, the Biography Channel and also being the first ever Canadian to meet three US presidents– Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and George Bush…although only one was in the White House at the time. Bagg met one on a plane and the other at a hockey practice.

Bagg has performed two successful half-hour specials, “Comedy Central Presents” and HBO’s “A Comics Climb” and has been featured in two seasons of “Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution” (Comedy Central). His latest a one-hour special, “Ian Bagg: Getting to F**king Know You” aired on Showtime.

See Ian Bagg with me Oct 17 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. Catch the interview I did with him above and if you've never seen Ian Bagg's stand up comedy, you can catch a clip of him on "Last Comic Standing," below.