Stopped Laughing

Or
Barker is Worse Off than His Bite
Irwin Barker, the only Canadian comedian who didn’t make the big time in the U.S., has died of leiomyosarcoma at 58. Despite a plethora of articles reporting he was the funniest thing since unsliced bread, the only quip I can find from him, was “My doctor gave me twelve months to live, but my lawyer says he can get it down to eight,” which I think can be carbon dated to an opening act in the Catskills from 1956. He wrote for This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report, and CBC Radio’s The Debaters. His 2005 Halifax Comedy Festival performance scored 4 Gemini Award nominations, and he was nominated for three Writers’ Guild of Canada Screenwriter’s awards, winning in 2008. Since his diagnosis, he went on a farewell stand-up tour, including a gig in Afghanistan for Canadian troops, and taped the comedy special Can't Stop Laughing. The week he died, he was nominated for the Canadian Comedy Awards for best male standup performer and Canadian comedy person of the year, which I’m guessing he’s going to win.