With Howie Mandel as the stand-up comedy inspiration, you know In Case of Emergency… Laugh starring Greg Morton is going to be kinda wacky and hilarious.
The shows go Saturday, Oct. 22 at Vanier Hall at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and is a fund raiser for the Prince George Council of Seniors to support their programs that serve the elderly in the community.
Morton is a Canadian comedian who started out in the entertainment industry doing voice work but when he went to see Howie Mandel on stage about 35 years ago he knew what was missing in his life.
Morton said he was just reminded by his mom that when he was little he loved to watch cartoons.
“I was talking to my mom the other day and she said when I was little – like three or four – I would go into the living room and watch TV and I would come out making funny noises and imitating cartoons – I would always watch cartoons whenever they came on TV – it wasn’t like it is now with whole channels dedicated to cartoons – so whenever they came on I would watch and it just grew and developed from there,” Morton shared during a phone interview with me Friday morning.
“Originally I thought I was going to be an artist. I thought I was going to draw cartoons. So I would sit in the corner and draw cartoons and then make up voices for those characters. I was an only child until I was nine years old so I had to entertain myself.”
Morton said he continued with his cartoons and animation and his first job was on the Scooby and Scrappy Doo show.
“And then I thought this doesn’t feel right,” Morton said. “So let’s find out what is.”
He continued to develop his disc jockey business in the 80s. He was known as Greg Morton, that Crazy DJ.
“And I didn’t just play records, I would get up on stage, I would play skits, I would get on the floor and dance, I put on costumes and I’d tell jokes and I just thought I’ll just do this until I figure out what I want to do,” Morton explained as he chatted from his home in Toronto. “And that’s when I went to a stand-up comedy show and saw Howie Mandel and I went ‘wow’ – and it was hilarious – just side-splitting hilarious – and that really stuck with me and that’s when I realized that’s what I wanted to do.”
So he developed his own brand, doing noises and impressions.
“And all of my impressions were the punch lines of the jokes, you see,” Morton said. “So I was developing that and here we are 35-36 years later.”
Morton has a great fondness for seniors so performing at this fundraiser for the Prince George Council of Seniors is important to him.
“I’m really excited about it because people tend to forget our seniors and they are our most valuable group,” Morton said. “They shouldn’t be a wasted resource. They can teach us something if we just take some time and listen. I look forward to supporting them with my comedy because I’ve always had a connection with the elderly and well, I’m practically there now!”
Maureen Langan, comedian and Ted X Talk speaker, seen on HBO Gotham Live “Don’t Make Her Hate You!” will be the opening act for Morton.
Tickets are $50 each, with net proceeds going to the PG Council of Seniors. There's a matinee at 2 p.m. and the evening show is at 7 p.m. Get tickets at www.ticketsnorth.ca or in person at the CN Centre Ticket Centre.
