Funny, Daddy now available on YouTube

So a while ago, I recorded my solo show Funny, Daddy and offered it for sale, with partial proceeds going to Children's Wish Foundation. Some of you paid for the download. Thanks!
If you paid for it, but haven't watched it, I want to let you know that the Box.net link I sent will no longer be available (monthly fees for box.net are higher than gross all-time sales for this video, so being a math genius, I realized that wasn't worth it). instead, the video is now on Youtube. Which means that if you didn't buy it, you can still watch it. (if you paid for it, and it now being freely available is a problem, send me a message and I'll refund your money).
Actually, rather than free, I'm considering it "Pay What You Want" (PWYW). If you watch it, feel free to pay whatever you think it was worth using the PayPal link in the video description on YouTube. If you would prefer to watch for free, that's cool, too.
I won't hound you about this, I promise. i might send out a reminder or two, but I won't be as much of as pest as many of you have told me I was in the past. Promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq-5y3QO1o4

Listen Live to the Canada's Next Top Comic Final Gala

I'm sitting in the departure area of the Moncton airport, waiting for my flight to Toronto, via Porter Airlines. I am excited to be flying into the Toronto Island airport for the first time. But even more exciting - I'm flying to Toronto for the final gala of Sirius XM's Canada's Next Top Comic contest!

After competing as one of 17 comics on the Halifax "audition", I was named as one of five semi-finalists to move on to the online voting round. Thanks to great support from my friends and family (and local media, including Information Morning Saint John on CBC Radio, The Kings County Record, CJCW Radio, Here Magazine and the Telegraph Journal, I received enough votes to move on as one of the eleven finalists at Tuesday night's show at Yuk Yuk's in downtown Toronto. I'll be competing against some of the top up-and-coming comics in Canada for a chance to win $10,000!

I've been told that the show is sold out, so those of you in Toronto won't have to worry about trying to come up with an excuse to not come! But if you are broken up about not being able to make it to the show, I have some good news! You can listen to the show live, if you have XM Satellite Radio! Just tune into Laugh Attack, the Canadian-focused comedy channel on XM Channel 160 Tuesday night (November 15, 2011) at 6PM EST (that's 7PM for my friends in the Maritimes - 7:30 in Newfoundland - see I even do the math for you. This is so easy!)

"But, Lloyd, I don't have XM!" 

Why not? You really should.

Well, the next good news is, you can sign up for a free, online trial at https://my.xmradio.ca/OnlinePlus.aspx and you can listen to XM for two weeks on your computer or your phone! So, go ahead and sign up for a trial, and tune in Tuesday night for the show. 

On the off-chance that you still need convincing, check out these videos from my fellow finalists for a preview of what to expect tomorrow night:

(note - there are words on these videos that your boss might not like you to listen to at work, or your wife might not want you to listen to in front of the kids.)

Brian Aylward: 

Christine Medrano:

Dom Pare:

Eddie Della Siepe:

Eric Andrews:

Julia Hladkowicz:

Kyle Jones:

Myles Morrison:

Peter White:

Sterling Scott:

Funny stuff, eh? So, listen to the show. You will be sad if you don't, and nobody wants to hang out with a sad person.

See you soon.

Llove,

Lloyd

Welcome to Holland, Bloorview

OK, today my blog is going to be uncharacteristically serious rather than the usual foolish (I originally typed "funny" and then realized that was a massive overstatement) blog post, because there was some news I thought was worth sharing. And that news reminded me of an essay I wanted to share for those of you who haven't seen it.  

Today was a big day at one of my favourite places in the world. If you know me at all, you probably know of my love for Bloorview Kids Rehab, Canada's largest pediatric rehabilitation centre for kids with disabilities. For those of you who have escaped my professions of love for Bloorview, either on Facebook, in person or at one of the "Laughs for Possibility" live comedy fundraisers I have organized and performed on, I'll give you a brief-ish outline of why I feel so strongly about the place.

My oldest son, Eric (5) started going to Bloorview for Occupational therapy through their Community Development Program (CDP) and to see a developmental pediatrician when he was 2, due to global developmental delay. He later began seeing a physiotherapist at Bloorview, went to the dentist there and attended the Bloorview Nursery School in Scarborough.

When Eric was 3, while on vacation in Prince Edward Island with his mother and brand new brother, Alex, he experienced a major stroke. After a month in hospital in the Maritimes, he was sent home to Toronto and was admitted as an inpatient to Bloorview's Brain Injury Rehab Team (BIRT) unit. After one month as an inpatient, he was followed by the BIRT Day Program in which he attended therapy at the hospital daily, from September to December of 2008.

After his recovery had progressed well enough that he could be discharged from the Day Program, Eric returned to the Bloorview Nursery School and to physio and O.T. through the CDP at Bloorview. Then, in May 2009, Eric suddenly experienced a second major stroke, followed by a third two weeks later. After a month at Sick Kids in Toronto, he found himself as an inpatient at Bloorview again, this time from June to October and in the Day Program until December. He started Junior Kindergarten in the resource program at the Bloorview School Authority. Upon discharge from the Day Program, he began being followed by the BIRT Outpatient program for physio, O.T. and speech therapy, and continues to be seen by this team today.

It is impossible to properly explain how much the people at Bloorview, over our nearly 4-year journey with them,  have impacted our family. Every single person we encounter in that amazing building and at the nursery school, is deeply dedicated to helping kids with disabilities move, as the Bloorview slogan says, "From Disability to Possibility." The wonderful doctors, nurses, therapists, therapy assistants, therapeutic clowns, teachers, volunteers, support staff, researchers and more at Bloorview go above and beyond on a daily basis to improve the lives of the unique children they serve.

Eric's first Bloorview therapist, an Occupational Therapist named Yvonne, made such an immediate and deep connection with this kid who, at age 2 had already begun to distrust adults in hospital-type environments, and helped him make significant developmental gains thanks to that connection, that I remember Jodi and I saying that she would forever go down as Eric's (and our) life-long hero.

We still feel that way about Yvonne, but what we didn't know at the time, is that as we continued to meet Bloorview staffers and volunteers, we would add literally dozens of names to our hero list. I'm not even going to attempt to name them all, but they know who they are. Every person we've dealt with at Bloorview, from the doctor who, hearing that Eric was having seizures one day during his time in the Day Program dropped everything in her busy schedule to sit with him for over an hour, watching him, comforting him (and me), to the Therapeutic Clowns who seemed to be able to read Eric's needs better than anyone else (including me) to the Nursery School teachers who set aside personal time to visit Eric during his hospital stays, to the ladies at the Tim Hortons coffee shop in the lobby who come out from behind the counter to give Eric and Alex a hug when they see them, and so on and so on, are heroes. I think their hiring policy begins with "all applicants, in order to be considered, must be able to perform miracles."

This week I've been thinking a lot about how much Bloorview means to us, since this is our second-last week at Bloorview. I know we will meet more heroes after we move to New Brunswick in a week-and-a-half, and will be closer to other heroes (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc), which is extremely exciting, but right now, the prospect of leaving Bloorview behind is often leaving me with a lump in my throat. In case I haven't made it clear, I love that place and the people in it and hate to imagine where we would be without having had them in our lives over the past few years.

So, I was interested to hear that effective today, Bloorview Kids Rehab is no more. Don't worry, all those heroes are still there, but the place changed its name today. After an incredible $20 Million donation from the Holland family, Bloorview Kids Rehab is now the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

That $20 Million donation is on top of the $6.2 million that the Hollands have already donated to Bloorview. Bill and Suzanne Holland are dedicated to helping Bloorview... I mean Holland Bloorview, help kids with special needs meet their potential. They are parents themselves, but not parents of a Bloorview patient, as you might assume of someone who is so passionate about such a place. Bill Holland says “When my family and I toured Bloorview, I couldn’t decide which I found more compelling- the children who were dealing with disability in so many different ways or the professionals who were so dedicated in their work with them. I’ve seen many healthcare organizations up close and this is one I’m pleased to support because it works.” (quote taken from the Holland Bloorview website)

So this is a family who has more financial means than most of us will ever dream of, who could choose to support any cause, and indeed have chosen to support several not-for-profit organizations. There are a lot of great charities out there, some of which probably have a more direct connection to their family. But they decided to put their weight behind this place that I love so much. When I think about how much their support will mean for kids with special needs in Toronto, across Ontario, and (thanks to the ground-breaking research undertaken at Bloorview) around the world, I realize that we have two new heroes to add to our list. We've never met the Hollands, but we certainly appreciate them all the same. They have given kids like Eric an amazing gift: the gift of Possiblity. And we want to thank them for that.

Did I say "brief-ish"???

If you're still reading after my long love letter to Bloorview, you might as well stick around and read a bit more, because I have a link I want to share with you. I recently had an e-mail discussion with my sister about how one of the most important things that we can offer a kid with any kind of special need is understanding. So, I also wanted to suggest you read an essay written in 1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley about the way in which many parents of kids with special needs come to an understanding about the fact that their child has a disability. I think it's pretty amazing (even if it's a little sappy, but isn't that what parenting is all about?) Don't worry, it's much shorter than this blog entry!

Here's a link to the essay, called Welcome to Holland: http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html

I think it's pretty apropriate for today, considering the Bloorview name change.

Ok, that's my love letter to Holland Bloorview, and my link for you. I promise my next blog entry will be much sillier, and much shorter.

Llove,

Lloyd

PS - if you want to read more about the Holland Bloorview name change, you can check out these links:

- here's a story from the Globe and Mail
- here a story from the National Post
- here's a piece from Holland Bloorview's just-released 2010 report to donors

Misplaced Generosity

I took this picture in the bathroom of an Esso station (yes, I was that desperate that I visited a bathroom in an Esso)

If this washroom isn't up to your standards, please tell us. And accept a free air freshener as our thanks.

I decided to donate the air freshener back to the cause. I think they need it more than I do.

To me, this sign is like having a sign in a restaurant saying "if you don't like our food, please let us know. and accept an enrollment in a culinary class as our thanks." Or a hospital saying "if our doctors don't fix what ails you, let us know and we'll give you a medical kit to take home with you."

Book Learning

During a recent stay in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) for my son Eric, we brought some favourite books with us, and also borrowed some books from the reading room. I noticed that when they were lined up on the bookshelf in his room, there was a secret message on the library's stickers on the side of the books.

Are these books homophobic, trying to get me all riled up by questioning my sexuality? It didn't work, books! I'm not in grade 8, so calling me "Gay Boy" doesn't hurt my feelings!

Interesting spelling

This is a picture of a label on a shelf containing various kinds of medical equipment in the emergency room at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids).

All I could think when I read it was "I've seen it spelled Catherine, Katherine, Kathryn, but never quite like this." I guess it's one of those new, trendy ways of spelling names. If we ever have a third baby, this name might be in the running.

Thanks for helping me raise $1,000 at Lloyd's Laugh Marathon!

Hi to everyone who helped to make last night's Lloyd's Laugh Marathon comedy fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society a great success!



Thanks so much to all of you for everything you did to help, including buying tickets, buying raffle tickets and of course, laughing! I hope you all agree that it was a great show with some amazing comedians. I know the performers all told me that they had a great time, so I hope the audience all felt the same way.



For me, it was a fantastic night because not only did I get to perform on a show with some of my favourite comics, but I also added $1,000 to my fundraising total, including ticket sales, raffle/50-50 proceeds, and donations. I can't thank you all enough for helping to make that happen. I am now at approximately 80% of my goal of raising at least $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada's Team in Training and I'm excited about bringing in the next 20% between now and my half-marathon in Ottawa on May 30. You can follow my progress at http://TinyURL.com/RunLloyd. 
There are a few people and organizations I need to single out to thank for their support:

• The comics: if you are looking for more info about any of the hilarious performers from last night, here are their websites:
• Tony Krolo (http://www.tonykrolo.com/),
• Andrew Johnston (http://www.funnybusiness.ca/roster.php?id=140 or http://www.myspace.com/notandrewjohnston),
• Boyd Banks (on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/louiseandboyd  and on IMDB at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0052103/),
• Allyson Smith (http://www.asmithcomedy.com/, )
• Riz (http://www.theriz.biz/  or http://www.cbc.ca/laughoutloud/),
• Brian Lazanik (http://www.brianlazanik.com/)
• The Gladstone Hotel for donating the space last night and for providing such great service. Coolest venue in Toronto or what? Yes! http://www.gladstonehotel.com/
• Mary Jane Turcotte for designing a cool poster and postcard for the show. If you loved what Mary Jane did (of course you do) and want to hire her for your company or event, you can reach her at mjturcotte at rogers dot com. Mary Jane also donated a framed print of one of her beautiful photographs for our raffle. You can see more of her photography at http://creative2photography.blogspot.com/
• GFX Inc for donating printing of postcards to help promote the show. Postcards are a great way to promote your business or event and GFX has reasonable rates and awesome service. Check them out at http://www.gfxinc.com/
• Extreme Fitness for donating two pairs of VIP Passes for our raffle and for sponsoring Team in Training. Every Saturday for our group runs they let us use their Dunfield Club at Yonge and Eglinton for pre-run clinics and post-run stretching/showering. It's a beautiful club! If you are like me and need some help dropping those last few pregnancy pounds or whatever, you can find the nearest Extreme fitness at http://www.extremefitness.ca/
• Absolute Comedy Club for donating a six-pack of tickets for our raffle. Check out what hilarious comics are performing at Absolute in Toronto or Ottawa at http://www.absolutecomedy.ca/
• Very funny Canadian comedians Fraser Young (http://www.youngfraser.com/ ) and Daryl Makk (http://www.daddymakk.com/ ) for donating CDs for the raffle, plus another thanks to Allyson Smith for donating a copy of her hilarious DVD, "All Sales Are Final" (once again, you can find Allyson online at http://www.asmithcomedy.com/ )
• Our friend Susan Boulanger for donating the Spring Rolls gift card for the raffle
• The volunteers who came out to help with tickets at the door and selling raffle tickets:
• my lovely wife Jodi (thanks to Jodi also for being a good sport about the fact that I talk about her in my act),
• my TNT mentor Kate and her friend Rae (additional thanks to Kate for being so cool about the fact that when I messed up on the raffle and she graciously offered to share her raffle prize with someone else, my explanation to the audience opened her up for some ribbing from the MC - thanks for taking the jabs like a pro Kate and sorry!),
• and very funny local comedian Elaine Dandy (you can follow Elaine online at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44163502942 ).
• Team in Training for donating some cool TNT gear for the raffle. You can learn more about Team in Training at http://www.teamintraining.ca/

Thanks again to all of you for supporting a great cause that is very important to me.

Llove,

Lloyd

Press Release: Canadian Comedy Stars Line Up in Support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Canadian Comedy Stars Line Up in Support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada

April 5, 2010 , Toronto, ON– Some of the funniest people in Canada will be in the spotlight on May 4 at the Melody Bar in the Gladstone Hotel, as they raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada’s TEAM in Training (TNT). Funds raised from the show, titled Lloyd’s Laugh Marathon, will go towards TNT member and stand-up comedian Lloyd Ravn’s goal of raising funds for blood cancer research and patient support while training to run a half-marathon.

The show’s organizer joined TNT in honour of his late father as well as to take the opportunity to set a positive example for his two sons. When his father lost his battle with leukemia 5 years ago, Ravn’s oldest son Eric was only 6 weeks old, and losing his father so soon after becoming a father himself was a major life changing event. He considered joining TNT to raise funds as a way of marking the 5 year anniversary of his father’s death, but found it hard to commit to making the move from his unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle to the hard work of training for a half-marathon. That is, until he thought about how hard Eric works every day.

Over the past 5 years, young Eric has experienced his own series of health issues, including 3 major strokes, and Lloyd has watched and cheered as his son worked exceedingly hard at various rehabilitation therapies. “I always tell Eric ‘You can do it!’ when he is struggling to re-master a skill that his strokes have taken away from him,” said Ravn. “But as he gets older, I started to wonder if he’s thinking ‘That’s easy for you to say, as you sit on the couch.’ So I wanted to show him, and his brother Alex (2), that I am willing to push myself too.” Ravn signed up to be part of TNT for the Ottawa half-marathon, and committed to raising at least $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) in the process.

As an amateur comic in Toronto’s comedy scene, Lloyd decided to organize a stand-up show to help reach his fundraising goal, and put out the word to some of his favourite professional comedians. “I’m thrilled with the amazing line-up I’ve been able to assemble for this show and I can’t wait to perform along with these comedy stars,” said Ravn.
Tony Krolo, a Canadian comedy veteran, will host the show which will also include:

· Brian Lazanik - Just for Laughs, Last Comic Standing
· Boyd Banks - Little Mosque on the Prairie, Comics!
· Allyson Smith - Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Debaters
· Andrew Johnston - Video on Trial, Love Court· Riz (Ali Rizvi Badshah) – Second City’s Next Comedy Legend, The new host of CBC Radio’s Laugh Out Loud

Lloyd’s Laugh Marathon Details:

Date: Tuesday May 4, 2010
Location: Melody Bar in the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W, Toronto
Time: Show at 8:00
Tickets: $15.00, available at http://www.anotherl.com/ or by e-mailing lloydravn@hotmail.com

About Team in Training

Team In Training is the world’s largest endurance sport training program. For 21 years, participants of Team In Training have been completing marathons, triathlons, and 100-mile cycling challenges while raising funds for blood cancer research. Team In Training athletes are encouraged and inspired through their endurance challenges by their honoured team-mates; individuals who are currently battling, or have battled a blood cancer and have thereby faced a far more challenging test of human endurance.

For More Information:
· Lloyd Ravn, Event organizer: 647-929-8916, lloydravn@hotmail.com
· Derek Virgo, Team In Training Program Co-ordinator, derek.virgo@lls.org

Of course you do

A picture taken on my Blackberry on August 8, 2009 in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

"We do implants. Ask Inside"

It's a good thing they included the company name (Richmond Hill Dentistry), or I would have no idea what knid of implants this sign is advertising. It's like a retaurant ad with a bunch of guys in Speedo shorts and the slogan saying "We have sausages."

In this economy, diets are changing

A picture taken on my Blackberry at the Real Canadian Superstore at Don Mills and Eglinton in Toronto:

"Cooking and your Community: Kid Cooking Classes"

I wonder when the Superstore marketing team identified "Fairy Tale Witches" as their target market?

Advertising is for the dogs

Here's a picture I took on my Blackberry of a billboard at the Eaton Centre in Toronto on August 2, 2009:



It is advertising a playday for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. A playday for dogs. Advertised on a billboard in a busy mall in downtown Toronto. Best billboard ad sales guy ever.

Sounds like every room in my apartment right now

For some reason, I always found this sign, on a door on the BIRT (Brain Injury Rehab Team) unit at Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto, to be funny.



It's called the "Soiled Room." It houses bins for disposing of soiled diapers, linens, etc. But I always expected to open the door and just find a generally filthy room. If someone ever cleaned the room, they would have to replace the sign.

It probably isn't as funny as I thought it was when I took the picture. But I am still blogging it, because I never let unfunniness stand in the way of my blog.

With a compass garnish

Here's a picture I recently took on my Blackberry at the Toronto Zoo:

Talk about a fibre-rich diet.

A common marketing mistake

I love seeing an advertising campaign that was meant to convey a particular message, but which could be taken to mean something else entirely. Especially when the unintended meaning is the exact opposite of the message that the advertiser would want to be express.
For instance, check out this billboard for the Toronto Star newspaper:

It's a bit blurry, so in case you can't see it, the slogan is "Until common sense is actually common."
I assume that they mean "as long as things happen because of people (such as those in government) failing to use common sense, we will report those things." But my first thought was that it might mean "until the general population has enough common sense to make up their own minds about things rather than reading our slanted, biased views, we shall continue to spread our propaganda."
I think mine is probably more accurate, but still not what they meant.

A spark of light indeed

I have to get my Blackberry Bold replaced, because the battery leads are loose, causing it to re-boot at random and annoying times, and because the trackball isn't working right, so I often can't scroll up or down, and also because the USB port is faulty, so I can't connect it to my PC.

The faulty USB port is proving to be the biggest pain, because it means that I can't transfer pictures and videos off of the phone to my PC before sending the Berry back. Pictures I can e-mail to myself and save them to the hard drive, but almost all of my videos are too big to send, so they will probably be lost. That sucks, because I haven't cleared off the videos since before Eric went into hospital in May, so I have all of the videos I have shot since then. Some of them are important because they show Eric's onoing recovery. Some of them are important because they show how we as a family got through this time. There are some great videos of Eric's little brother, Alex being a clown.

As I posted recently, I submitted a story to Bloorview's blog, Bloom, about the importance of laughter in difficult times, and as I go through the pictures and videos on my phone, I realize how lucky we are to have Alex to keep us laughing through our struggles. No picture better illustrates this than this one of Alex, taken on "clown nose day" at Sick Kids, 15 days after Eric's second stroke, and one day after his third stroke:

To make a long story short...

Here's a picture I took with my Blackberry of a sign in a store window on University Ave in Toronto, listing the store's new operating hours.

It says:

Monday: 10 am - 5 pm

Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday: Closed

Thursday: Closed

Friday: Closed

Saturday: Closed

Sunday: Closed

As badly as I feel for the business owner that things are going that poorly, I couldn't help but laugh, thinking about how much easier it would have been to say:

Monday: 10 am - 5 pm

Tuesday-Sunday: Closed

The way they wrote it, you keep reading, hoping for better news later in the week, but just get disapointed.

On second thought, if you are paying rent for a retail space at University and College, and things are so bad that you are only open one day a week, maybe you would be smarter to make the sign say:

"Closed. Space for Rent"

I wonder how the brownies are

Can anybody explain the sign on the side of Mystic Muffin on the corner of Jarvis and Richmond in Toronto?

"World's Best Apple Cake"

I understand that part. But it's not true, by the way. My mother makes the world's best apple cake.

"Must be legal eating age for a slice."

What is the legal eating age for a slice?

This place got an awesome review on Torontoist.com a couple of years ago here, but I don't care how great the food is, I can't trust any place whose advertising makes my brain hurt.

Almost the Best Advertising Campaign Ever

Here are some pictures I took on my Blackberry of an ad that was posted in front of my apartment building. There were a few reasons why I took the pictures.
First, this is my new favourite company name:

"Raja Come Back Moving Service"

It sounds like a moving service for men whose wives are taking them back after kicking them out for a while.

Secondly, I love the slogan.

"Go Baby, Go!"
I don't know why, but I think that is the best slogan of all time. If General Motors had used that slogan years ago, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in now!

But reason number C is probably my favourite. As if marketing only to forgiven husbands wasnt enough of a niche market, they are only targeting people 8 feet tall or higher.

I am 6'3" and had to stand on my tippy-toes and hold the Blackberry over my head to take these pictures. I'm pretty sure there's not a single Toronto Raptor living in my building, so I think that while they are obviously geniuses at niche marketing, they have problems with geographic targeting.

Too much of a good thing

Here is a picture I took a few months ago of a sign advertising featured dishes in the cafeteria at Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto:

Split Pea and Butternut Squash Soup.

I love split pea soup.

I love butternut squash soup.

But the thought of combining them makes me throw up in my mouth just a little.

Trying So Hard

This blurry picture is of a notice that was posted above the garbage can in my apartment building's lobby:

It says "PLEASE DO NOT DISPOSE OF YOUR DOG FECES (POOP) IN THE FRONT FOYER..."
It makes me laugh because they tried to take the high road and say "feces" but decided that it would be a good idea to clarify and say "poop" afterall. For people who don't know what feces means. Or for people who think poop is the funniest word in the English language.