Today I get to drop this wonderful conversation I had with Neil Crone. I don’t think I was prepared for how relaxed and fun it was going to be to speak with Neil. I always love when I meet someone for the first time and my first thought is, “this is going to be fun!” Neil is someone who has been through his fair share of “Schtuff” but has not let his challenges darken the lens with which he views the world. Instead, he is someone who uses his experiences as a way to reach out and connect with others to shine a light on what bonds us to together as humans and propel us forward into the very things that paralyze us. Neil does this with his writing, improv, acting and motivational speaking, but I have a feeling, after speaking with Neil, it is just how he shows up in the world.
Some of the things we cover in this episode are, what his biggest challenge as an artist has been, as someone who studied and performed in improv what is the most valuable takeaway he has brought with him into other areas of his life and what major change he would like to see happen in the entertainment industry.
Neil Crone: Acting, Improv, And Who Farted?
A little about Neil:
Neil is an actor and writer who lives in a town so small everybody knows where everyone else’s birthmarks are. He has performed in dozens of television and radio commercials, TV shows and is the voice of numerous cartoon characters every Saturday morning, including ‘The Ridonculous Race’, ‘Ella’ and the upcoming ‘Kody Kapow!’ His most current television and feature film roles include a guest starring appearance in ‘Rogue’, ‘Murdoch Mysteries’, ‘Remedy’, ‘The Strain’, ‘One Starry Christmas’ , and the soon to be released, ‘Bon Cop Bad Cop 2’ and Stephen Kings ‘It’. He also enjoyed six seasons playing the role of Radio Redneck Fred Tupper in CBC’s hit sit-com ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie’ and two seasons of Family Channel’s ‘Really Me’. A Second City Mainstage alumnus, Neil has been performing improvised and sketch comedy for over twenty years and is the recipient of a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Radio Comedy for his work as ‘Bad Santa’ on Q107’s Derringer in the Morning. When not performing, Neil is busy writing; as an award-winning weekly humour columnist for Metroland papers, and a contributor to numerous publications including Zoomer Magazine, Ontario Out of Doors, Dogs in Canada and ACTRA Magazine.
His books; ‘Semi-Colon; A Writers cheeky journey through Colo-rectal Cancer’, “Who Farted?’ – Stories in Verse for big and little kids” and “The Farmers Secret Midnight Dance” and his first collection of syndicated columns “Enter Laughing – The Early Years” are currently available at major bookstores. Neil is a cancer survivor and is a National Spokesperson for both the Colo-rectal Cancer Association of Canada and Colon Cancer Canada. He is available as a motivational speaker, focusing on the power of laughter in healing. When Neil grows up he wants to be an Astronaut.
Purchase Neil’s Books:
Enter Laughing, Semi-Colon: A Writers’ Cheeky Journey Through Colorectal Cancer, Who Farted?, A Farmers’ Secret Midnight Dance.
Did you enjoy the podcast?
What spoke to you the most today? Let me know by leaving a comment below!