House Of Crouse

Folks have a fear and fascination with bloodsuckers like Count Dracula and Akasha, the ancient vampire Queen of the Damned and others, so, to celebrate Halloween I’m bringing in vampire expert Prof. Stanley Stepanic of The University of Virginia to, not exactly shed some light one the subject, because, according to lore, that might make the vampires burst into flames, but to give us a lively history of the undead. To date he has published three textbooks that have been released in recent editions - these are "Dracula or the Timeless Path of the Vampire," "Russian and East European Film", and "Russian Folklore". His latest book, a novella titled “A Vamp There Was,” is set in 1920s Virginia, and looks at the vamp archetype… that of a desirable woman who manipulates men. A young man from Virginia investigates the secrets of her past and the devastating effect on the men who fall for her. Professor Stepanic teaches a popular class on Dracula at The University of Virginia which covers the history of the vampi

On the Saturday November 2, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa, a trailblazing physician recognized by the TIME magazine as a Next Generation Leader and an advocate for equity in healthcare. In her new book, “Unlike the Rest,” she shares her inspirational journey, from her childhood dream of wearing the white coat to overcoming systemic barriers to becoming a doctor. Her story is one of resilience and determination and she joins me via Zoom to talk about her life, her book and what it is like to be honored in Mattel’s #ThankYouHeroes campaign with a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll made in her image to commemorate her contributions as a frontline healthcare worker. Then, we’ll meet Marc Garneau, the first Canadian astronaut to go to space and, from 2001 to 2005, the president of the Canadian Space Agency. As a federal politician, he has served as Liberal house leader, Minister of Transport and Minister of Foreign affairs. He adds author to his resume with the release of a new

On the Saturday October 19, 2024 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet director Ali Abbasi. His film “The Apprentice,” which is now playing in theatres, is a controversial coming-of-age look at Donald Trump’s early years under the mentorship of lawyer Roy Cohn. It paints a picture of the future president of the United States as an ambitious, if slightly awkward guy, who came to believe that there are only two kinds of people in the world, “killers and losers.” Ali Abbasi joined me on the phone to discuss his six year journey to getting this film made and released and much more. Then, Elijah Wood stops by. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in everything from “Back to the Future II” to “Internal Affairs” opposite Richard Gere. He became an international star after playing Frodo Baggins in the acclaimed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. His extensive filmography now includes “Bookworm,” an intriguing film about a 12-year-old named Mildred whose life is turned upside down when her mother lands

On the Saturday October 12, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Paul Gilligan. He writes and draws the syndicated comic strip Pooch Café with Andrews McMeel, which runs in over 250 newspapers around the world and has been twice nominated by the National Cartoonist Society for best strip. He is also the author-illustrator of Pluto Rocket: New in Town, King of the Mole People and its sequel, Rise of the Slugs. Today we’ll talk about his new book the graphic memoir Boy vs. Shark. In the book, ten-year-old Paul is terrified of sharks, but when he forces himself to see the movie Jaws to keep up with his more daring friends, he is traumatized into imagining a shark living in his bedroom. Then, we’ll spend some time with Victor Garber. On the big screen, you know the London, Ontario born actor from his roles in Godspell, Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club, Legally Blonde and many others. On television, he is best known as Jack Bristow in the ABC series Alias, and he originated roles in

On the Saturday October 5, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Zac Hanson, drummer for the 3x Grammy® Award-nominated, multi-Platinum pop-rock trio, Hanson. The band are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark third album “Underneath” with a new expanded version of the album and a North American tour. The, later in the show we’ll meet author Jennifer Whiteford. She writes regularly for Razorcake, a long-standing punk publication and was also a founding member of the "all girl, all rock" band Sophomore Level Psychology. With those rock 'n roll days behind her, she says she now mostly stays home and reads and writes novels like her new one, “Make Me a Mixtape.” In the book a guarded punk-rocker-turned-barista meets a big-hearted sound tech who charms his way into her life and helps her revisit her musical past in this truly charming, cozy romance.

On the Saturday September 28, 2024 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Mike Downie, director of “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” the definitive four-part documentary series about the band who, as the programmers of TIFF noted earlier this year, “went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.” The four-hour Amazon Prime docuseries combines never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel and Geddy Lee, to create a joyful and moving look at The Tragically Hip, their music and the personal tragedies that defined the band. It's the story of a band of brothers, produced and directed by Mike Downie, brother of the band’s frontperson Gord Downie. Then, we meet Maisy Stella and Megan Park, the star and director respectively of “My Old Ass,” a wonderful coming-of-age story about a free-spirited teen whose birthday mushroom trip brings h

On the Saturday September 21, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Colin Mochrie actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, from the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” In this interview we talk about improv, working with the late great Richard Simmons in one of the funniest improvised scenes ever and his new show, “Old Enough.” It's based on the hit Japanese show of the same name and it follows kids (3-6 years old) as they head out by themselves and get their first taste of independence by running everyday errands for their parents. You can see the show on TVO and it is available to stream across Canada on the TVOkids streaming app and TVOkids.com. Then, we’ll meet musician and songwriter Diane Tell. From beginning her musical career at the age of 6, she has had many, many hits in Quebec, France and worldwide since being discovered by Radio Canada as she sang in the streets of Montreal during the Olympic Games. Today she joins me from

On the Saturday September 14, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Mike Ayley, bass player from the multi-platinum bland Marianas Trench. The band’s sixth studio album, “Haven,” is available now wherever you legally buy and download music. They are also launching their North American “Force of Nature” this month, which will make stops across the US and Canada, culminating with the tour's final stop in the band's hometown, Vancouver, BC. Then, we’ll meet actor, author and musician Paul Spence. Best known for his portrayal of hard-luck metalhead Dean Murdoch in the 2002 mockumentary film "FUBAR: The Movie," which he co-wrote with friends Dave Lawrence and Michael Dowse. He also reprised the character in the sequel film FUBAR 2, and the television series Fubar Age of Computer. In a new stand-alone movie called “Deaner ‘89” he revisits the character, uncovers his Métis heritage, starts listening to his father’s heavy metal albums, dressing in his clothes, angers a biker gang, steals a bus – and muc

On the Saturday September 7, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Barbara Adhiya. In her 20-year career as an editor with newswires CP/AP and Reuters, she says she never lost her hope and faith in humanity. Her new book as an editor, “Hope by Terry Fox,” is a testament that sentiment. Through over 50 interviews with people throughout Terry’s life — ranging from his siblings, nurses, and coaches to volunteers during the Marathon of Hope —Barbara discovers how Terry was able to run a marathon a day. Through their stories, passages from Terry’s marathon journal, and over 200 photos and documents, Hope shows that with enough resilience, determination, humility, and support, ordinary people can do impossible things. Then, we’ll meet Anne Allan, a theatre director, a producer, artistic director, and educator. Her career began as a classical dancer, training on scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London, England. After becoming ballet mistress for London City Ballet, she was invited to become th

On the Saturday August 31, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Amanda Marshall. You know the name, but could be forgiven if you wondered what happened to her. After hits like her 1996 single, "Birmingham", which reached number 3 in Canada and charted on the US, and diamond and certified 3× platinum albums, she disappeared from the charts and the music scene for more than 20 years. She says the legal battle with her former manager that kept her away from the spotlight for two decades “turned out to be the very best thing that ever happened to me.” We’ll find out why in this interview. Then, we’ll meet three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor Viggo Mortensen. From his film debut in 1985’s “Witness” to the “Lord of the Rings” movies that made him a superstar to his more recent work, like the Oscar winning “Green Book,” he has been a constant, welcome presence on screens for 40 years. Joins me today as the writer, director, star, and composer of “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” a great new Western

On the Saturday August 24, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet David Huebert. As the author of two books of short fiction, two poetry collections, and the new novel, Oil People, described by Quill and Quire as “inventive,” “hallucinatory,” and “lushly poetic,” The Literary Review of Canada called him “One of the most captivating authors of the last decade.” He says that after many years of research, writing, and editing, his debut novel, “Oil People,” is now ready for readers. We’ll also get to know Ruth Reichl, the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs, the novel “Delicious!,” and the cookbook “My Kitchen Year.” She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times, as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards. Today we’ll talk about her new book “The Paris Novel,” which follows Stella St. Vincent, an introverted thirtysomething, who finds purpose i

On the Saturday August 17, 2024 of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Michael Hirsh. He is a co-founder and the CEO of Nelvana, and one of the driving forces behind Canada’s animation dominance. His new book, “Animation Nation” is his behind-the-scenes account of working with such famous cartoon franchises as Babar, The Adventures of Tintin, Franklin, The Magic School Bus, and Beetlejuice, and larger-than-life personalities including Roseanne Barr, Mr. T., Deborah Harry, and Tim Burton. The book is a frame-by-frame account of how creative talent and entrepreneurial zeal built a global cartoon empire. Then, we meet Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, co-directors of a documentary Louis CK's fall and return to the spotlight called “Sorry, Not Sorry.” The film, whoch is available on several streaming services, features interviews with fellow comedians and women who spoke up about his sexual misconduct.

On the Saturday August 10, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Clare Titley, director of “The Contestant,” a feature doc, now available on Hollywood Suite On Demand. Narrated by Fred Armisen, it is an intimate portrait of Tomoaki Hamatsu, a Japanese reality TV star, nicknamed Nasubi, left naked in a room for more than a year and tasked with entering contests to earn food and clothing, while, unknown to him, millions of television viewers all over Japan watched his every move. The show turned him into an unwitting superstar, but at what cost? Then we’ll get to know Jonathan Torrens. You know him from Taggart and Torrens, the podcast with 4 million downloads he does with Jeremy Taggart, and his work on shows like “Street Cents” and his talk show “Jonovision” and, of course, his legendary performance as rapper J-Roc on the “Trailer Park Boys.” Today we talk about his latest project, the Truro, Nova Scotia based production company Canadian Content Studios and his new show “Roll With It.”

On the Saturday July 27, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Sunthar V. He is a Tamil Canadian comedian, presenter and writer who has performed on stages across the world including Toronto, New York, Chennai and London. Born in Toronto, Sunthar has been captivating audiences since 2019 with his distinctive humor and perspective. As an openly queer Tamil comedian, Sunthar’s comedy stems from his unique blend of life experiences and perspectives. Then, we’ll meet writer and stop-motion animator Marcus Kliewer. His debut novel “We Used to Live Here” began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (eighteen million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. Film rights for his second book, which will be based on an unpublished story called The Caretaker, have been sold to Universal, with Sydney

I go to the vault to hear a vintage interview I did with Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. We don’t talk superheroes, instead, the actor gets personal, talking about the projects that worked, the ones that didn’t and what drives him. “When I started acting I was the dunce of the class,” he says.

On the Saturday July 27, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Natalie Shaw who stars as Cady Heron in the touring, musical production of the show that touches down in Toronto at The Royal Alexandra Theatre from July 30 - August 25, 2024. You remember the story… Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. Then, we’ll meet three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor Viggo Mortensen. From his film debut in 1985’s “Witness” to the “Lord of the Rings” movies that made him a superstar to his more recent work, like the Oscar winning “Green Book,” he has been a constant, welcome presence on screens for 40 years. Joins me today as the writer, director, star, and

Welcome to the Saturday July 13, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse. On this episode we’ll meet New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project, Clare Pooley. After working in advertising for twenty years it dawned on her that her daily ‘wine o’clock’ habit was out of control. She wrote the popular "Mummy was a Secret Drinker" blog and a memoir, "The Sober Diaries," published in 2017 to critical acclaim. Her latest book is “How to Age Disgracefully,” the story of a senior citizen with a shady past who bands together with her friends to save their beloved community center from closure by any means necessary. Then, we’ll meet Larry Gaudet, an award-winning novelist and writer of imaginative non-fiction. His corporate work over 25+ years spans branding, disinformation analysis, venture financing, IPOs, speechwriting, investor relations, and marketing strategy. The sum total of his experience is captured in his latest book, a novel called Eris, in which an anarchist online group sets out to assassi

On the Saturday Saturday July 20, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show, we meet English-Canadian alternative comedian James Mullinger. Though primarily a stand-up comic, Mullinger has held a number of roles in other media including a presenter of Blimey! An Englishman in Atlantic Canada, co-writer and co-producer of The Comedian's Guide to Survival. In 2022, he published his memoir, Brit Happens: Or Living the Canadian Dream, with Goose Lane Editions. In 2016, Mullinger broke Jerry Seinfeld's record ticket sales at Harbour Station and outsold performances including Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, and Snoop Dogg. We’ll also get to know Gareth Reynolds. He’s a stand-up comedian, a podcaster with three very popular shows, The Dollop, which is a weekly comedy/ history podcast, with co-host Dave Anthony and The Past Times, a totally different weekly comedy/history podcast, with co-host Dave Anthony and We’re Here to Help, a bi-weekly advice podcast, with co-host Jake Johnson. He’s written for shows like Arrested D

On the Saturday July 6, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Amanda Marshall. You know the name, but could be forgiven if you wondered what happened to her. After hits like her 1996 single, "Birmingham", which reached number 3 in Canada and charted on the US, and diamond and certified 3× platinum albums, she disappeared from the charts and the music scene for more than 20 years. She says the legal battle with her former manager that kept her away from the spotlight for two decades “turned out to be the very best thing that ever happened to me.” We’ll find out why in this interview. Then, we’ll meet K.L. Armstrong is a pseudonym for bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. She has written over 40 books, including the bestselling young adult series the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising, the YA book Aftermath, the middle-grade novel A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying and the adult thriller Alone in the Wild. Today we’ll talk about how and why she is so prolific, and her newest novel, Known To The V

On a very special Quirky Canada Travel edition of The Richard Crouse Show, we play travel agent, and suggest some cool roadside attractions to check out as you travel around this great country of ours this summer. You’ll hear about the monetary magnificence of the Giant $2 Coin in Campbellford, Ontario, the mysteries of Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick, the World’s Largest Kielbassa Sausage in Mundare, Alberta and we’ll boldly go where… well many have gone before… as we beam you to Vulcan, Alberta, the Official Star Trek Capital of Canada.