Ron Sparks (comedian)

Improv and sketch

Sparks first began performing with York University's Vanier Improv Company as a student. His sketch troupe, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, were nominated four straight years (2003–2006) for Best Sketch Troupe Canadian Comedy Awards, winning in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 they won again for Best Taped Live Performance for the CBC special Sketch with Kevin McDonald.^[1] He later became a member of the CCA-nominated troupe Shoeless.

Stand-up

He began performing stand-up in 2003 at The ALTdot COMedy Lounge and other venues around Toronto, and won that year's Tim Sims Award, given to Toronto's most promising new comedy act with less than two years of experience.^[2] He then also won the 2004 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Newcomer, becoming the first person to win both. Frank Magazine described him as "the next stand-up wunderkind".
Stand-up credits include the Halifax, Winnipeg and Just for Laughs Comedy Festivals. He was JFL's Toronto Homegrown Champion in 2007 and has performed in various JFL and JFL-42 shows, including Set List, The Alternative Show with Andy Kindler, The Debaters, and opening for such acts as Kyle Kinane, Moshe Kasher, Tom Green, Russell Peters and Kevin Pollak.

Acting

On television he starred in MuchMusic's highest rated show Video on Trial and its spin-off, Stars on Trial. He plays Chris Christie in the 2016 series You Got Trumped. He was also a regular panelist on the Super Channel series Too Much Information. His CTV Comedy Now! stand-up special aired in 2008 and won a WorldFest International Film Festival Award and two Canadian Comedy Awards. He has also been a regular on various Ed the Sock series (including the cult hit This Movie Sucks!) and The Toronto Show.
Other TV credits include NBC's The Firm, The Beaverton, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Meet the Family, Straight Man, Clumsy & Shy, Dark Rising: The Savage Tales of Summer Vale, The Jon Dore Television Show, Sox in a Box and The Invasion Report.
He has also appeared in such films as Medium Raw, Dark Rising, By George, Sweetener and Ham & Cheese.

Radio

Sparks is a regular and favourite guest on CBC Radio's The Debaters (which he also writes for). He has also appeared on Brave New Waves, Definitely Not the Opera and Out Front. He had his own weekly segment The Newsdesk with Ron Sparks on 102.1 The Edge, based on his live news show.

Writing

Ron has written for such series as This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Little Mosque on the Prairie, You Got Trumped, Meet the Family, Still Standing, Spun Out, Life's a Zoo, Satisfaction, Crash Canyon, The Debaters, This Movie Sucks and Really Me. He also wrote his own series of shorts for The Comedy Network, From the Desk of Ron Sparks.
Before working in television he was an award-winning playwright, with titles including Home to Mother, A Thanksgiving That Would Even Make Great Aunt Gladys Proud, Chuck Sent Me, My Favourite Aunt and Richard Keats' Apartment of Doom.

Uwe Boll

In 2006 Sparks offered to fight Uwe Boll, who had challenged his critics to a series of boxing matches leading up to the release of his movie Postal. After exchanging several emails Boll ultimately declined due to Sparks's size advantage and because he would be fighting five challengers back-to-back.

Canadian Comedy Awards

At the 2007 Awards' "State of the Industry" event, Ron was unofficially voted "North America's Sexiest Comedian" after host Harry Doupe ran his name against Nicole Arbour. This was in response to Arbour having billed herself with that title despite never actually having won it anywhere. Neither comedian was in attendance.

Video on Trial