Dancing, Dissing & Dummies

Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) is a unique force in the music scene. Her voice is beguiling, inviting you into an intriguing world conjured by her provacative lyrics. Remy has been described as an "experimental pop sensation" (CBC).

Tom Henry directed and is also the star in this video for her song What James Said, inspired by James Brown.

Tom is a Toronto-based comedian who happily explores other mediums. He learned to tap dance for his Crave Comedy Special: 66 Jokes, and in the above video he displays some classic dance moves underpinned with subtle comic steps and gestures.

He serves up laughs in his standup act and on The Tom Henry Show, a talk show that, along with all the funny stuff, brings some big time insights into the lives of his guests and himself.

Remy is a longtime friend of Henry's and that may account for his episode with her being both relaxing and riveting. The former because they have an ease of back and forth, the latter because of the sometimes revealing content of their conversation.

While exploring depths (therapy, fear of everything, mom rage) it remains lighthearted. Meg tells some great stories, like how she missed meeting Patti Smith even though she was opening for her in Toronto (no spoilers here, watch the episode for the full story).

She mentions checking each venue out for possible crowd work. Tom says its the same with comedians. In a deadpan aside he mumbles, “Where’d they get this wall paper? Norman Bates’ house?” He also discusses his quest to be more positive, in his act, in his life. Meg has a different take on his negativity being a negative. Quoting Nick Cave, she says, "Everyone has a gimmick." Adding: "Yours is negativity."

Tom points out that musician banter between songs always gets laughs and he, as a comic working hard at his trade, thinks that's unfair. Meg disagrees. Tom quips: “I’m on a mission to let everyone know how unfair my life is - as a white, straight, cisgender man…” Tongue firmly in cheek. And you'll find plenty of that, as well as just plain cheek in this video -

Have you been reading all this time just to find out what it has to do with CTD as referenced in the title? Well, hang in there, it's coming soon.

Tom and I are related, but we are vastly different in our performing lives. I studied dance in university but I don't do standup. We are both writers and actors. As the latter I appeared in exactly one music video: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. I play the mean mom, showing up at the 1:59 mark then tut-tutting all the way to the end.

For the audition, I showed up in casual but smart togs, as my agent hadn't told me about the character. Looking me up and down, the casting agent gave me a good drubbing for "not looking like a mom" (this despite the fact that I was - and am - a mom). "Don't you have something to tie your hair back with?" she admonished. I did not. So I went in to meet the director in blouse and pleated pants with my locks hanging free - so unmotherly.

The director was Dale Heslip. He made the audition fun and he turned out to be the nicest guy I've ever worked with. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm got nominated for Music Video of the Year at the 1994 Juno Awards (like the Grammys, only Canadian).

This song was beloved in its day and people still tell me how much they love it, so much so that it moves them to tears -

Thanks for reading/viewing!