Scott Thompson’s Eyes

The Tom Henry Show is a podcast full of deep dives and lighthearted banter, not to mention loads of laughter. In this year-end glance, I've featured a few guests and some moments that spoke to me -

Scott Thompson (Ep 16): If you know Kids in the Hall you know Scott. His appearance on The Tom Henry Show is a delight - honest, engaging and funny. His ep is full of insight, history, anecdotes, advice, info, comedy, but this little moment caught my heart -

Tom observes that his guest has "beautiful, almost black eyes.”

ST: Thank you...I’ve never had anyone comment on my eyes in a good way.

TH: This is a first.

ST: Yeah. It's nice.

Just a sweet little aside among the jokes and the jive and the jazz (just kidding, there's no jazz).

Rodrigo Fernadez-Stoll (Ep 20) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Currently he plays Father Garcia on CBC's Son of a Critch.

This ep is a blast. Rod tells a hilarious story about performing a standup bit that involved mayonnaise. The condiment overshot its target and got on some audience members, including on a well known Canadian comic's suit. People were not happy and the host was so angry that she banned Rod from the club - for a week. The sound tech guy emailed Rod at 3am on the night of the incident with no message just a subject line that read: "Why are you like this?" Tom relates that he sometimes plays that club and beforehand they always send him a bunch of rules, including “No Food”. Rod says that's become known as the "Rodrigo Fernadez-Stoll Rule".

Tamara Shevon (Ep 24) is a comedian who co-hosts the Pretty B*tchy Podcast and "can recite every word of the movie 'She's All That'."

Tamara tells Tom: You have black energy.

TH: You say this about me often. I'll take it. I'm not saying it myself, but I'll take it...and so explain that.

TS: You just have a very…

TH: I don't know anything about the black culture.

TS: Yeah. Right. You know lots about the black culture.

TH: Explain.

TS: Okay. So, you have…first of all, you can dance very well, which is like no one really expected that. But you do dance like you're at a cookout.

TH: I sort of shuffle my feet kind of thing.

TS: Yeah. You shuffle like a Caribbean uncle right by the rice and peas. That's how you move. Um and then you say everything that's on your mind without any filter, which I've never seen any white person do.

This last statement cracks Tom up - as a comic known for his deadpan, it's always delightful to see Tom laugh. It could be compared to a birder sighting a rare bird.

James Hartnett (Ep. 13) is a local actor, writer and standup comic.

Did I mention that you can learn valuable info and skills from this show? Well, you can. For example in this episode, James does a good Obama impression and teaches Tom the trick: “It's like having a bubble in your throat.” Watch the ep and you too can learn how to talk just like Obama.

Sara Hennessey (Bonus Ep. 1) is a comedian, actor and writer from Canada who now resides in LA. In Toronto recently, she stopped by to tape a Bonus Episode with Tom.

The topic was drinks. From there they wandered into people's foibles, which they agree makes good pod fodder (podder?) Tom tells Sara he invented a drink called a Toronto. "It's like a Manhattan but with Fernet instead of vermouth." They drink as they record and the ep is full of warmth and hilarity.

A Wednesday Night Walk & Talk (Bonus Ep 2): Tom shows us around his neighborhood: "These places that serve tapas...their big claim is that they do it like in Spain, they went there to learn it. They went to Spain to learn how to put sardines on toast. At Bar Raval you have to stand. You stand around barrels that act like tables. I was in Spain twice, they have chairs there. And sundried tomatoes on toast doesn't cost $26.”

Crispy Pod (Bonus Ep 3): Tom (accidentally) comes up with a cure for hangovers. It’s a cure for a few other things too - and no, it’s not the tapioca-laced soda he tries for the first time while recording this ep (in hangover mode). The reason for the title: it's a tribute to his pal, David Noah, who died a couple of years ago. Many moons ago, Dave was Tom’s coworker at the Big Carrot (a TO health food store). Anyone who showed up to work looking the worse for wear Dave called “crispy”, his word for hungover. RIP Dave Noah, a very nice guy.

2025 Year in Review (Ep 25): This episode is the absolute cherry on top of all the cakes and icing and donuts and sundaes. Jackie Pirico is a local comedian, broadcaster and actor, and she and Tom go together like a horse and carriage - or like pomp and circumstance (ref from the ep). Rare birds laughing and providing laughs as they wrap up the year.

Disclaimer in the Form of a Memory:

When Tom was seven he washed out an empty tin-can and stuck a hand-scrawled sign onto it that said: “Give a boy a nice birthday”. Family & friends dumped change into the can & the boy bought something with it as he turned eight (I can't recall what).

That tin-can was like Patreon for kids. Now, Tom has a real Patreon, not for his birthday but for his talk show. For just two bits a day, you get Bonus Eps, but more importantly you support an artist building his own business and making people laugh. Tin-can link is on all episodes on his channel.

Thanks for reading!