In 2007, after hearing Eddie Izzard talk about performing in Paris in front of a French crowd and the fact that the British comedian planned to learn German so he could perform in Berlin, Mike Ward decided to try his hand at English comedy.
"Izzard loves comedy so much, he’s willing to learn a new language. I might not love it that much, but I do like it enough to translate a couple of dick jokes,” laughed Ward.
So he tried it as a lark ; his first performance was at a “Best of the Fest” show during the Just For Laugh’s Festival in the summer of 2007.
Being the lone Canadian alongside comics from Scotland, Australia, England and the U.S., everyone expected him to bomb, but history will remember the mind-blowing performance that proved what Eddie Izzard already knew : funny is funny.
If you’re funny in French, you’re going to be funny in English ; if you’re funny in English, you’re going be funny in German ; and if you’re funny in German, well, you’ll probably get shot.
Seriously, Mike Ward is funny and brutally honest. He isn’t afraid to challenge taboos even if it means receiving the odd death threat. What he does is smart, edgy and topical. He leaves everything on the stage like someone who’s just starting out, but is as solid as the veteran that he is in the French comedy world. There’s a reason this guy has been at the top of his game for over ten years.
Awards and Trivia :
More Canadians visit MikeWard.ca than any other comedian website in the world, more than ChrisRock.com, AdamSandler.com, and even more than DaneCook.com, which is why Metro Montreal dubbed him “the King of the Internet".
“Haïssable”, his French one-man-show went gold in Quebec.
His DVD "L’Gros Show" went platinum in Canada, and was on the Dep.ca Top 5 Videos for over a year.
His remake of the classic 80’s hit "The Final Countdown" reached #1 on the MusiquePlus "Top 5 anglo" countdown, and was inducted into the "Ultime Combat des Clips" (Combat Zone) hall of fame after 16 victories against such artists as Eminem, Sean Paul, Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé, and Madonna.
He was awarded an Olivier for "Performer of the year" at the Quebec comedy awards in 2005.
He won a Gemini Award for "Best Performance : Comedy (French)" in 2006.
In 2007, he was part of Juste Pour Rire’s "Les Grand Comiques", an elite group of the 25 best French comedians of all-time.
In August 2008, he performed an outdoor one-man comedy show in French in Quebec City before an audience of 7000 ; two days later, he headlined in Montreal before an audience of 9…and only 2 people paid for their tickets !
Mike does comedy for all the right reasons : he loves it and he’s good at it.