Meet Marc Anthony Sinagoga | Comedian & Founder of Funnyman Inc.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marc Anthony Sinagoga and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marc Anthony, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I first started comedy I noticed that there wasn’t much work in Canada. There weren’t many paid shows, and when I began to look at the comedy scene nationwide, I realized we needed more comedians to be producing more shows or nobody will be able to make a living here.

So I started my own comedy production company and agency, what drives the business is the motto that “everyone deserves a laugh” and that’s exactly what we do. We bring comedy to places that don’t have any, we bring comedy into the workforce to aid in productivity and mental health.

There are so many talented comedians in this country that deserve to be recognized, I started a company simply to have more stages across the country so that we can showcase more homegrown talent.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have no idea how I got to where I am today. A lot of new comedians always ask me for advice and, to be honest, I don’t really know. I’ve always been doing what I thought was the right thing for me to do at the time. For example; when I started doing the Doug Ford impressions that went viral. I was sitting in my apartment thinking “if SNL was based in Toronto, what characters would there be?” right away I said “Well I kinda look like Doug Ford” so I created a character based on Doug Ford called Uncle Doug and it just took off.

I learned that being funny is not the most important thing as a comedian. When you are constantly working with another comedian on the road, sharing a hotel room with them, driving for hours in a car with them, sitting next to them on an airplane, etc. You want to be able to have a good time with that person, if that person is hard to work with, unprofessional, selfish, etc. You just simply won’t want to work with them or book them again.

At a certain level in comedy, everyone is funny and everyone is funnier than the next comedian, especially in front of their ideal audience. So it’s super important to not burn bridges, stay professional and remember to grow alongside your colleagues. It’s not a competition, it’s a long journey that is a hard mental battle so you have to keep a strong support structure around you. Other comedians that you can go to battle with and people outside of comedy that sometimes remind you why you started this.

I remember the exact moment when I chose to do comedy for the rest of my life. I know it sounds cliche but comedy chooses you. I got off stage after my first set and I don’t remember any of it, all I remember is the feeling that I finally found what I am supposed to do in this life. From that moment I decided to comedy for the rest of my life, I a committed to the journey, not the outcome. I will make this work, whether I become famous or not, I will be a comedian.

I think what separates all comedians from one another is what they have to draw from. Their own personal life experiences. I have always been the person that “things just happen to”. I am lucky in the sense that I can just go on stage and tell the audience something that happened to me that day and get laughs. People say I am very likable on stage, so I guess having the jolly un-threatening look works in my favor. I enjoy telling my true life stories to the audience, sometimes the stories are so insane that the audience doesn’t believe me!

I feel like I’m not answering these questions well at all lol.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Honestly, I am a massive food guy. I live to eat, outside of comedy I think I was put on this earth to enjoy amazing food. If I had a best friend visiting Toronto and they’ve never been here before It would be a food tour. I think Toronto has one of the most diverse food scenes on the planet. I have traveled all over the world and I have never seen a place like Toronto. A lot of people fight me on that and say “Yeah, well what about NYC?” New York is amazing but in terms of diverse and authentic cooking, Toronto wins. Why? because Toronto still has a lot of first-generation or second-generation immigrants still coming here, so you’re getting authentic cooking from all over the world. There is no place other than Toronto where you are going to get incredible Italian, Greek, Jamaican, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Iranian, Sri Lankan, and Jewish food.

Food and Live music or a sports event is my ideal time in the city. Grab food and hit up a concert at Budweiser Stage.

Food:
Free Times Cafe – They have incredible authentic Ladkas and smoke salmon slides.
Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse. – If you want to splurge and want the best steak in Canada,
Parallel Brothers – Best falafel in Canada, everything made in-house.
Pancer’s Deli – Best beef knish and smoked meat sandwich.
Maker Pizza – best pizza in the city – they use sourdough crust which is off the charts.
Greek Grill – The roasted lamb and Pork Kontosouvli is mouth-watering.
Yu Seafood – Best dim sum & Chinese spot for me.
MINE Sushi – Make the drive to the Aurora location and order the funnyman handroll, trust me.
Uncle Pats – My favorite ox tail
Alberts Jamaican – Incredible
The Host – Indian lunch buffet, that will put you to bed for about 18 hours.
Sud Forno – My personal favorite for Italian bread
Mattachioni – Foccacia sandwiches are best in the city

Drinks:
Bar Chef for drinks is probably unbeatable.
Coffee, Champagne, and Oysters is an amazing Speakeasy.
Then shameful tiki room is a ton of fun for some tiki vibes.
Blood Brother brewery for beers.
Vatican Gift Shop is a fun night out.

Events:
In the summer you gotta check out a TFC game, Jays game, or a concert at The Budweiser Stage. All are indoor/outdoor spots making an amazing atmosphere.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This might sound cliche but I have to start with my family. If it weren’t for my family I wouldn’t have half the material on stage. When I decided to get into comedy everyone was a little reluctant at the start but was still supportive. My family was always promoting my shows and helping me run my events. When I couldn’t keep a steady job because I was always on the road, I had family members hire me to make money on the side while giving me the flexibility to travel and gain exposure as a new comedian. I draw almost all my jokes and content from my Italian heritage and family dynamics which is just a priceless gift for any comedian.

Aside from my own family, I would have to give a shout-out to the other Canadian comedy greats that came out of Ontario.
Seeing someone like Jim Carrey being the biggest comedy superstar at one point and growing up less than a 15-minute drive from my house made it possible. You always see celebrities and think to yourself “There is no way I can make it, I live in a small town in Canada” Then someone like Jim Carrey comes along and proves to you that it is possible.

Mike Myers as well growing up in Scarborough, Ontario which is where I live now was also a huge inspiration to me because I loved playing extreme characters as he does in Austin Powers. When I first got into comedy all I did was study how Mike Myers and Jim Carrey did it and started to do the same things they were doing.

Then of course I got into Standup and Russel Peters was the biggest comedian in the world at the time. I bought his book, studied all his material, and had a chance to meet him and talk to him about what it’s like being a famous comedian and what he would do as a new comedian. His advice was “commit to the game and just don’t stop doing it”

It was interesting because when I met the hilarious Lewis Black, he gave me the same advice he signed his book for me as well and wrote “do it, do it again, and don’t stop doing it” It seemed that all comedians had this idea that you had to submit to the journey of comedy. If you chose comedy as your career path then this is it, you’re never going to stop so enjoy the ride.

Website: http://funnyman.ca/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notmarcanthony/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notmarcanthony

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MarcAusten

Other: Personal Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaIw4eNZdN5U9qqgKh8Fr4Q