Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Andrea Rooz: Toronto Mike'd #1181

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

In this 1181st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Andrea Rooz about her career in radio at EZ Rock, Q107 and 1010, how she was treated by John Derringer, the Corus probe and life as a voice ov...er actress. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to episode 1181 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association.
Starting point is 00:00:57 Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Canna Cabana. The lowest prices on cannabis. Guaranteed over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. And Sammy Cohn Real Estate.
Starting point is 00:01:21 Ask Sammy any real estate questions at sammy.cohn ProperlyHomes.ca. Joining me today, making her Toronto mic debut, is Andrea Ruse. Yay, I made it. What a pleasure to finally meet you, Andrea. Thank you so much. By the way, these Great Lakes love the cans. They're gorgeous. Great artwork, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:01:48 Really beautiful. You know, you're in the neck of the woods where they make that beer. They make it just like near rural York and Queensway, like down the street from the Costco in southern Etobicoke here. You are taking some Great Lakes home with you today, Andrea. Awesome.
Starting point is 00:02:04 Excited for that. Well, you shouldn't be excited, but here's something. Actually, I'm going to save this part later. I have a little clip of you in another FOTM on a radio station, now defunct radio station. I'll play it later, but you reveal something there, which will mess up something else I was going to give you, but we'll talk about it later.
Starting point is 00:02:21 I want to start. Obviously, I want to talk about your radio career, but I want to first shout out an FOTM, Daryl Henry. You've been on my radar as a guest since Daryl Henry's visit. The man, he sang your praises. You know what? He will forever be my work husband. It's been probably 20 years since we worked together as a team,
Starting point is 00:02:43 but I love him. The feeling's mutual. Yeah, he's a good guy. 20 years since we worked together as a team, but I love him. And yeah. The feeling's mutual. Yeah. He's a good guy. And that was a while ago. So like since then, I'm like, I got to get Andrea on the show. And I think I committed to it on that episode and I was trying to do it.
Starting point is 00:03:01 But everything flew around and we connected and then we kept postponing it. So it did take me till 2023, but better late than never. You're here now. Yes. Super psyched. And you can't escape. I locked that door, Andrea.
Starting point is 00:03:10 You're not leaving here. I want to start with some voiceover stuff. Like before we get to your, your radio life, I was reading that and you need to explain exactly what this means. Are you the voice of the TTC? Line one is closed between Finch and Shepherd Stations. That's basically, so if there is a, if you see something, say something.
Starting point is 00:03:42 So yes, if there is a planned closure, then I'll be, you know, reporting that. And then yes, some of those PSAs. See, I would have you on if that was all you had ever done in your career. Like if you were just the voice of the TTC, I would say, I want that woman on Toronto Mic. That's amazing. It's a cool gig. I really love it. Can you do more?
Starting point is 00:03:54 Like a couple more maybe? Oh gosh, you know what? If I had script, I could. I'm like, yeah. How about, can you do the TTC voice saying, you're listening to Toronto Mic? You're listening to Toronto Mic. you're listening to toronto mic you're listening to toronto mic that's amazing like when you go to parties like uh we just had the holiday season oh yeah you're going to a hanukkah party or a christmas party or whatever
Starting point is 00:04:15 do people make requests like let's get some that is my claim to fame it really is the moment i say yeah i'm the voice for the tdc and then they don't believe me, and then I go, line one is closed between Finch and Shepherd Stations. You know, TTC track work, whatever. Check TTC.ca for details. Oh, my goodness. Andrea Roos, listen, I'm speechless here because I'm talking to the voice of the TTC. Amazing.
Starting point is 00:04:41 You've done a whole bunch of other voice work, and I actually pulled some clips and stuff because I just find it fascinating. Who's here? Tish Eyston. Yes, Tish, who we worked with at, I worked with her at Easy Rock back in the day. Right, so you don't connect. With Dale Henry and everything.
Starting point is 00:04:56 Who works with her now, I guess. Oh no, she's no longer there actually, but she does a lot of voiceover work. She does, tons. You're in the same group of extraordinary women voices. If you want tons. And yeah, you're in the same like group of like extraordinary women voices. Like if you want a voice of your, I don't know, your software demo. Yeah. Or for the ad that's going to air national or whatever, you'd be up for that gig. Yeah. I mean, I do a lot of corporate stuff. I do some commercial stuff. I do, the biggest thing that i'm doing lately is described video
Starting point is 00:05:26 for the visually impaired so you know obviously when you put on sap or whatever on your channel right and you're visually impaired um i'm the voice that will describe what is going on on screen between dialogue amazing i feel like fotm jim van horn, like he'll go to the Olympics and stuff the show you know they don't want this like monotone type of voice that takes you out of the scene they want you you know right in there so yeah that's the okay so you said acting and i was just kind of checking over your credits and like i said i pulled some voiceover stuff so we're going to do some voiceover chatter okay and we'll get you to radio and then i'll pull the clip that might be ruining the present I was going to give you but we'll get
Starting point is 00:06:28 to that later but I see this credit like it just floats there and I need you to explain it to me it says that Andrea Ruse was on Breaking Bad so I that was the described video I did I did the described video for Breaking Bad because I watched
Starting point is 00:06:43 Breaking Bad and I feel like I would know this fun fact if you were playing a gangster or something. Oh, that would be fun, wouldn't it? No, no. But I did get to hear, because there's so much great audio with that show, like the gooping, bloody remnants of the guy from the upstairs leaking. Oh,
Starting point is 00:07:05 that scene is amazing. Jesse Pinkman. Yes. So when you're hearing it and you're, you get to like emote that feeling. It's so cool. It is very cool. All right.
Starting point is 00:07:16 So here, you're going to have to endure this for a bit, just because I think the listenership will enjoy this. All right. I'm actually going to play a, this is a whole minute. I know it sounds like an eternity for you old radio people, but this is going to be a little bit of like you doing some imaging.
Starting point is 00:07:30 And then I have a couple of clips of you doing like ad work, but here is like Andrea ruse as a, an imaging voice. Have you listened lately to cool rock 99.5 cool rock is the only station that plays today's cool hits. Ever wanted to be a big shot co-producer? It's just like Hollywood. Visit GeeksandBeats.com to learn how you can pad your resume with an exciting show credit.
Starting point is 00:07:55 Can't get enough of British television? We should see more of each other. You will this fall when weeknights are royal on Vision TV. You're talking about it. More people voted for Trump than any Republican ever. We're talking about it. We won. They lost than any Republican ever. We're talking about it. We won, they lost, do what you want. News Talk Radio 77.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Own one of the craptastic mugs of the world's most popular podcast and support the show. Oh, it's freezing out there. Winter has arrived. It's cold. And your big, ugly winter coat is calling. It's cold outside. Wear me. W's cold outside. Wear me. WBGP.
Starting point is 00:08:32 We are Jazz FM. Okay, lots of questions, but let's go to Geeks and Beats for a minute here. So Michael Hainsworth and Alan Cross are FOTMs. They've been down here. We've talked about Geeks and Beats. So you're essentially, and again, I don't think that podcast exists anymore. It does not.
Starting point is 00:08:46 No, no. I outlasted another one, Andrea. Yes, good for you. Still going here. But how do you know those two guys and how did you become like the voice of Geeks and Beats? So Michael was married to Ann Deuce, who used to work with me. Again, we're like circling back to Easy Rock. I love Easy Rock.
Starting point is 00:09:10 Exactly. That's pretty good. So, yes, so we knew each other then, and then Michael was working on this podcast, and would I be willing to do it? And sure, of course. Well, you're the perfect person for it. I'm actually going to,
Starting point is 00:09:24 like whatever they're paying you, I'm going to double it and make you the voice of toronto mine okay i can do that well at least this podcast exists for sure they came over those two gentlemen and uh they made me a martini oh like here in the studio like this was i never had one like i never had one oh what have you i know no i never had one and they're like oh you want a dirty or whatever and i'm like i don't know what we're I never had one. And they're like, oh, you want a dirty or whatever? And I'm like, I don't know what we're talking about. But they made me a martini in the studio. And all I brought was like my half-drunk bottle of water. I'll take it.
Starting point is 00:09:52 Pass it over here. I give you Great Lakes beer. You give me nothing. I know. I give you nothing. So that's imaging. Love it. I'm just going to play another one here.
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Starting point is 00:10:35 Oh, okay. You're killing all these programs. There's only one common denominator. Okay. All right. I think, actually, these guys are, oh my goodness,
Starting point is 00:10:43 I'm going to play this and they're in the news lately. Not in a great way but let's hear this somewhere off the beaten track away from the crowd in a place you'd least expect it lives a european experience you'll never forget make this your summer to visit europe whether you're planning your first trip or rediscovering europe's old world charm trust the experts at Marlin Travel. Marlin Travel. We've been there, and we'll get you there, too. Visit your nearest Marlin Travel agency to discover our great European deals. Call 1-877-870-EUR.
Starting point is 00:11:16 Now, they may be fine, Marlin Travel. Yeah, no, I think they're fine. It's just the... It's Sunwing. Yeah, it's Sunwing and the entire travel industry that is just such a mess. Is that your fault too, Andrea? Must be. You know, again, common denominator.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Do I have any clips from anything? No, but that, you know, great. This is fantastic. So my question is, what comes first? Like, do you realize you have this great voice or are you like in radio and somebody says, hey, you have a great voice you can make money doing voiceover work so what happened is really i wanted to be an actor um but i'm too short and not okay i actually had a conversation yesterday with a casting agent like uh she was a guest on
Starting point is 00:11:58 another show i produced called feminine warrior with helen tansey and we were talking about how and i'm not no assumptions on your age, but there's a, she said they have a desperate need for 50 plus. Oh. Which side of the ledger are you on in? Is that a personal question?
Starting point is 00:12:11 Yeah, yeah. Okay, well. I'm there. Okay. I'm just letting you know. Like there's literally a need. This woman's looking to chat with people who are 50 plus
Starting point is 00:12:20 so I could hook you up. Hand is up. I'm in. Yeah, Maya Ritter is her name and she was an actress and she runs the Ritter agency or something
Starting point is 00:12:31 and they place a whole bunch of people. Anyway, I'm serious. So the acting thing came first and then, you know, after I kind
Starting point is 00:12:38 of flunked out of university because I hated it. Which university? Brock. My son is there right now. No shame in that. Where's that? Zanika Falls? St. Catharines. He My son is there right now, actually. There's no shame in that.
Starting point is 00:12:46 Where's that? Is that in Falls? St. Catharines. St. Catharines. He's going to be a teacher, my son. Okay, good. Big at Summers, huh? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:52 So then I decided to get into radio. I wanted to be a journalist and I wanted to get into news and help people and uncover stories and do all that. And then it just so happened, I literally, okay, I have the best story of how I got into radio. Because I would bug every single news director every single day, especially Bill Carroll.
Starting point is 00:13:17 And literally called him every day. Bill, do you have anything for me? You got anything? Finally, after like three months of this, he said, I'm done. Okay, come on in. I've had enough of you. Let's meet. And I ended up my first job in radio was writing news for J. Edward Stone on the hog. Maximum grunt am 640. Yeah, that's amazing. I remember listening to The Hog, and I was working at the C&E when they had a presence there.
Starting point is 00:13:53 So I don't know how long The Hog existed, but it must have been like late 80s, early 90s. Yeah, it was not long. It was literally, I think, 88, 88, 89. Yeah, it must have been because I worked there the summer of 89, and I remember seeing The Hog. Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's okay. That's okay. That's wild. So Bill Carroll's at 640 and you just wore him down.
Starting point is 00:14:10 I did. And that to me, you know what? If I ever get a tattoo, that's what it's going to say. Tenacious. You have to be absolutely tenacious. Never take no for an answer. It's what I tell my kids all the time. tenacious, never take no for an answer.
Starting point is 00:14:24 It's what I tell my kids all the time. And yeah, that's how I ended up being in radio for 20, almost 20 years. Okay. So we're going to walk through some of this. I pulled at least one clip, even though it's not the best quality. But how many kids do you have? Two. Okay. And one's going to be a teacher.
Starting point is 00:14:40 Zach and Marley. So Zach obviously named after Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell. Of course. And Marley. Marley's Bob Marley. So Zach obviously named after Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell. Of course. And Marley. Marley's Bob Marley. Every Marley's named after Bob Marley. Yeah, we spell it the Bob Marley way too, not the E-E way. Cool.
Starting point is 00:14:55 Yeah. Okay. And I don't know. Zach Morris is me being funny. Yes. But is there a story like about, because Zach I always thought was like a cool guy's name. Well, that's what I thought. And my husband,
Starting point is 00:15:05 well, my ex-husband's last name is really awful. And there weren't a lot of names that kind of worked with that. Okay. Zach worked, Zach attack. I think that's a cool, that's a cool name.
Starting point is 00:15:17 So, all right. I always thought like, um, names that have X start with X, like Xavier or Xander with an X. Like I always thought these would be cool names right i agree yeah so there you go if we have a kid together we're gonna start
Starting point is 00:15:29 but i don't know your kids are gorgeous my goodness thank you of your beautiful kids okay look you know way to a man's heart here okay so uh 640 you're what you're writing coffee i just was writing with a voice like that they didn't say day one get on the get on the microphone no and then finally my um my contract ended and then again I was calling every single person up and David Craig at back then was I don't know what was it CJZ the light like they went through so many incarnations. And I ended up writing Traffic for one day. The next day, Bob Wood
Starting point is 00:16:12 said, you know what? You're going on the air tomorrow. So Bob Wood is a name I hear whenever I have a 1050 chum person on and they speak very highly of this Bob Wood. He's an icon. Yeah, so i'm told like doug thompson comes over there's a whole retrospective lots of we just did an episode 1050
Starting point is 00:16:30 and there's lots of talk of bob wood in that one so bob wood heard what i'm hearing right now in my headphones and yeah he actually first he says do you sing and And I was like, yeah, I sing. And then he asked me what my astrological sign was. And he's like, okay, you're going on the air tomorrow. What is your astrological sign? I'm an Aquarian. There's the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Right. And the rest is history.
Starting point is 00:17:02 So I was just doing traffic. I was doing a split shift for a long time, which is enough to kill somebody. I actually was going to ask you about that because you might have, maybe, I can't remember if it's Facebook or Twitter because I follow you in a few different social media platforms. But you were talking about basically,
Starting point is 00:17:18 like you're just never doing a shift. Like what is that like? You work and then you go home and you come and nap and you come back to work? Like explain that to us non-radio people. So literally you are at work at 5 o'clock in the morning till 10 and then back from 2 till 7. So I did that for a little while at Q107.
Starting point is 00:17:37 I had no time to shower or do laundry because you have to sleep. You can't be on top of it and have the wits to do a show for four hours twice a day. Right. Because you're not just doing traffic. You're doing shtick. There's a little giggle girl stuff going on.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Yeah, you got to be quick on your feet because it's all live to air. You're not going to fix it in post. Exactly. I don't fix it in post either okay so uh no ship so you did a cube but uh this station right now this is this becomes easy rock like yes okay it was like the light 97 3 it was cjz it was i don't know went through so many different incarnations yeah i didn't i didn't, I mean, obviously it was not on your radar,
Starting point is 00:18:25 not on my radar, but I do remember like Lisa Gibbons and John Tesh. Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. We had, we had that happening for a while and Delilah at night. Right. Right.
Starting point is 00:18:37 Right. I mean, we're going to, I'm going to play, maybe I'll play the clip now because we can talk more about him, but again, potato quality, but Hey,
Starting point is 00:18:44 I work with what I can find online here. But here we go. The station with Toronto's real show for lovers, Delilah. 97.3, Easy Rock, The Temptations with Just My Imagination. It's 335 with Daryl Henry and Andrea Roos. I was just doing some calculating because you are a vegetarian. I am not, and therefore I'm less healthy than you, according to you.
Starting point is 00:19:09 I never get sick. Just doing this calculating. Look at that. You've taken off twice as many sick days as I have this year. Snow partly kept me homeless yesterday. Here come the excuses, Carol. Oh, Daryl.
Starting point is 00:19:24 Carol Graham has her eye on the easy rock bit my fisherman's friend right at you computer update we've had a recent collision eastbound on the qew just all right so there's a little taste of you and the great chemistry you have with daryl henry on easy rock i love him yeah he's super like he's he's got to be the easiest person in the world to work with and it's just, when you, when you do have that chemistry and he could just throw anything at me and I, and I always had something back, you know, and he, and we, it was like volleying. Right.
Starting point is 00:19:56 So let me ask you that, that little, little bit there, right. It was only whatever that was, 30 seconds, whatever. Like, do you know that's coming? No. Okay. So you can, it's all authentic. Yeah. The reaction No. Okay. So it's all authentic, the reaction stuff. Absolutely. Just like me and you right now.
Starting point is 00:20:09 Well, I have a script right here. Andrea, why did I send you a script if you weren't going to read it? Okay. All guests get a script before the appearance. So now I want the details now. Well, firstly, you say something I should just shout out. It's mentioned in that clip that you're a vegetarian. Are you still a vegetarian?
Starting point is 00:20:24 No. Okay. you know what i want i should say oh i'm sorry but i i'm glad to hear it a little bit because uh in my freezer yeah is a large meat lasagna frozen lasagna from palma pasta i'm so excited so i have it loaded up okay this clip i grabbed this clip i wanted some of you and daryl and this is the best i could find. And then I'm like, oh, shit. Yeah. I got to get her because I can get vegetarian lasagnas. I just don't have one on premises right now. I actually love a meat lasagna.
Starting point is 00:20:51 Okay. And I hear this lasagna is spectacular. So I'm very excited. Okay. So you don't leave without your lasagna. I'm having it tonight. No, I'm not leaving. I'm going to warm it up here.
Starting point is 00:21:02 Exactly. Now it's frozen solid. So don't take a bite of it on the drive home all right break your teeth yes you don't want to do that so thank you palma pasta for sending over the lasagna thank you great lakes for the beer and real quick here uh he's actually my next visitor here uh ridley funeral home he's not here to pick you up by the way he's here he's here to record his podcast brad jones but this is a measuring tape i feel like this will come in handy you never know when you have to measure something.
Starting point is 00:21:26 That's for you, Andrea. Dude, absolutely. Thank you. We're taking care of you here today on Toronto Mic. So you're at Easy Rock or whatever it was called before Easy Rock. It's amazing you don't, well, light or whatever,
Starting point is 00:21:36 Easy, CJ. Yeah, whatever, yeah. So can you help me, you're there when it flips to Easy Rock, like any details you could share of the radio nerds out there who want to go back in time like what can you remember well let me tell you that i dropped names too we got besides gerald henry okay i worked with the best of the best tom rivers terry steel wow john major wow and john major would like you know he would not do a show in his shoes every single show was
Starting point is 00:22:08 done in his either bare feet or socks and boy listen when i was younger i used to watch him so like i was completely enamored by him yeah he's so cute he was so cute and sadly he's one of those 10 50 guys uh that you would have heard at 1050 Chum back in the 70s there. But you're absolutely, I know what you're about to say there, because I would say the same with everybody you're mentioning there. All really good, good people. Gone too soon. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:37 Well, I've had on this program, I've had Larry Fedorek on, because he worked with Tom Rivers at Mix 99.9. Yeah. Please. And also, I've had program directors from 680 CFTR. Mike Cooper came on. There's been a lot of Tom Rivers chat. What can you tell me about Tom Rivers? He hated me.
Starting point is 00:22:58 Real talk. You know what? Okay. He didn't hate me. Here's what happened. So I ended up on vacation I went on vacation and as I my fill-in person was Christine Cardoso yes and when I came back from vacation they were like Christine is going to be doing the mornings with Tom and I was like, gutted. Now Christine and I are very close friends now. We love each other,
Starting point is 00:23:29 but boy, that hurt. That really hurt. But listening back and I could tell that they just, they had something that Tom and I did not have. And as much as I admired him as a radio guy and he was a good guy, he was never mean to me or anything but you know it was this is this is the name of the game right so you go on this vacation and you come back and you've lost your spot yep and then i moved to afternoons okay okay so but tom doesn't last too long there right like well is it mike cooper who takes over for tom am i getting getting my... I feel like if we fast forward to the Aaron Davis. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:09 Mike Cooper, I think Cardoso. Yes, Mike and Christine. She went on mat leave maybe. I feel like, I mean, I hope she had a child. I'm misremembering things now. But she went on a mat leave and Aaron Davis takes over
Starting point is 00:24:20 and she never got that job back. So it happened to her. This is how it happens. So don't take any time off. If you get a gig, stay every single time. Since that moment, when I took vacation,
Starting point is 00:24:31 I was terrified. And that's not a really relaxing thing to feel when you're supposed to be on vacation. That's not job security. Okay. You'd have to insist that your partner take time off at the same time, like put a whole different show in there. Right. But then you still run the risk of. Like, put a whole different show in there. Right.
Starting point is 00:24:49 But then you still run the risk of, oh, this show is going gangbusters. Radio's a funny, funny game. I miss it in so many ways. More the people that I worked with. Because working in radio, you work with some of the smartest, funniest people. And that's what I miss. But I don't think it's that anymore, unfortunately. Well, even back then, I mean, you're only, again,
Starting point is 00:25:12 I've never worked in radio, Andrea. I know it's hard to believe with pipes like this. You're like, how is that possible? But it is true. But I've talked to enough morning show people to get a sense that there is a interesting blend with a morning show person sometimes not always a blend of like ego and insecurity and it creates i i'm happy to hear tom rivers didn't yell at you or whatever but it wouldn't have shocked me if you said he did
Starting point is 00:25:41 no he never did actually no you know Mike Cooper tells a story on this program about punching him out at a Christmas party. Oh, my gosh. Oh, I think that's because didn't he come on to Debbie? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. No, I heard that story. So I guess that's a whole different category here. But yeah, you took the time off, you lost the gig, and then you went to Afternoons. And then I was there for a while still and then and then finally brian depot they were making cuts and uh so they i had this feeling that something was going to happen and brian depot brings me into his office he's like yeah andrea we're gonna let you go so i always parked in the basement in the underground at 40 Eglinton. And you'll never believe this, but I'm, okay, I'm bawling my eyes out. I've just been let go.
Starting point is 00:26:29 The garage door won't open. So I'm literally stuck in the building, bawling my eyes out, not able to escape. It's like a bad Netflix show or something. It was awful. Anyway, I got over that. And then I went to Q107 pretty quickly. Okay, so before we get you to the mighty Q there, Brian DePoe, by the way, I won't say any details,
Starting point is 00:26:52 except he did not enjoy the Mike Cooper episode on Toronto Mike. There you go. But I digress here. Brian, I did tell Brian. Brian is a friend of mine now, and I think he's a good guy. Listen, I think we all mature and we grow. Well, I told Brian he's welcome to come on this show and refute anything and set the record straight.
Starting point is 00:27:13 That's the whole point of the show. If Mike Cooper gets some facts wrong, he's had a long legendary career, then you're welcome to come on and discuss your perspective on things. So, Brian, if you're listening, the door is still open for you to come on Toronto Mic'd. Okay. So you're at Easy Rock until you're not at Easy Rock because of budget cuts. So were you there? You were gone before Aaron Davis shows up?
Starting point is 00:27:35 I was gone before Aaron. Yeah. Yeah. I literally, two weeks later, I ended up getting a job at Q107 doing traffic and weather during the Stern show. So this was when Stern was still there. I took over Colleen Rusholm's job. She ended up, I don't know where she went. She did something.
Starting point is 00:27:58 She probably found Stu Jeffrey somewhere. Oh, yes, maybe. She's fantastic, too. Country music, maybe? I don't even remember. This was like literally 2000, maybe 2001, because I was there for 9-11 with the Stern Show when, you know, all hell broke loose.
Starting point is 00:28:19 Yeah. I've revisited the Stern Show recorded on September 11, 2001, just because I find it fascinating to hear, because, you know, you and I remember, you know, real time, like what we thought was happening, what we thought might be next, that feeling of I don't know what's next. And it's very interesting to hear Howard Stern's recording on that day as they kind of discuss what's happening in real time. Well, it was weird because we had them on a huge delay. There was like a 30, 40 minute delay. And I remember. Oh, that long? Yeah, it was. I didn't know it was that long. Oh, yeah, because we were, you know, madly editing and making sure that everything was
Starting point is 00:28:57 OK for CRTC. You may go off on the Quebec Gois or something like that. the Quebec Gois or something like that. And then so I used to watch the CP24 feed of the traffic. And so I could report on it. And then I see that first plane go. And then I call my, at that time, I had just gotten married. And I'm calling him.
Starting point is 00:29:22 And we were talking. And I'm like, oh, my God, there's the second plane. So we saw that live. And then I'm like, I have to go. I run downstairs to the newsroom where Evelyn Macko was. And at that point we're like, okay, craziness is happening. Do we go live? Do we go live? And I remember, I think Stu Myers might've been the program director at the time. But yes, he was the one who said, yeah, go live. Because obviously, Howard's reporting exactly what he's seeing outside of his window. How could we not go there? Right.
Starting point is 00:29:54 Amazing. I've had chats with Evelyn Matko about that day. And I believe she, I hope I got all my facts right on this one. But I believe Humble and Fred are on Mojo Radio that day. And then she comes on and tells them about what's going on. And then she's doing the live news. But I actually had correspondence with Evelyn Macko earlier today. Oh, really?
Starting point is 00:30:14 Which is just a... She's a lovely, lovely lady. Wacko Macko. Yep. Love her. Yeah, absolutely. There's an iconic voice. Legend.
Starting point is 00:30:20 So before, again, we're going to get you to cue here. I do want to ask you a bit more about John Major because he was, I knew him from Toronto Rocks. Like I didn't hear him on 1050 Chum, but I loved my Toronto Rocks. And I want to say he's in his fifties when he passes away. I think, yeah, like even maybe earlier. Although Tom Rivers in his fifties, I think.
Starting point is 00:30:41 Yeah. This is. Yeah. And Terry Steele. How old was Terry Steele? Probably around the same, like in his fs i think this is yeah and again terry steel how old was terry steel probably around the same like in his 50s that's that's did you work with anyone who made it to their 60s daryl henry okay thank you he's long and and mike cooper as well that's true he's looking good too so okay so any more detail just about john major uh who I'll never have on Toronto White.
Starting point is 00:31:05 Yeah. I mean, he was a great guy. There's nothing, you know, again, I was in awe. I was terrified. When you're young and you're working with these people that have all this experience and that you've looked up to, it's pretty intimidating. But he couldn't have been nicer and kinder to me.
Starting point is 00:31:26 Well, that's good news. Yeah, nothing bad to say about him. I'm sure you'll have no bad experiences in your radio career and then zero to talk about now. All right, so let's get you to Q107 here. Howard Stern, I don't remember how long Howard Stern was on Q107. My frustration, by the way, as a listener of radio was that WBUF had had howard stern uh less edited right and i guess i didn't know your delay was that
Starting point is 00:31:53 extreme i just figured it was like a five to seven minute delay or something yeah i have no idea that's wild so i would be frustrated by the q107 presentation of howard stern which uh when i could hear on wbuf but that's i digress that was for my commute i haven't had a commute in a long time but you know back in the day i tell the kids we had to listen to the radio on these commits like well we stuck a cd in the exactly dashboard but okay so when uh when howard stern is removed but the syndication during the morning show on Q107. He's replaced by John Derringer. And John Derringer has that program
Starting point is 00:32:30 until 2022. He was the morning show host from Howard Stern to 2022. Okay, so I have you wrote this. Here's the giant elephant. Where's the elephant in this room where's the elephant no I mean you yeah you obviously you're comfortable now you're not
Starting point is 00:32:49 gonna say anything you don't want to say here but you did uh go public with something so I feel like fair game you went public with this okay yeah so timelines real quick on the timelines do you know Jackie Delaney of course so Jackie Delaney came on Toronto Mic'd about a month before Jennifer Valentine posts a video on Facebook. And Jackie, I asked her about working with John Derringer and she has this weird pause and she says John Derringer is the reason that she's no longer in radio. Like Jackie Delaney says she left radio because of how she was treated by John Derringer. Yeah. Okay. So that kind of lingers out there for a month. And then some, you know,
Starting point is 00:33:29 people raise some eyebrows. It was like the first thing in public, even though, you know, if you talk to people like Humble and Fred, this has been the, the, everybody knew,
Starting point is 00:33:36 everybody knew, but few said it on, on the record, I suppose. Okay. It almost, yeah. I mean,
Starting point is 00:33:41 it's a lot of stories like Bill Cosby, a lot of stories where people know they just don't talk about it. Then it's like oh so jennifer valentine drops a video and that gets a lot of attention a great deal of attention and you write this so i'm going to quote you and then we'll you can talk to us beyond your social media post here andrea ruse writes i was his traffic person for a while until he called me a, quote, useless piece of shit, quote, and then said, quote, no one cares about your fucking opinions. Want to compare paychecks. Right. He wrote, I have a horrible memory, but this I remember verbatim.
Starting point is 00:34:20 Jennifer Valentine has opened the door. The rest of us are going to bash it down. Enough is enough. So firstly, I'm sorry that you had to endure that when you're just trying to do your job. Well, you know what? And here, let me set it up because Derringer and I got along really well.
Starting point is 00:34:39 I can be crude. I have no boundaries really, like as far as what I say on the air or i was i could keep up with him then one day he had quit smoking and he was like oh i feel so great i'm like i can breathe better better i'm like i'm saving all this time i'm not going downstairs for a butt and i'm like yeah you smell better everybody knows right when when you smoke you stink right and then he said and this was on the air he goes yeah well you don't and I'm like okay all right andfounded, did not know what I had done
Starting point is 00:35:28 to deserve that kind of reaction. And then when I complained to HR and this is the, this is the problem. And this is the big issue that Jennifer and I have that Jackie and I have, that Jackie and I have, that all the other people. Colleen Rusholm. Maureen. Maureen Holloway. Every single person. It was covered up and he was made like he was, there were excuses given to him. I was told by HR that I should probably go and apologize to him. Pardon? That's because he generated revenue for the radio station?
Starting point is 00:36:07 I guess. I mean, it was the format, if you ask me. Yeah, he was great at it, but I think there's a ton of other people that could have filled that spot and still made Q107 a lot of money. Andy Frost, nicest guy ever, right? Right.
Starting point is 00:36:26 And he's gone, and all these other people gone, and it was the culture that allowed him to continue to treat people that way. So back to the split shift, by the way. Yeah. So Donna Dixon, was it Donna? Debbie Dixon, Debbie Dixon. She had quit, and I was doing a split shift doing traffic.
Starting point is 00:36:51 I was called in. This was after the incident. Called in to the program director. The program director offered me. He said, Andrea, we think you're doing such a great job at the split shift. We're going to give you an extra thousand dollars a year, a year, which is like 20 cents a day, maybe not even to ruin my life. And now in retrospect, I am realizing it was their way of getting rid of me
Starting point is 00:37:25 because I'd had this incident. Right. And I complained. And the last thing they want is people to, you know, make noise about their morning guy. And I feel bad for John. Like, in many ways, I really do. I feel bad for him.
Starting point is 00:37:44 Like, why do you feel bad for him? Because you know, and again, I've never met the man. I'm a nice human being, I guess. And, and,
Starting point is 00:37:51 and I just like, I listen, he has to be accountable for his actions. It's the other people that has to be accountable that have to be accountable. And those are the people that have not been held accountable. And that's what's frustrating. When you talk about like the program director stuff, this, again, never worked in radio.
Starting point is 00:38:08 I'm just trying to see justice and fairness for all. But you don't name these people. We always name, we hear these names. The names are always Jennifer Valentine, Maureen Holloway, Colleen Rushel, Mandria Ruse, Jackie Delaney. But the management that's propping them up and firing people who become like a risk or a liability
Starting point is 00:38:28 because they've experienced this workplace bullying, like we never ever hear those names. At least I never hear. Sometimes Humble and Fred will drop it. Stuart Myers. Stuart Myers. Was the one who literally offered me the extra thousand dollars a year to ruin my life. And I said, no, thank you.
Starting point is 00:38:48 And then I ended up at CFRB, which was super fun. So did you quit Q107? Yeah, I'm not. A thousand dollars a year. And like literally I was making no money at that point anyway. You know, people are so surprised. People are so surprised. That's a whole separate conversation. Yeah, people are so surprised. It's, you've got one person,
Starting point is 00:39:08 maybe two who are making a decent living and then everybody else gets the crumbs, right? Okay, Ty, since you've left radio, we'll get to this, but you're not on radio right now. No, I'm not. Would you go back for the, like, would you go back to radio?
Starting point is 00:39:23 Not a chance. Like what if, because you know the money that it would take doesn't exist in radio anymore. And it's the people that don't exist. There are one person doing the job of five people or six people. It just doesn't exist the way it used to. They're just squeezing every last ounce of blood out of that stone at this point. Sadly. It is sad. Okay, you know, the reason I think I have
Starting point is 00:39:50 a podcast, I often think of, how did I end up with a podcast? I think it's because I loved WKRP as a kid. Right. Who didn't? Come on. Like Johnny Fever and... Yes. Yeah. And those days, Jan and whatever. Venus Flytrap. Oh my gosh. Bailey Quarters. Yeah, they don't exist anymore flytrap. Oh, my gosh. Bailey quarters.
Starting point is 00:40:05 Yeah, they don't exist anymore. You know, you're absolutely right. There's a few, I think, that are still smaller outfits, like Indy 88s owned by a smaller outfit and stuff. But more or less, it's the big, you go outside of CBC, it's all Bell, Rogers, or Chorus pretty much at this point. So, okay. All right, Andrea, there's a lot there to unpack here as I digest here.
Starting point is 00:40:24 But did you know at that time about people like Jackie Delaney pretty much at this point. So, okay. All right, Andrea, there's a lot there to unpack here as I digest here. But did you know at that time about people like Jackie Delaney and their experiences? Like, was it known to you? I was warned. I was warned. And I was like, I can handle it.
Starting point is 00:40:35 No problem. And I did for a long time. Like, again, I can give it back as easily as I can take it. Like, that to me was above and beyond anything I had experienced. And yeah, to,
Starting point is 00:40:51 to, to ask me to apologize for that. Anyway, it's like, just, it's just because I'm so close to so many people affected by this, that just earlier this week, like this exact week when right now,
Starting point is 00:41:04 humble Howard was sharing a story with me about how I guess John Derringer quit drinking at some point. He quit drinking. Yeah. And he was going to get, from Alcoholics Anonymous, he was going to get like a one-year chip.
Starting point is 00:41:17 And his boss, and I don't know the name of the boss at this point, but somebody asked Howard, because he was the morning show down the hall or whatever at 102.1, like if he would go to this this one year thing to be like supportive of john derringer that he's one year whatever and howard does it and he says he does it and then he's completely treated like dog shit by john derringer for like the rest of his encounters including like a day where he was the mc when john derringer went into the Radio Hall of Fame, I guess.
Starting point is 00:41:45 I don't even know what that's called. What's that Hall of Fame called? Radio Hall of Fame? Anyway, he's getting inducted into that and still won't shake Howard's hand. Right, right. I know you feel sorry for him because he was enabled and management protected him.
Starting point is 00:42:01 Yes. But again, you have kids. I have kids. I have a six like would you, I have a six year old daughter, like I would not accept this behavior from my six year old daughter. Absolutely. And to me, for the longest time before Jennifer had the balls to do what she did, I thought karma took care of it because he had three daughters. He had three daughters, a wife, and apparently his mother inlaw lived with them for a long time.
Starting point is 00:42:27 So he was surrounded by women and I'm like, okay, you know, it's taken care of. Unfortunately, it didn't change his behavior in any way. And I can only imagine
Starting point is 00:42:37 if somebody were to say what he said to me to one of his children, how he would react. Right. Like useless piece of shit. Yeah. No one cares about your fucking opinions.
Starting point is 00:42:49 And then the famous, like your value is tied to how many zeros are on your paycheck or whatever. Yeah, you want to compare paychecks. You want to compare paychecks. Like, on that note here, and I know this is a bit of a side topic, but I want to make sure,
Starting point is 00:43:00 if you're done with radio, I feel like you can come clean about this, but when we hear this voice on the radio station, if we're listening to Q107 and there's Andrea Ruse and she's doing a great job on the radio and we're driving to work and we're hearing Andrea Ruse and it's wonderful. Like, I don't know what the common person
Starting point is 00:43:15 or the typical person thinks, but what kind of salary are we talking about? Like, I know we're going back here. Yeah, so like 2000 and like yeah right around then 2001 i was probably making forty thousand dollars a year not even what do you think today the equivalent would pay and not that you'd know but do you have any idea probably the exact same Forget about inflation. You know, yeah, yeah. It's literally, they're probably paying them minimum wage. And there was always the line, you don't like it?
Starting point is 00:43:54 There's a lineup of people who are willing to do your job for less. And that's probably absolutely true. Yeah. Yeah. Because, yeah, this is why I think jobs like that have become like, if you don't have like parents who can support you while you go to school and then figure it out by basically, because I hear a lot of stories. I do a lot of sports media episodes.
Starting point is 00:44:15 And so many times the person got the job because they were there. And they were there because they were an unpaid intern working like a dog for no money. And like who amongst us is able to do that except those who are being financially supported by their parents? So what you've done is you basically said, if you don't have rich parents, go to another industry
Starting point is 00:44:34 because this is for people who have wealthy parents who will support them. Unfortunately, that is kind of the case. Getting mad, Andrea. You fired me up here, okay? And you don't need to. And again, I've never met the man. I listen to him quite a bit, though, because I love radio and I listen to a lot of Q107.
Starting point is 00:44:50 And his brother was great, by the way. Yes. And apparently nothing like him. I never worked with him, but apparently nothing like him. Well, that's good to hear because I will say he was fantastic. And Brian Hayes. Brian's his son, actually. Bill Hayes.
Starting point is 00:45:03 Bill Hayes. Bill Hayes. Brian's his son, actually. Bill Hayes. Bill Hayes. Bill Hayes was wonderful. But I don't think you need to feel sorry for him because he controls these words that come out of his mouth and how you treat people. I always watch people, how they treat like the waiter or the waitress serving them in a restaurant because you get everything. Most of what you need to know with somebody's character comes out in that exchange. Like who treats their server disrespectfully?
Starting point is 00:45:26 You know what I mean? Who even says that to their dog? Right. I mean like, right. I would, I'm so kind and I mean, I have two cats and it's like,
Starting point is 00:45:35 I would never, those, those words would never even come out of my mouth. But this goes on a long time. Like so many people. 20 years. That's a long time. Yes. You people. 20 years. That's a long time. Yes.
Starting point is 00:45:46 You know, to openly discuss the problem. So there was after the Jennifer Valentine video, they took that morning show off the air. There were three members of the show. I actually don't know. I have no idea what is happening. I know John Derringer is no longer with the company, as they say. But the two younger people who are with him, I actually don't know what happened there.
Starting point is 00:46:06 Ryan and Ryan Parker and Josh Garbutt. John Garbutt. John Garbutt. Do you know at all what happened to those two? Are they still? I don't. You don't know. I don't know either.
Starting point is 00:46:18 Okay. I think maybe Ryan may still be with the company. Interesting. I don't think he's been on the air since this incident, but I don't know what the future holds for those two. And I actually can go both ways on that. In one respect, I feel like they are accountable for not speaking out against this workplace bullying that's happening.
Starting point is 00:46:40 But they were a victim of his bullying as well, and they were probably terrified. And they probably knew, possibly, I i would speculate it's all speculation that maybe that if they spoke up they thought that would be like their last day with the company yeah because it'd be easy to get well they saw everybody if they saw it happen to everyone else see i would like to hear their story like what i would be interested in is hearing them explain why they didn't do anything like why did they not support like a Jennifer Valentine when it was going down? Like I would like to hear that from them, but okay.
Starting point is 00:47:11 Well, when I, so when that incident happened with me, Ryan had just started as an intern. So he was there and witnessed the entire thing. And I remember looking at him go at, with my tear stained face and you know boogers running down my nose like it was just i was a mess and i'm like just be careful watch watch be careful what you know what happens here and um i think he was shell-shocked to be honest yeah i don't i don't know i would i would want i would want to hear what he has to say because I can go both ways on that one. But okay, so John Derringer hasn't been on the air
Starting point is 00:47:49 since the Jennifer Valentine video drops. And then since then, Chorus announced that there was going to be a probe. They had hired lawyers to conduct a probe. Turn Penny Milne, LLP, for those who follow the stories. So my question for you, Andrea, is were you contacted by this law firm? Milne LLP for those who follow those stories. So my question for you, Andrea is,
Starting point is 00:48:09 were you contacted by this law firm? Yes. Did you participate with, did you have conversations on the record with them? No, because apparently they wanted me to not be able to say anything. So it's like, okay,
Starting point is 00:48:23 tell us, but then, but then don't tell us, us don't you're not allowed to disclose anything like an nda right so no thanks i heard heard the same from jack yeah and i mean what i had said already was out there so you know they can easily just do what i did i have yeah exactly exactly your facebook post exactly oh andrea Okay. So the chorus does a probe very quietly. There's a bunch of nothing for a long, long time. And then they put out a statement. This is only about a month old, I suppose.
Starting point is 00:48:53 But I'm going to read it. And then I want to hear how you feel about this response since you are one of the many, many victims here. Okay. This is Q107's PR department that releases this into the wild. The independent external investigation conducted by Turnpenny Milne LLP
Starting point is 00:49:11 into complaints about the working environment at the show, Derringer in the Morning has concluded, we understand that this investigation had participation from both current and former employees. While personnel matters remain private and confidential, we understand and accept the findings and recommendations.
Starting point is 00:49:31 We're not already in place. We intend to implement the investigator's recommendations. We thank all those who provided their valuable input throughout this process and turn Penny Milne LLP for their important and thorough work. How do you, Andrea, feel about that response from Chorus? Not good enough. Really?
Starting point is 00:49:54 What did they do? What are they doing? Show me something. Show me some action. Again, those people that enabled him to do what he had done and create that environment for so long, they are still working there. They still have their jobs. And so many people lost theirs, like me, for instance. Q107 was my dream job.
Starting point is 00:50:29 my dream job and because i didn't play i was let go or or they or they effectively had a constructive dismissal yeah if i were uh channeling my inner labor lawyer yeah yeah i'll get lauren honnick honnick man on the line so you know it's really it's not good enough um i still don't think that the people that need to be held accountable are being held accountable. That statement to me is a lot of words that say nothing. Like I can't find the meat there on the bones. It's like this happened. We accept it.
Starting point is 00:50:55 Let's move on. Thank you. And they hired this law firm to do this. A lot of people I've talked to like yourself, didn't even participate. I don't, I would love. We knew it was a sham like
Starting point is 00:51:06 really and john is gone from the station at this point uh i don't i'm sure he was uh i have no insight into what he was paid to go i hear a very very large chunk of money i heard that too and i think we might be hearing it from the same source. And then I did a little digging from other people who might know who think that number was way high. So I'm tapping out of the guessing game on that one, but it might not be as much as you heard. Listen, again, I wish him well. I do not, I don't harbor any kind of ill will towards anybody. I really try to be that kind of person out there in the world. I don't want that bad juju on me in any way. So I wish him well and whatever it is, what it is,
Starting point is 00:51:54 it's, it's done. Was it at all triggering or even traumatizing for you that this thing you sort of, that happened to you many, many years ago that you went on with your career and you've done some, some, you know, great things. And then it all came this past year year it all came flushing back into the headlines like
Starting point is 00:52:10 suddenly it was a hot topic in the mainstream media but it was kind of exciting that you know i guess the piper was finally coming and and yeah it was finally being dealt with. And, oh, you know, the Me Too movement, I guess, happened a little bit late for us in radio. But it happened. And I have a feeling that there will be no more John Derringers or anyone that, you know, can talk to people in that way in any kind of formal business environment. Good, because regardless of the industry,
Starting point is 00:52:45 and I've worked in industries where the same, you have the same toxic people in all industries. Like it's not a radio only thing. Right. Obviously you're all more visible. We don't see you actually. We mainly hear you, but you're,
Starting point is 00:52:58 you're kind of frontline there. So it's, it's, we talk about you more, notice you more and everything, but I've seen it. It's really, you got to cut out that cancer.
Starting point is 00:53:05 Like it's, it's a toxic work environment. It spreads and it's going to be lethal. So it's important that, to me anyways, it's important you can go to work and do your best work without fear that somebody is going to get in your face and call you a piece of shit and tell you that no one cares about your fucking opinions and ask you to compare paychecks which is just so demeaning so demeaning okay all right so you said you went to uh 1010 afterwards yep yeah i did uh traffic sat beside dave agar the brilliant dave agar and ted wallachian i would work with and yeah it was
Starting point is 00:53:42 uh it was good listen i knew i wanted to have kids so i needed a job where i could get mat leave and then no i hear you and that's what i did so i worked got mat leave came back to work got mat leave again smart and then finally said you know what i'm done with this i'm gonna try and be a freelance voice actor and And now you, I mean, it's funny because I do this too, where I have many clients now. So I serve many masters, if you will. But so it's like, hey, I'm my own boss. At the same time, I'm my own boss,
Starting point is 00:54:15 but I'm actually like, now I just have lots of bosses. Right. You know what I mean? Like you're late today because you were working with a client and satisfying their needs, which took longer than you expected. Yes. Yes. And again, there's that whole thing of, I can't really take vacation.
Starting point is 00:54:31 Yeah. You know? So I think once you're in this sort of this industry as a performer or whatever, you can, you never really feel like you can take a break unless you're, you know, George Clooney or somebody like that. like you can take a break unless you're, you know, George Clooney or somebody like that. But I, you know, I travel with my, a travel mic. Right.
Starting point is 00:54:52 Because if a client needs work, well, I better not have had to. Well, this TTC thing alone. Yeah. Right? You're the voice of the TTC, Andrea. I know. I can't have too many margaritas. And then all of a sudden I'm like, hey. Christy Station.
Starting point is 00:55:04 I actually like even, was it, so we had New Year's was a Sunday, if I have my, yeah. And then the statutory holiday was the Monday. So my wife works for a bank and she's off. The kids are home, obviously. And I'm on the road with my studio to do recordings because I was booked up. And I was like, oh, like, I would have liked to have slept in and, you know, chilled out. But it's like, you don't, unlike, and I said, you know, oh, you work for a bank, you take a vacation
Starting point is 00:55:30 and you get your full paycheck that week, right? You clock out. The moment you clock out, you clock out. You know, there's no, right? And it's like, if I take a week off, I earn, like I just, I don't make as much money that week. It's the trade-off. So, Andrew, you and I can start our own podcast about working for uh for ourselves here okay so you found in how
Starting point is 00:55:50 like how was it instant like did you get an agent or something just help me understand how you got all this cool voiceover work so yes I got an agent right away Roger King who I love I know him because uh did you go to Ryerson no oh I know him just because uh the documentary I play. I know him because Did you go to Ryerson? No. Oh. I know him just because the documentary I Play What I Want. Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm a big Marsden fan. Oh, did you, so you saw the documentary? I got invited to the
Starting point is 00:56:15 premiere they had in the theater. Yeah. And yeah, David Marsden. I was there. Okay, see we have been in the same room at the same time and that's where I discovered him but it sounds like he does some good work for voiceover. Yeah, Roger's a very good guy. So yes, there is, you have an agent, but it's a lot of hustling. It's a lot of cold calls.
Starting point is 00:56:35 It's a lot of, you know, whatever, connections, going to voiceover conferences. Networking. Networking, that kind of thing. You have to go to cocktail parties and you never know, you might be talking to voiceover conferences. Networking? Networking, that kind of thing. Do you have to go to cocktail parties and you never know, you might be talking to the marketing manager at Air Canada or something. And you never know who's there. Exactly. Okay.
Starting point is 00:56:54 No rest for the wicked, but going well for you. It sounds like you're busy and your voice is, other than the TTC, which I find exciting as a Torontonian here, but is there anything you can surprise me with? I'm the voice of like... Can I tell you what I used to do? Well, no, I'm afraid to, actually, because it might affect future clients.
Starting point is 00:57:15 But they don't exist anymore. Let's just say it was a Bell Express View blue channel. See, I like how you tease the story. It gives a Bell Express View blue channel. Oh! See, I like how you teased the story. It gives a little taste. I'm going to get the real story once I stop recording. Yes, you will. Sorry. Is there anything you're allowed to talk about?
Starting point is 00:57:33 Just as kind of like, I'm the voice of an airline in South Asia. I did my very, oh, so I'm the voice for a telenovela channel in Brazil, which is kind of cool. Hang on, I'm coughing. Oh, no. I'm like, your cough button's way over here. That's unfortunate for you. So, yeah, that and what was the other thing?
Starting point is 00:57:56 I would fix that in post, but I'm not going to. You won't be offended if your cough makes it into the final. This is all authentic and far. And yeah, if you were going to name check any other, you're the voice of this and you don't have to. Oh, I did. I did a, I did my very first video game this year, which I thought was super cool.
Starting point is 00:58:15 Okay, cool. But I don't even know what it's called or when it's coming out or anything. Do you have to do, is your auditions all remote now? Like you're, you're doing all your auditions through like Zoom or something? Everything is at home. Everything's at home.
Starting point is 00:58:27 Okay. That's gotta be sweet. Like, I don't know. I talked to, because Dan Duran works on the Humble and Fred show. So, you know, he says that he'd be going out for a gig and he'd be there. The same people would be there in the waiting room. Like it would just be the same crew. But now I'll tell you something.
Starting point is 00:58:41 Now it's all like, if you don't have a home studio and you can't produce a professional quality recording, you're not working. Because it was a little bit before the pandemic, but especially obviously during the pandemic, everybody had to work from home. Okay, here's a fun story for you here before we wind down here. The fun story is that my client and friend Peter Gross was here sitting where you are now for an episode of Toronto Mic'd. And he gets like a text during the chat.
Starting point is 00:59:13 He gets a text like, where are you? Like from his agent. He has his phone on when you guys are doing it. Really? That's not very professional. Peter Gross professionally. Okay. So he sees that his agent has texted him and said, where are you?
Starting point is 00:59:28 You're supposed to be on this Zoom right now. He had this big audition for this role or whatever. And he looks at me and he goes, I'm sorry, but he goes, I have to do this. But we did it. I had the camera and I did the Zoom and he did it here during the episode. And he booked that gig. He got that gig. And it's all recorded. I kept it here during the episode and he he booked that gig he got that gig and it's all recorded like it's all uh in the i kept it all in the episode that's kind of cool so if you get a
Starting point is 00:59:50 text you need to do something right now we can do it here well i should have kept my phone on i mean i thought i was supposed to turn my phone off but yeah well and this is toronto mike that's not cbc radio one here okay so you're you left radio after the second parental leave. And you never looked back because you now just run your own shop as like Andrea Root's voiceover woman. But I miss this kind of thing, right? Like I don't get to do shtick with people. And I do miss that. I have an idea here.
Starting point is 01:00:23 This is the idea I've been thinking about. So I had a great time with Daryl Henry and he lit up when he talked about you. And that was literally the moment I'm like, I need to, he wants me. No, I'm just so joking. Cause I'm really good friends with Tanya. Yeah, I was kidding. She might be okay with it. I don't know those details, but okay. So what am I saying here? Yes. So I was thinking i was thinking oh you know we went back and forth for like i don't know it feels like a year or something but here you are and it's wonderful and i was thinking what if like in the summer of 2023 what if you and daryl came on together
Starting point is 01:00:54 and we just talked with you two on the mic together yes you could scratch that itch oh my gosh please make it happen okay so i i I, I, I will because, uh, I know you both and I think you'd both as long as Daryl's into it, I'm sure he will be. Oh, he'd be so into it. I'm going to 100% do that. Cause of course I'm going to write all of his bits for him. We were good at that. Like he, you know, I would come up with an idea, but he was able to massage it and make it into something genius. You know, that's called the chemistry, right? to massage it and make it into something genius, you know? That's called the chemistry, right?
Starting point is 01:01:30 That's when you compliment each other and it's like a dance, right? You need a good dance partner here. So you're going to scratch that itch. You, Daryl Henry on Toronto Mike this coming summer. I want you to know that if you consume cannabis, I want you to know, Andrea, it's legal now. You don't have to be afraid anymore. It's legal in this country. And if you're doing that, you should be shopping at Canna Cabana because they won't be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories.
Starting point is 01:01:52 Over 140 locations across the country. We love Canna Cabana here. And I'm sure you're, I don't know what neck of the woods you live in. You don't have to be too specific. But what part of the GTA do you call home? Like North York. North York. Yes yes that's where sammy cohen is and sammy cohen not only is he drumming up results uh he's the drummer for the uh 90s rock band the watchman oh i don't think easy rock played a lot of watchmen but i yeah i know the watchman so when he's when they got gigs he's drumming for
Starting point is 01:02:23 them because he's a founding member but he's also one of the top one percent of realtors in toronto and if you have any real estate questions at all you can hit him up at sammy.cone k-o-h-n at properlyhomes.ca and even if you have drumming questions actually you can uh totally hit hit them up. So, Andrea, is there anything? I don't want you driving home and being like, oh, I wanted to say this or I wanted to share this story. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you were hoping you'd have a chance to talk about? I think we covered so much. What if I'm listening at home and I am the CEO of a company and we need a voice for our whatever, our application or something? Oh my gosh, you're putting me on the spot right now.
Starting point is 01:03:06 No, you just have to tell us like, how would we reach out to you to say, can I hire you? Oh, okay. That's easy. I'm not going to put you in any spots. Okay, good. That's easy. Come on here. No spot for you.
Starting point is 01:03:16 AndreaRuse.com. AndreaRuse.com. R-O-O-Z. Yes. Or Z if you're American. No, Z. This is Toronto Mike. Plano. It's absolutely Z. Okay, good. Is it Y-Y-Z or Y-Y-Z. Yes. Or Z if you're American. No, Z. This is Toronto, Mike. Plano.
Starting point is 01:03:25 It's absolutely Z. Okay, good. Is it Y-Y-Z or Y-Y-Z for the airport? You know, that's a very good question. We go back and forth from the Z to the Z, don't we? Don't you think it should be Z? It should be the country in which it resides. Absolutely.
Starting point is 01:03:42 Thank you. That's a shout out to YYZ Gord who insists it's YYZ but I still think it should be YYZ. How do you say pasta? Jim Cuddy called me out for saying pasta. I say pasta. It's pasta.
Starting point is 01:03:58 Yeah, Jim Cuddy said that too. I agree with Jim. But Dennis Weaver is doing commercials for Mother's Pizzeria. I don't know, late 80s, maybe mid to late 80s. And I would watch these ads and he would say, pizza pasta made perfect. And that's why I say pasta, because Dennis Weaver said it. That's the Canadian version, I think, as opposed to the American version, right?
Starting point is 01:04:22 So it should be pasta? And then I asked Anthony Petrucci at Palma Pasta. I said to him, I said, is it pasta or pasta? He says either or. Well, he's Italian, right? Yes. Okay, like literally from Italy? Well, no, he's probably from Mississauga.
Starting point is 01:04:38 His parents are from Italy. You know what? I would go with whatever Anthony says. You are getting the lasagnas. Don't you dare sneak out of here. No, I'm not. And that brings us to the end of our 1181st show. That's my favorite number, by the way.
Starting point is 01:05:00 1181. Better late than never. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Andrea, are you at Andrea Ruse on Twitter? Andrea Ruse Ruse. Because I forgot my password the first time. I used to know somebody there who could help you.
Starting point is 01:05:16 He's not there anymore. I can't help you anymore. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta. Or is it Pasta? Or at Palma Pasta, or is it Pasta, are at Palma Pasta or Pasta. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH.
Starting point is 01:05:38 Brad is here in exactly 40 minutes. Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore. And Sammy Cone Real Estate is at Sammy Cohn, K-O-H-N. See you all tomorrow. And my special guest is the Toronto Stars, Ed Heenan. Cause everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day. But I wonder who. Yeah, I wonder who. Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray.
Starting point is 01:06:27 Cause I know that's true. Yes, I gray cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? Oh they're picking up trash and they're putting down rogues And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn? Because everything is coming up rosy and gray
Starting point is 01:07:04 Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've kissed you in France, and I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour
Starting point is 01:07:38 But I like it much better going down on you Yeah you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine
Starting point is 01:08:01 And it's just like mine And it won't go away Because everything is rosy now. Everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray. Thank you.

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