LUCIDMEDIA

From MTV to the Center Stage: A Glimpse into Comedian Gilson Lubin’s Road to Laughter and Success

Written by Lisa M. Knapp Monday, 08 June 2009 10:47

While in university, about midway through, this Lucid Writer had the opportunity to work at Yuk Yuks Comedy club for a year and a half. While there I met comedy acts such as Kyle Radke, Darren Frost, Jason Rouse and one of the Toronto well known faces of MTV, Gilson Lubin.

Lubin has been through quite a bit when it comes to the entertainment industry. Though he was shy as a child, he still often wears a hat to hide his eyes because as he puts it: “It’s easier for me to focus, because I don’t like to know what people are thinking... but I don’t always wear a hat when I’m on stage.”

Lubin surprised many by getting over his shyness. “I have no time for that $#!t,” he says blatantly, adding that he ventured out to take the stage in front of an audience sometimes numbering in the thousands.

He has dabbled in not only Comedy, but he also had the ever sought for opportunity as an MTV host and journalist. “My friend Teddy Wilson, asked me to come down and do a segment called ‘Yo mama’ thing… and I asked well, ‘Who’s doing it?’ and he said, such and such a comic and I was like…’see ya there man!’

“I went down and I did not know MTV was happening and I was like, ‘Hey, I got a video to show you’ and he was like ‘Yeah, okay.’ I went over to the office to show him the video, he was laughing and he liked it and the producers walked by and he said, hey do you guys know Gilson?”

Lubin talks about being offered the MTV spot and how on the spot he was asked if he wanted to do the show. Not knowing at the time what they did, he spoke to his agent and decided to do it. But after a few years, because of the pressures and the time consuming life of MTV, Lubin quit in April 2008.

For a few gruelling and difficult years, Lubin plugged away at interviewing some of his idols such as popular rapper, Snoop Dogg, whom Lubin said actually complimented him in his interviewing skills, but this was not enough to keep him in the MTV spotlight.

Lubin needed some time to gather his thoughts and do what he enjoyed most, comedy. “I didn’t want to be an interviewer, I like to do what I like,” he explains. “[Doing] Stand-up works easier for me because I have time to work on my thoughts and get it right over time. That, I can’t mess up.”

He first got into comedy when he was in Humber College studying architectural design. “My friend Jordie went to a comedy club and I was like, ‘What’s a comedy club?’ And she said, ‘It’s where people go on stage and try out material,’ and she was like, ‘Wait a minute, you should do it.’ And I was like, yeah, how do I do it? And two weeks later I was on stage.”

Currently, Lubin finds himself working on new material, and has been doing so now for about a year. “I love to travel,” Lubin admits, “but I kind of felt my old material was being exposed so I have taken time to work on new stuff.”

Lubin says that it’s tough in the Canadian Comedy Industry. The industry here seems to be a bit of a difficult door to break down as many comedians admit, but Lubin has dug down deep, and taken the time to figure out the ins and outs. “I don’t hold secrets with anyone,” Lubin admits. For the most part, I try to be as fair as possible.

“Even when I think something is not right, I deliberately take on the pain because it feels good to me. I actually do. […] Then I feel vindicated in what I react. Truth is I know I’m a very strong person. I worked on being a clean comic so I could work on making a living.”

Lubin actually quit corporate comedy once to take things into his own hands. Though he found it difficult to start, he discovered that he was making a better living being independent. And as a traveller at heart, Lubin is venturing out of Canada again overseas to Europe where he hopes to sink his foot into the Comedy industry there.

Hamilton comedian, Jason Rouse is a successful comedian in England where he has dived head first into the industry and gained much exposure and love from fans. At first, a few years back, Lubin was suppose to head out with him and work hand in hand going into the comedy clubs there, but Lubin stayed behind in order to get his comedy to where he shined.

With an upcoming show in Toronto on June 19th at Second City, Lubin has been taking full charge, from the booking of the show to the promotion, the upcoming show is Lubin’s baby and will be a grand send off to his travels out of the country.