Seán Cullen
Encyclopedia
Seán Cullen is a Canadian
comedian
. He is known for combining improvisation
with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters
.
. Corky and the Juice Pigs toured the world, winning awards at the Edinburgh Fringe
& performing at Just for Laughs
in Montreal
eight times. The group was also featured on Fox's
MAD TV
. They released two comedy albums. The group broke up in 1998, after ten years together.
Following the breakup, Cullen began performing solo, often accompanied by musician Dylan Goodhue. He wrote and mounted his own one-man show called Wood, Cheese and Children which went on to become a special in CTV's Comedy Now!
series and was nominated for a Gemini Award
. Also in 1998, he was in a sketch comedy show in England called Unnatural Acts
.
Cullen has appeared frequently on Canadian television, including CBC
's Royal Canadian Air Farce
, CTV's The Associates
, and The Comedy Network
's Patti and Liocracy
. He has appeared on American
sitcoms, such as The Ellen Show
and Payne
. He has been a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, hosted NBC
's Late Friday, and has been featured in comedy bits on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which he visits an event and interviews other attendees. He has appeared on Comedy Central
's Premium Blend
, and his own Comedy Central Presents
special in 2002.
In 2003, Cullen produced his own sitcom, The Seán Cullen Show, for the CBC. It lasted for one six-episode season. Also at Christmas of 2003, CBC aired the Seán Cullen's Home for Christmas special. Cullen hosted the 17th and 18th Annual Gemini Awards Galas in 2002 and 2003 respectively, winning a Gemini himself the latter year for hosting the former gala. He has also won awards in 2001 for his gala performance at Just for Laughs
, and in 2006 for hosting What Were They Thinking — a CTV program in which Cullen visited various unusual and somewhat inexplicable landmarks around Canada. Cullen, along with Goodhue, hosted The Just For Laughs 20th Anniversary Special on CBC.
In 2004, Cullen appeared as Max Bialystock in the Canadian production of The Producers
for Mirvish Productions
, earning him a Dora Mavor Award nomination. In July 2005, CBC Radio One
began airing Simply Seán
, a music radio program hosted by Cullen.
Cullen has a longstanding relationship with the members of the band Barenaked Ladies
, formed when the band, in its original duo form, opened for Corky and the Juice Pigs on an early cross-Canada tour in 1989. On the Barenaked Ladies' 2004 U.S. and Canadian holiday tour, Cullen joined the band on the road. He would tell a comedic version of the nativity story
, and sing Christmas songs with band member Kevin Hearn
accompanying him.
In January 2007, Cullen was invited to join the band as a performer on their Ships & Dip Caribbean cruise, performing a comedy set each of the four nights of the cruise; he alternated headlining and opening with fellow comedian Harland Williams
. They were both invited back for the followup cruise in 2008, comedians Boothby Graffoe
and Debra DiGiovanni
joining the lineup. Graffoe and Cullen also performed on the band's 2009 cruise, Ships & Dip V.
He provides the voice of Lucius Heinous VII, on the Teletoon series Jimmy Two-Shoes
In 2008, Cullen was a contestant on NBC's Last Comic Standing 6
. He became a finalist on the show, making it through the auditions, Las Vegas
semi-finals, and the "house" round. Cullen was eliminated on the July 31, 2008 episode after the first of two rounds of home viewer voting which determined the final winner.
In the summer of 2009 at the Stratford Festival, Cullen stepped into the shoes of Bruce Dow as the tricky slave Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" after Dow had to leave the play because of an injury.
Cullen is associated with Balzac's Coffee, a chain of cafés in southern Ontario. The company frequently sponsors Cullen's events, such as his comedy show, The Sean Schau!. Cullen also appears in other videos promoting the chain, exhibited on his MySpace.com page, and YouTube.
Among the highlights of the show were several songs sung by Seán Cullen in character.
network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, hosted by Seán Cullen that runs during the network's summer schedule in place of Go!
in its timeslot.
The show consists of Cullen giving commentary and conducting interviews interspersed with musical selections.
. The show takes the format of a Late night television
talk show
, including local celebrity guests, and a house band. The show also features sidekick "The Orb" — a glowing white orb on a pedestal that converses with Cullen, as well as live commercials for the show's sponsor performed by Cullen and the guests.
Cullen opens the show with a monologue, and features a variety of recurring comedy bits during the show, including video segments, and improvised songs. Guests are commonly welcomed to the stage by the band and Cullen playing a sting
of a classic song with the lyrics altered to include the guest's name in place of a rhyming word or phrase (for example, recurring guest Richard Crouse
is usually introduced with "Brick House
" altered to "Dick Crouse").
for Best Juvenile Crime Book in 2007.
Cullen has also started writing the Chronicles of the Misplaced Prince series. The first book The Prince of Neither here Nor There was released on August 11, 2009. The book was nominated for a 2010 Toronto Book Award. He also wrote the second book in that series, "The Prince of Two Tribes"
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. He is known for combining improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters
Seven Little Monsters
Seven Little Monsters is a children's television program produced by Suzhou Hong Yang Cartoon Co. Ltd. for Nelvana, and is about a family of seven monsters and their mother. The series is created by Maurice Sendak, and directed by Neil Affleck, Lynn Reist, and Glen Sylvester. Each monster is named...
.
Career
Cullen entered into the public eye in 1988 as a member of musical comedy group Corky and the Juice PigsCorky and the Juice Pigs
-Filmography:* 1996 - A Little Off the Top* 1996 - MadTV * 26 October 1998 - SketchCom -References:**...
. Corky and the Juice Pigs toured the world, winning awards at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
& performing at Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
eight times. The group was also featured on Fox's
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
MAD TV
Mad TV
Mad TV may refer to:*MADtv, an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad magazine*Mad TV , a 1991 German television station management simulation game*MAD TV , a Greek music channel-See also:...
. They released two comedy albums. The group broke up in 1998, after ten years together.
Following the breakup, Cullen began performing solo, often accompanied by musician Dylan Goodhue. He wrote and mounted his own one-man show called Wood, Cheese and Children which went on to become a special in CTV's Comedy Now!
Comedy Now!
Comedy Now! is a Canadian comedy television series which debuted in 1997 featuring the newest in Canadian comedic talent. The show has won numerous Gemini Awards as well as many international awards. It is broadcast in Canada on The Comedy Network, CTV and A...
series and was nominated for a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
. Also in 1998, he was in a sketch comedy show in England called Unnatural Acts
Unnatural Acts
Unnatural Acts was a BBC radio comedy series written by, and starring, Jeremy Hardy and Kit Hollerbach as "The Hardys" with Paul B Davies and Caroline Leddy as "Paul and Caroline". Two series were made in 1987 and 1988, with the third renamed At Home With The Hardys and broadcast in 1990. Further...
.
Cullen has appeared frequently on Canadian television, including CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
, CTV's The Associates
The Associates (Canadian TV series)
The Associates is a Canadian television drama series that aired on CTV in 2001 and 2002. The show features five junior associate lawyers at a Toronto law firm, played by Demore Barnes, Shaun Benson, Tamara Hickey, Gabriel Hogan and Jennie Raymond. R.H. Thomson also stars as the firm's senior partner...
, and The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....
's Patti and Liocracy
Liocracy
Liocracy was a Canadian television comedy series, which aired on The Comedy Network in 2001 and 2002.The show, a spoof of biographical documentary series such as Biography or Life and Times, starred Leslie Nielsen as host Terrence Brynne McKennie...
. He has appeared on American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcoms, such as The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show is a television sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres that aired during the 2001–2002 season on CBS. It was DeGeneres's second attempt at a sitcom, after Ellen on ABC , but it was unable to garner strong ratings and was quickly cancelled.After coming out of the closet as a lesbian on her...
and Payne
Payne (TV series)
Payne is an American television series, patterned after the British program Fawlty Towers. It starred American actor John Larroquette, who portrayed assistant district attorney Dan Fielding on the American television program Night Court...
. He has been a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, hosted NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Late Friday, and has been featured in comedy bits on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which he visits an event and interviews other attendees. He has appeared on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's Premium Blend
Premium Blend
Premium Blend was a television show that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005.The program features a well-known stand up comedian as an emcee who introduces four or five lesser known comedians looking for a big break on television...
, and his own Comedy Central Presents
Comedy Central Presents
Comedy Central Presents is a half-hour long stand-up show that features various stand-up comedians in each episode.-DVDs:Starting in 2008, Comedy Central started releasing "Best of" compilation DVDs, with uncensored audio...
special in 2002.
In 2003, Cullen produced his own sitcom, The Seán Cullen Show, for the CBC. It lasted for one six-episode season. Also at Christmas of 2003, CBC aired the Seán Cullen's Home for Christmas special. Cullen hosted the 17th and 18th Annual Gemini Awards Galas in 2002 and 2003 respectively, winning a Gemini himself the latter year for hosting the former gala. He has also won awards in 2001 for his gala performance at Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
, and in 2006 for hosting What Were They Thinking — a CTV program in which Cullen visited various unusual and somewhat inexplicable landmarks around Canada. Cullen, along with Goodhue, hosted The Just For Laughs 20th Anniversary Special on CBC.
In 2004, Cullen appeared as Max Bialystock in the Canadian production of The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
for Mirvish Productions
Ed Mirvish
Edwin “Honest Ed” Mirvish, OC, CBE was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario...
, earning him a Dora Mavor Award nomination. In July 2005, CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
began airing Simply Seán
Simply Sean
Simply Sean was a radio show that aired weekly on CBC Radio One's summer season in the early 2000s hosted by comedian Sean Cullen. It ran every Saturday morning for an hour starting at 10am featuring songs chosen by Cullen interspersed by his own offbeat observations...
, a music radio program hosted by Cullen.
Cullen has a longstanding relationship with the members of the band Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
, formed when the band, in its original duo form, opened for Corky and the Juice Pigs on an early cross-Canada tour in 1989. On the Barenaked Ladies' 2004 U.S. and Canadian holiday tour, Cullen joined the band on the road. He would tell a comedic version of the nativity story
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
, and sing Christmas songs with band member Kevin Hearn
Kevin Hearn
Kevin Neil Hearn is a Canadian musician who is currently the keyboardist of Barenaked Ladies and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He is also a former member of Rheostatics.-Early life:...
accompanying him.
In January 2007, Cullen was invited to join the band as a performer on their Ships & Dip Caribbean cruise, performing a comedy set each of the four nights of the cruise; he alternated headlining and opening with fellow comedian Harland Williams
Harland Williams
Harland Williams is a Canadian actor, comedian, author, artist, musician and radio personality.-Personal life:Harland Reesor Williams was born on November 14, 1962, in Toronto, Ontario, to Lorraine , a social worker, and John Reesor Williams, who worked as a member of the Ontario Provincial...
. They were both invited back for the followup cruise in 2008, comedians Boothby Graffoe
Boothby Graffoe (comedian)
Boothby Graffoe , is an English comedian, singer, songwriter and playwright. He is particularly known for his surreal sense of humour and work with Canadian band Barenaked Ladies.-Early life:...
and Debra DiGiovanni
Debra DiGiovanni
Debra DiGiovanni is a Canadian stand-up comedian of Italian descent originally from Tillsonburg, Ontario.Her comedy career began with the help of Humber College's inaugural year of their Comedy Writing and Performance course, in 2000 and has since been nominated for the coveted Tim Sims Comedy...
joining the lineup. Graffoe and Cullen also performed on the band's 2009 cruise, Ships & Dip V.
He provides the voice of Lucius Heinous VII, on the Teletoon series Jimmy Two-Shoes
Jimmy Two-Shoes
Jimmy Two-Shoes is a Canadian/American animated television series. It airs on Disney XD in the United Kingdom and in the USA, and Teletoon in Canada...
In 2008, Cullen was a contestant on NBC's Last Comic Standing 6
Last Comic Standing 6
The 6th season of Last Comic Standing began airing in May 2008. This competitive reality show on NBC was hosted by Bill Bellamy and a new co-host, Fearne Cotton...
. He became a finalist on the show, making it through the auditions, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
semi-finals, and the "house" round. Cullen was eliminated on the July 31, 2008 episode after the first of two rounds of home viewer voting which determined the final winner.
In the summer of 2009 at the Stratford Festival, Cullen stepped into the shoes of Bruce Dow as the tricky slave Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" after Dow had to leave the play because of an injury.
Cullen is associated with Balzac's Coffee, a chain of cafés in southern Ontario. The company frequently sponsors Cullen's events, such as his comedy show, The Sean Schau!. Cullen also appears in other videos promoting the chain, exhibited on his MySpace.com page, and YouTube.
The Seán Cullen Show
The Seán Cullen Show is a television comedy that appeared briefly in the summer of 2003. The show, starring Seán Cullen, aired a total of six episodes on CBC Television. The show was a sitcom about the life of Seán Cullen.Among the highlights of the show were several songs sung by Seán Cullen in character.
Characters
- Seán Cullen - The head of the household.
- Betty (Jennifer Robertson)- A homemakerHomemakerHomemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
perpetually stuck in the 1950s. - Sonny (Ted Ludzik) - The mentally challenged son of Sasquatch and Betty, who is the apple of Betty's eye.
- Frau Foch (Teresa PavlinekTeresa PavlinekTeresa Pavlinek is a Canadian actress, writer and television producer, best known as the creator and star of The Jane Show.-Career:...
) - Seán's evil genius next door neighbor who never lets anyone touch her hair. - Sasquatch (Stephen R. HartStephen R. HartStephen R. Hart is a Canadian actor known for his tall height "6'11" and sonic boom voice. He is also known for his role as "The Voice" on The Current. Hazel-eyed, with pitch black hair and clothes, Hart has a reputation for playing sinister villains. His credits include notable films such as...
) - Frau's servant. - Winston, the Cellar Dweller (Winston Spear) - A man who lives in Seán's basement.
- The Critics (Ryan & Jason Belleville) - Two men who sit in the audience and criticise the show.
- Scottish Jesus - A ScottishScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
version of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. - Youppi! - The Montreal ExposMontreal ExposThe Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
mascot who made a brief guest appearance one episode. - Four, Five & Seven- The Characters From The NelvanaNelvanaNelvana Limited is a Canadian entertainment company founded in 1971 known for its work in children's animation. It was named by founders Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith after a Canadian comic book superheroine created by Adrian Dingle in the 1940s...
Tv Series Seven Little MonstersSeven Little MonstersSeven Little Monsters is a children's television program produced by Suzhou Hong Yang Cartoon Co. Ltd. for Nelvana, and is about a family of seven monsters and their mother. The series is created by Maurice Sendak, and directed by Neil Affleck, Lynn Reist, and Glen Sylvester. Each monster is named...
Simply Seán
Simply Seán is a Saturday morning entertainment radio show on the Radio OneCBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, hosted by Seán Cullen that runs during the network's summer schedule in place of Go!
Go (radio)
Go! was a Saturday morning entertainment show on the Radio One network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that ran from 2002 to 2010, hosted by Brent Bambury. The show included interviews, music, live performances, and comedy bits....
in its timeslot.
The show consists of Cullen giving commentary and conducting interviews interspersed with musical selections.
The Sean Schau!
Since at least 2006, Cullen has hosted a comedy show entitled The Sean Schau! at the Drake Hotel UndergroundDrake Hotel (Toronto)
The Drake Hotel on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada near Parkdale, was opened in 1890 as "Small's Hotel". At the time, the area was a major Canadian Pacific Railway hub near what was then one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the city....
. The show takes the format of a Late night television
Late night television
Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and is most notable for being the daypart used for a particular genre of programming that falls...
talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
, including local celebrity guests, and a house band. The show also features sidekick "The Orb" — a glowing white orb on a pedestal that converses with Cullen, as well as live commercials for the show's sponsor performed by Cullen and the guests.
Cullen opens the show with a monologue, and features a variety of recurring comedy bits during the show, including video segments, and improvised songs. Guests are commonly welcomed to the stage by the band and Cullen playing a sting
Sting (musical phrase)
A sting is a short musical phrase, primarily used in television shows and films as a form of punctuation—for example at the end of a scene, or as a dramatic climax is imminent...
of a classic song with the lyrics altered to include the guest's name in place of a rhyming word or phrase (for example, recurring guest Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a television personality and host on Canadian television and news. He currently hosts In Short on Bravo!, and was the host of Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running television show about movies, from 1998 to 2008 and is the regular film critic...
is usually introduced with "Brick House
Brick House (song)
"Brick House" is a funk song from the Commodores' 1977 album Commodores and is one of their most popular songs. The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.-Creation and recording:...
" altered to "Dick Crouse").
Novels
Outside of performance, Cullen has written three books in his own Hamish X series of novels for young adults, including Hamish X and The Cheese Pirates, Hamish X and The Hollow Mountain and Hamish X Goes To Providence, Rhode Island. The first novel won a 2007 Arthur Ellis AwardArthur Ellis Awards
The Arthur Ellis Awards are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing....
for Best Juvenile Crime Book in 2007.
Cullen has also started writing the Chronicles of the Misplaced Prince series. The first book The Prince of Neither here Nor There was released on August 11, 2009. The book was nominated for a 2010 Toronto Book Award. He also wrote the second book in that series, "The Prince of Two Tribes"
Personal life
Cullen lives in the Toronto area with his wife. The couple has a son, born in Fall 2007. Cullen and his wife also have a second child, a daughter.External links
- Seán Cullen's Official Web Site
- Seán Cullen's MySpace page
- The Sean Schau MySpace page
- Sean Cullen interview June 2007
- Sean Cullen interview at exclaim
- Seán Cullen acts at Stratford Shakespeare Festival
- Hamish X, home page of one of Cullen's series of books for young adults