A combination of Funny, Class, and Kindness!
When I grow up, I hope I become Evan Carter!!!
-- David Reuben, The Comedy Green Room dot com
“Evan Carter has been the epitome of class and professionalism for over 40 years.
He still brings the laughs. Regardless of the fickle fads of Comedy that had come and gone.
Simply...He is one of the Greats!”
-- Kenny Robinson, Canadian Comedy Legend
“Evan Carter carved out his own career path in Canadian Comedy. He does not owe anyone anything. He is a great guy, and still remains humble. He works at his craft and gives the same effort regardless of the show or audience size.”
-- Judy Croon, Canadian Broadcaster and Stand-Up Comic
“I heard about Evan Carter before I finally met him. Evan meets the audience at their level. He is professional, current, relevant and just kills! Evan Carter is a man comfortable in his own skin.”
-- Greg Eckler, Comedy Writer and Stand-Up Comic
“Evan Carter is a classy gentleman and has done stand-up comedy his way. He is still having fun doing comedy and it is obvious that he still loves the artform. The jokes are current and Evan has developed and changed over the last 45 plus years. Evan Carter is a true artist, and loves the artform of stand-up comedy,”
-- Simon Rakoff, Stand-Up Comic, and Comedy Writer
“Evan Carter made a career his way. He is in charge of his own career and is one of the great gentleman of our time. Evan has always had the hustle and a great presence on and off stage.”
-- Jim McAleese, Stand-Up Comic and Comedy Instructor
“Evan Carter changed my attitude about stand-up comedy. He taught me mic technique and being in control on stage. Most importantly he taught me to be proud of being a stand-up comedian. Evan has a positive attitude, worked hard to raise above the grittiness of Canadian Comedy. and is grateful for being a Canadian Stand-Up Comic.”
-- Mike Wilmot, Canadian and UK Comedy Legend
I recently met Mr. Evan Carter at a coffee shop in Etobicoke ON. This is Evan’s home town and base to travel across North America performing his stand-up comedy. We talked about his journey in Canadian Stand-Up Comedy, how he balances his work/life, his parents, siblings, and how proud he is of his children.
I first saw Evan perform back in the early days of Yuk Yuk’s when it was a weekly show at 519 Church street in Toronto. In those days I was to introverted and shy to approach the comics on stage. I was in aww of them being on stage. I saw Evan Carter on stage many times once the original Yuk Yuk’s on 1280 Bay Street in Toronto. By the time I started performing at the original Yuk Yuk’s Mr. Carter had moved up the ranks in Canadian Comedy.
In the late 1970’s/early 1980’s in Toronto there were only a handful of Black Sand-Up Comics, and really about 12 to 15 working stand-up comics across Canada. It certainly was a different time in Canadian Comedy History. The Black Male comics were Evan Carter, Kenny Robinson, Eugene Clark, and up-and-coming Ronnie Edwards. There were no female Black Comics and a handful of female comics.
While some comics left Canada in the 1980’s, Evan Carter stayed in Toronto and built a very successful career. Besides stand-up he was a warm-up act for visiting musical acts including Dionne Warwick, The Temptations, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Fats Domino, The Shirelles, Gladys Knight, Jennifer Holliday, Peter Tork (from The Monkees), John Cougar, Midnight Oil, Air Supply, and Marvin Gaye to name a few! Mr. Carter was lucky enough to have dinner with music legends BB King and Aretha Franklin (that is another article). He also hosted shows on The Shopping Channel, and on Zoomer Radio. Comedy writing jobs were not open to non-white comics back in the day, so Evan found his own ways to stay in the Business Of Comedy.
“I stayed in Canada, because I thought it was a shame to have to leave my home country. Many have left and few have stayed in the US. The UK wasn’t really happening standup wise at the time so it wasn’t even a thought.
I found that to stay here I had to do many things and comedy helped in almost everything I was doing. The problem is some individuals think that you can put a funny person anywhere and magic will happen. That’s not how it works. (LOL) I kept going because I realized that I had found my tribe.”
One thing is very evident when you watch Mr. Evan Carter perform or talk about comedy. He loves the artform of Stand-Up Comedy. Whether he is at a small local bar, a corporate gig, or a large soft-seat theatre Evan has fun on stage and always gives 110 percent effort. He is a true professional, arrives, early, has his material prepared, and dresses the part of a professional entertainer.
Mr. Evan Carter grew up in the west end of Toronto, in the suburb of Etobicoke. He attended Rosethorn Public School, Etobicoke Collegiate, and then Sheridan College in Oakville. After Sheridan College Evan planned to go to University and then law school, but he was already getting noticed for his stand-up comedy.
“Humour was very important in my family. My father had a great sense of humour, he had an incredible respect for language (he spoke 5 languages including
Yiddish). Both his parents were funny and many of my aunts and uncles also had a sense of humour. My mother’s side. was a little more serious but could hold their own when it came to humour. As the only Black family in the immediate area, a sense of humour was paramount.”
Evan comes from a very over achieving family, In fact his older sister was the first Black Model in Canada and became a top model in Europe. Evan remembers, “My father was a lawyer and became the first Canadian born judge in the country. My mother was the first woman of colour to work behind the counter of a major department store, and then stayed home to raise the family, staying active in the Y, school, church and political organizations.”
The Carter family bought comedy records of all the popular comics at the time the children were growing up. They included Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson, Bob Newhart, Mom’s Mabley, Dick Gregory. George Carlin, and Richard Pryor.
“The first time I stepped on stage to do comedy was in high school. We had a fundraiser at the end of each year and I went on stage with my friend Rob Mitchell.
But my first time in a club was April 1977, Yuk Yuks at 519 Church St. They had shows every Wednesday. The standup scene was quite small. Canada had a bigger troupe and improv scene. Standup was still kind of an underground thing that was in the legions, peeler bars etc. I loved watching standup when I was younger, listening to the albums and allowing it to soak in.”
One of the first people to take young Evan Carter under his wing was veteran Stand-Up comic Gary David who spent his life performing on the road in strip clubs and rough bars. Gary and his wife Minnie were very encouraging to Evan. Over the years, Tracy Rideout of CBC’s LOL is a big supporter of Evan Carter, along with Robert Gallant of The Hubcap Comedy Festival and the Okanagan Comedy Festival
Being on stage is Mr., Evan Carters “Happy Place”, his style of Stand-Up comedy is a combination of Story Telling and Observational Comedy with longer stories.” Evan says. “It was not fun, I would do something else, but what a great way to make a living.”
Today Mr. Evan Carter still tours in Canada and the USA hosting Legends of Motown, along with corporate shows, headlining clubs, and teaching comedy at Second City, Comedy Bar, and Etobicoke School of The Arts,
To relax Evan reads, watches old movies including Japanese silent films form the 1930’s. Evan and his wife Ann are now “Empty Nesters” and of course Evan has a great bit about his life change. They take long walks almost everyday and have found work/balance in their busy life.
I have been a fan of Mr. Evan Carter since I first saw him perform in the middle 1970’s, but our paths kept missing each other till some time in of winter 2022, when I hosted a show with Michael Harrison and Evan Carter in a small sushi taco restaurant in Toronto. I finally got to meet and introduce Mr. Carter and become friends with him. Since then, we have done many Comedy/Magic shows together. He is one of the nicest guys in Canadian Comedy and it is an honour to call him a friend.
Check out his album!
I am thrilled at my dear friend Ms. Glenda Fordham allowed me to include her article on Evan Carter into my article also has a video interview with Mr. Evan Carter.
“LIVE FROM THE POOL DECK” INTERVIEW WITH CANADIAN COMEDY ICON, EVAN CARTER (Fordham PR)
Next time you see Evan at a show or taking a walk say Hi! He is a great person!
For more information on Evan Carter visit : https://evancarter.com/
Mention you found out about Evan Carter on The Comedy Green Room dot com