About this Episode

Ben Bankas is a success story. The Toronto-based comedian has grown into a commercial hit, selling out tours across North America. Unlike most Canadian comedians, he made it big in the United States, a rare feat. But while the public applauds his rise, government-funded CBC comedians seem to seethe with jealousy.

On a recent CBC panel, three self-proclaimed comedians spent fifteen minutes dissecting Bankas’ comedy without ever showing a single joke. Two hadn’t even seen his material. One refused outright. And yet, they condemned him at length. This isn’t just criticism; it’s the blind leading the blind.

CBC comedians, paid by the state, inhabit an odd contradiction. Comedy, at its best, speaks truth to power, challenges authority, and provokes laughter through risk. But a government paycheck seems to stifle risk. The result? A panel of “critics” who, rather than engage with the jokes themselves, invent straw men and attack a caricature of Bankas’ material.

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