After years of hard work on the standup comedy circuit and a short-lived stint as a talk show host, gay comedian Darcy Michael is finally hitting a career high co-starring in CTV’s new sitcom Spun Out.
“Between this and my standup, I am having the time of my life right now,” Michael says from his home in Ladner, BC, where he lives with his husband, Jer, and their 15-year-old daughter.
When he first got the script for CTV’s Spun Out sitcom, about a dysfunctional public-relations firm run by Kids in the Hall alumnus Dave Foley, Michael confesses that he barely glanced at it. It wasn’t until his talk show faltered that he dug the script out of a suitcase and auditioned for the part of Nelson. He didn’t get it. But he was offered the role of Gordon.
“I couldn’t even remember who Gordon was,” says Michael, whose first reaction after looking at the script again was to lament Gordon’s lack of lines in the pilot. “But you know what? I have a 15-year-old daughter to feed, so I said yes and I was on a plane four hours later.”
Filmed before a live studio audience in Toronto, Spun Out is a multi-camera sitcom about a struggling writer who ends up working at a PR firm. Gordon, it turns out, is the “office weirdo,” as skilled at non sequiturs as he is at knitting.
“I love my stupid, idiot character, as he is so different from me,” Michael says.
Aside from a long-sought glimmer of financial security, one of the best parts of working on the sitcom is the chance to work with Dave Foley. Michael says he’s amazing to watch at work. “He has every right to be an asshole and he isn’t. The man is a national treasure.”
As for dishing on Foley and his co-stars, Michael says there are plenty of secrets, but he won’t be the one to break ranks. “Other than all the sex that Dave and I have on set?” he says with a laugh.
Joining Foley in an upcoming episode for a reunion of sorts with the other members of Kids in the Hall was an experience that Michael says left his inner 12-year-old “fan-girling.”
“I’ve worked with all of the members of Kids in the Hall at some point, but this was my first opportunity to work with all of them at one time,” he says. “Seeing how they work together was an amazing experience, as they would talk over each other for 15 minutes and then would say, ‘Okay, let’s do it,’ and the rest of us would be standing around going, ‘Do what?’”
Michael and the rest of the cast are now waiting to hear whether Spun Out will get the nod for a second season. Michael says he’s just happy to be able look his parents in the eye and finally say, “It was all worth it.”
Spun Out premiered March 6 and now airs nationally on CTV on Fridays at 8pm.
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