Flatbed Tonight
with Chris Hawes
ABOUT THE SHOW
Flatbed Tonight takes the concept of a late night talk show and literally throws it out on the streets. We interview anyone we like ... and say anything we like. There are two stars on this show: The Flatbed and our guests. The show is Larry Sanders meets Charles Kuralt and Art Linkletter. BTW If you know who those people are, then you are our kind of person.
We capture everything the street has to offer, traffic, noise, awkward moments and real people. It’s raw, it’s ridiculous, and weather dependent.
Watch as host Chris Hawes takes production values to a whole new low. We will soon hit the streets again and will hopefully keep rolling.
Like the PBS ad says our show is made possible by "Viewers like you"
Chris Hawes - Host
ABOUT CHRIS HAWES
Born and raised in Northern Ontario, Chris grew up less than a mile from the NASA lunar landing practice site. The moon they called it. A barren desolate landscape just outside of Sudbury. Not much to do but play sports and dream of getting the hell out of there. As a child, he would revel in the few and far between opportunities to watch the Tonight Show. Like many before him, it was his dream to one day grace the Tonight Show stage, and be waived over to a coveted spot seated across the desk from Johnny Carson.
Beginning in comedy in the Late 80s , Chris eventually placed second in The Search for Canada’s Funniest New Comic at the People's Comedy Festival. A few short years later, he signed an agreement to become a Contributing Writer to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Over the next decade, Chris toured professionally across Canada with Yuk Yuk’s and into the US. In 1995 he opened his own Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club in Sudbury. He appeared in a couple of feature films and a number of television ads. In 1996 and 1998 his two children were born. The life of a fledgling touring Canadian comic was not conducive to feeding the family. So … in 1999 after a successful final tour entertaining Troops in Kosovo, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, Chris retired from comedy, closed his Yuk Yuk’s and began to work in business. He spent the next 20 years as a business man, hockey coach, baseball coach, soccer coach, chauffeur to dance, horseback, cheerleading, and meeting with teachers and principals. All the same stuff every parent does.
With his children finally grown and off to pursue their dreams, Chris began thinking about returning to comedy. Certainly there must be room in Hollywood for a 50+ year old fat guy with a receding hairline, grey hair and no formal acting training.
Flatbed Tonight was created on a lark. It blends comedy career seasoned by a wealth of life experience with the dreams of a little boy sitting in front of a Zenith 26 inch colour TV.
Chris is still married to his High School sweetheart after 37 years together. Neither has the energy to leave. They now have two young adults. He lives in the suburbs. His neighbours think he’s crazy, his kids think he’s crazy, his wife knows he’s crazy, but he maintains this delusion that being funny and creating laughs is all that matters.
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