Ed the Sock
Encyclopedia
Ed the Sock is a puppet
, created and voiced by Steven Kerzner, that became a Canadian
television personality in the 1990s, best known for his appearances hosting programming on MuchMusic
and his own talk show, Ed's Night Party, later renamed Ed & Red's Night Party. Ed the Sock has a scowl, a cigar
sticking out of his mouth and a rough, gravelly voice.
, Eric Tunney
and Tim Rykert. After Newton Cable was purchased by Rogers Cable
in 1993, Kerzner was able to repackage the program for a wider cable audience with Ed the Sock as the star.
The new show attracted the interest of producer John Brunton, who took the program to CITY-TV
. This show, co-hosted by "Humble" Howard Glassman
(better known as half of the local radio morning show Humble & Fred
), debuted on February 10, 1995, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Brunton later departed the show after having some creative differences with Kerzner.
Kerzner was also a political aspirant, running unsuccessfully as a candidate for school trustee and for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
in the 1990 Ontario provincial election
. A fiscal and foreign-policy conservative, Kerzner's political heroes at the time included Margaret Thatcher
and Ronald Reagan
. In recent years, however, he has offered left-of centre views, arguing in favour of rights for same-sex couples, care for the homeless and other causes. He has since stated in a 2009 interview that he is no longer a conservative.
, which aired in countries around the world including the United States
(late night on the G4
Network), Ed was a fixture on MuchMusic
. The show was in the late-night slot because of its overt depictions of sexuality, primarily involving sexualized women and Ed's off-colour remarks. Among Ed's shows were Ed's Big Wham Bam, a weekly live two-hour program; and the annual Fromage
, a program which featured and mocked the cheesiest music videos released in the year, which Ed began hosting in the late 1990s, following former host and Fromage creator, MuchMusic VJ Christopher Ward
. Ed also hosted a popular but short-lived series in which he and guests watched and made fun of bad movies called Ed's Nite In
.
Ed was joined on Ed's Night Party! by Liana K
(Liana Kerzner, wife of Steven), a buxom and busty redhead
who became Ed's first female co-host and his most popular one, and who also is featured in a pin-up calendar, which was offered on Ed's official website. For several years, Liana has been the senior producer and writer of all Ed's projects. With the addition of Liana as co-host, the show was renamed Ed & Red's Night Party.
Ed & Red's Night Party ended its CITY-TV run on August 31, 2008. Creator Steven Kerzner stated that, while the weekly TV show was ending, the character would likely live on in other projects that were already in the works.
Hamilton
with a new show This Movie Sucks!
which is similar to his old show on City-TV, Ed's Nite In. The show is once again co-hosted by Liana K
and also features comedian Ron Sparks. In each two hour episode Ed has guests over to watch (and make fun of) a bad movie. This Movie Sucks! was named one of the five best television shows of 2010 by Toronto Entertainment and one of the three best new shows of 2010 by Excalibur Magazine. A third season of This Movie Sucks! is currently under production.
The series will be joined on CHCH-TV by another Ed-hosted series called I Hate Hollywood which was originally expected to air in September of 2010, but was later rescheduled and is now expected to air in the fall of 2011. The show will feature Ed and Liana making fun of the latest celebrity
gossip
and news.
Some people contend that it inspired the creation of Ed's American counterpart Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
. The controversy dates back to 1997 when Ed agreed to appear on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
. The appearance was suddenly cancelled, and one to three months later, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog debuted. Ed afterwards expressed such resentment towards Triumph that NBC (the network that aired O'Brien's show) stated they "didn't want Ed anywhere near Triumph" when Conan visited Canada for a week of shows during February 2004.
hosted the first ever Constellation Awards in 2007. He also was an advice columnist for Faze Magazine in 2001 and 2002.
With other performers in the Toronto community, Ed is a sponsor of and will be appearing at a brand new convention called Futurecon, for New Year's Eve 2010.
Since June 23, 2011 both Ed and Liana have been hosting Ed & Red's Podcast for gwmp.tv.
as head of the new "Fed-Up Party". The FU Party's stated goals include fighting apathy and stupidity in government. Throughout the campaign the "FU Party News Centre" posted links to various articles and videos trying to encourage people to vote and criticizing the political establishment, especially the government and re-election campaign of Stephen Harper
. Around this time, Ed also started his own WordPress
blog
called "Nobody's Puppet!" where he elaborated his thoughts on politics but also on the media industry.
Ed declared victory for the FU Party on April 28, 2011, citing that he had successfully assailed apathy after the record turnout at advance polls, and because to him the "Orange Surge" showed that Canadians had learned that they have a choice. While not officially endorsing the New Democratic Party
, Ed stated that the "NDP has become the FU vote" and as such withdrew from the race. While the election did grant the NDP a record number of seats in Parliament, actual voter turnout
was not much higher than in 2008
, which helped the governing Conservative Party
to win the majority of seats. Ed stated he hopes the FU Party will continue to provide "smartass commentary for a dumbass political establishment." It should be noted that Fed-Up was purely a joke political party
and was never registered with Elections Canada
.
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
, created and voiced by Steven Kerzner, that became a Canadian
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...
television personality in the 1990s, best known for his appearances hosting programming on MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
and his own talk show, Ed's Night Party, later renamed Ed & Red's Night Party. Ed the Sock has a scowl, a cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
sticking out of his mouth and a rough, gravelly voice.
Early years
Kerzner was a producer in the 1990s at Newton Cable, during this time the show went through several co-hosts which included Harland WilliamsHarland 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...
, Eric Tunney
Eric Tunney
Eric Tunney was a Canadian writer, comedian and television host from Windsor, Ontario who hosted several television shows produced in both Canada and the U.S...
and Tim Rykert. After Newton Cable was purchased by Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...
in 1993, Kerzner was able to repackage the program for a wider cable audience with Ed the Sock as the star.
The new show attracted the interest of producer John Brunton, who took the program to CITY-TV
CITY-TV
CITY-DT, Channel 57 , is a television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada owned and operated by Rogers Media...
. This show, co-hosted by "Humble" Howard Glassman
Howard Glassman
Howard Glassman , commonly known as Humble Howard, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as co-host with Fred Patterson of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.- Career :Howard Glassman has been a national radio host for CHAB ,...
(better known as half of the local radio morning show Humble & Fred
Humble & Fred
The Humble & Fred show was a Toronto-based radio morning drive time show featuring co-hosts "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson. It began in 1989 on CFNY-FM before moving to Mojo 640 in April 2001, and finally to Mix 99.9 in August 2003...
), debuted on February 10, 1995, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Brunton later departed the show after having some creative differences with Kerzner.
Kerzner was also a political aspirant, running unsuccessfully as a candidate for school trustee and for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
in the 1990 Ontario provincial election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
. A fiscal and foreign-policy conservative, Kerzner's political heroes at the time included Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. In recent years, however, he has offered left-of centre views, arguing in favour of rights for same-sex couples, care for the homeless and other causes. He has since stated in a 2009 interview that he is no longer a conservative.
Ed's Night Party and other projects
Besides Ed's Night PartyEd's Night Party
Ed & Red's Night Party is a former Canadian talk variety show. It was hosted by Steven Joel Kerzner as Ed the Sock and Kerzner's real-life wife Liana K...
, which aired in countries around the world including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(late night on the G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
Network), Ed was a fixture on MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
. The show was in the late-night slot because of its overt depictions of sexuality, primarily involving sexualized women and Ed's off-colour remarks. Among Ed's shows were Ed's Big Wham Bam, a weekly live two-hour program; and the annual Fromage
Fromage
Fromage was an annual one-hour special produced by the Canadian MuchMusic cable channel. Originally hosted by songwriter Christopher Ward, beginning in the late 1980s , Fromage pays "tribute" to music videos that are considered the worst or cheesiest of the year by MuchMusic staff.- History :Since...
, a program which featured and mocked the cheesiest music videos released in the year, which Ed began hosting in the late 1990s, following former host and Fromage creator, MuchMusic VJ Christopher Ward
Christopher Ward (songwriter)
Christopher William Ward is a Canadian songwriter and broadcaster, known as a former long-standing on-air personality at MuchMusic, Canada's music video network, where he and J.D. Roberts were among the first video jockeys in 1984...
. Ed also hosted a popular but short-lived series in which he and guests watched and made fun of bad movies called Ed's Nite In
Ed's Nite In
Ed's Nite In was a short-lived TV series on Citytv in Toronto, Canada, hosted by Ed the Sock. Ed would screen bad movies with his co-host/wife Liana K and invite friends/guests over to watch and make comments on the films....
.
Ed was joined on Ed's Night Party! by Liana K
Liana K
Liana Kerzner , better known by her stage name, Liana K, is a Canadian television entertainer who co-hosted the talk show Ed & Red's Night Party and is a well-known cosplayer.-Biography:...
(Liana Kerzner, wife of Steven), a buxom and busty redhead
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
who became Ed's first female co-host and his most popular one, and who also is featured in a pin-up calendar, which was offered on Ed's official website. For several years, Liana has been the senior producer and writer of all Ed's projects. With the addition of Liana as co-host, the show was renamed Ed & Red's Night Party.
Ed & Red's Night Party ended its CITY-TV run on August 31, 2008. Creator Steven Kerzner stated that, while the weekly TV show was ending, the character would likely live on in other projects that were already in the works.
Return to television
After two years off the air, Ed returned to television on CHCH-TVCHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
with a new show This Movie Sucks!
This Movie Sucks!
This Movie Sucks! is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premièring on May 28, 2010, two years after Ed's Night Party went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed the Sock series, Ed's Nite In...
which is similar to his old show on City-TV, Ed's Nite In. The show is once again co-hosted by Liana K
Liana K
Liana Kerzner , better known by her stage name, Liana K, is a Canadian television entertainer who co-hosted the talk show Ed & Red's Night Party and is a well-known cosplayer.-Biography:...
and also features comedian Ron Sparks. In each two hour episode Ed has guests over to watch (and make fun of) a bad movie. This Movie Sucks! was named one of the five best television shows of 2010 by Toronto Entertainment and one of the three best new shows of 2010 by Excalibur Magazine. A third season of This Movie Sucks! is currently under production.
The series will be joined on CHCH-TV by another Ed-hosted series called I Hate Hollywood which was originally expected to air in September of 2010, but was later rescheduled and is now expected to air in the fall of 2011. The show will feature Ed and Liana making fun of the latest celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
and news.
Inspirations
Ed is based on two actual people, whose names remain undisclosed.Some people contend that it inspired the creation of Ed's American counterpart Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog is a character puppet best known for mocking celebrities. Triumph was identified in the early appearances as a Yugoslavian Mountain Hound, hence his distinct Eastern European accent . As his name indicates, Triumph's comedic style is almost exclusively insult comedy...
. The controversy dates back to 1997 when Ed agreed to appear on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
. The appearance was suddenly cancelled, and one to three months later, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog debuted. Ed afterwards expressed such resentment towards Triumph that NBC (the network that aired O'Brien's show) stated they "didn't want Ed anywhere near Triumph" when Conan visited Canada for a week of shows during February 2004.
Other appearances
Aside from television, Ed has had some radio appearances and is a popular guest at numerous sci-fi conventions. Among his many appearances, he and Liana KLiana K
Liana Kerzner , better known by her stage name, Liana K, is a Canadian television entertainer who co-hosted the talk show Ed & Red's Night Party and is a well-known cosplayer.-Biography:...
hosted the first ever Constellation Awards in 2007. He also was an advice columnist for Faze Magazine in 2001 and 2002.
With other performers in the Toronto community, Ed is a sponsor of and will be appearing at a brand new convention called Futurecon, for New Year's Eve 2010.
Since June 23, 2011 both Ed and Liana have been hosting Ed & Red's Podcast for gwmp.tv.
FU Party
Shortly before the start of the 2011 federal election, Ed announced his intention to run for the Prime Minister of CanadaPrime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
as head of the new "Fed-Up Party". The FU Party's stated goals include fighting apathy and stupidity in government. Throughout the campaign the "FU Party News Centre" posted links to various articles and videos trying to encourage people to vote and criticizing the political establishment, especially the government and re-election campaign of Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
. Around this time, Ed also started his own WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
called "Nobody's Puppet!" where he elaborated his thoughts on politics but also on the media industry.
Ed declared victory for the FU Party on April 28, 2011, citing that he had successfully assailed apathy after the record turnout at advance polls, and because to him the "Orange Surge" showed that Canadians had learned that they have a choice. While not officially endorsing the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
, Ed stated that the "NDP has become the FU vote" and as such withdrew from the race. While the election did grant the NDP a record number of seats in Parliament, actual voter turnout
Voter turnout in Canada
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. The following presents voter turnout figures for Canada's general elections as compiled by Elections Canada....
was not much higher than in 2008
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, which helped the governing Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
to win the majority of seats. Ed stated he hopes the FU Party will continue to provide "smartass commentary for a dumbass political establishment." It should be noted that Fed-Up was purely a joke political party
Joke political party
A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire. Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities...
and was never registered with Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
.