Speakers
Anyone who’s caught This Hour Has 22 Minutes in the last two decades knows the face. Some weeks he’s reading the headlines at the desk. On other weeks he’s on the road, trying to get an MP to answer a question they’d rather dodge. Home for Mark is St. John’s, Newfoundland. He wrote a book about growing up there, and CBC turned it into Son of a Critch, with Mark playing his own dad.
You can bring him in to do stand-up or to emcee the whole event. Most of his material is about politics and the news, and a good chunk is about being a Newfoundlander.
Mark Critch comedy themes
- Canadian politics and the people who run the country
- Whatever happened in the news this week
- Being a kid in 1980s St. John’s
- Stories from 22 Minutes road pieces with politicians and stars
- Impressions, including Donald Trump, Don Cherry, Rex Murphy and Danny Williams
Best fit for
- Big conferences and trade shows
- Awards nights, where he can emcee or close the show
- Corporate and private events
- Fundraisers and casino nights
- Festivals, comedy clubs and sports events
- Association and government events that welcome political humor
About Mark Critch
Mark Patrick Critch was born in St. John’s on May 14, 1974. His dad, Mike Critch, spent years as a journalist at VOCM radio. His older brother is a DJ on VOCM-FM under the name Mike Campbell. By 15, Mark had started doing sketch comedy in town.
22 Minutes hired him first as a writer, and in 2003 he moved in front of the camera full time. Early on, one of his road pieces turned into a national story. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish stepped on a George W. Bush doll while the camera rolled, and not long after, she was out of the caucus. Since then his microphone has found John Kerry and Alec Baldwin, among plenty of others. He also does a Donald Trump, a Don Cherry, a Rex Murphy and a Danny Williams that regular viewers will recognize.
The writing room at 22 Minutes won a Canadian Comedy Award in 2003 with Mark in it, then a Writers Guild of Canada award in 2008. Count up his Gemini nominations and you get eight. From 2004, CBC had him hosting its Halifax Comedy Festival specials, and Just for Laughs has had him on staff as a writer.
Back in 2018 he wrote about his childhood. Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir is about being a kid in St. John’s in the 1980s, and it won the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor shortlisted it too, and in Canada that’s about as good as it gets for a funny book.
Then CBC made it into a show. Son of a Critch started in 2022, with Mark co-creating it, producing it and playing his own dad. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth plays young Mark. That first season pulled in more viewers than any other original Canadian comedy. In 2024 it won the Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award at the Canadian Screen Awards, which fans vote on. Two years later it got a Best Comedy Series nomination. South of the border, The CW airs it. Season five premiered on September 8, 2026, and that’s where the show ends. Young Mark is finishing high school in 1992, right when the cod moratorium hits.
Two more books followed. An Embarrassment of Critch’s (2021) picks up in his adult life, starting with an early acting job in a Newfoundland tourist show alongside out-of-work fishery workers. Sorry, Not Sorry came out in November 2025 and went straight onto the national bestseller list. It’s a collection of essays on being Canadian. One is written by a lieutenant in a fictional American invasion, and another is a love letter to Canada in Donald Trump’s voice.
You might also have spotted him in The Grand Seduction or Republic of Doyle, and in BlackBerry (2023) he played NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. He has performed in Russia, China and Afghanistan. That includes Stand Up in Kandahar, a 2007 CBC special shot for Canadian troops at Kandahar Air Field.
He does a lot at home in St. John’s too. The Victoria Park Foundation has him as honorary chair, and he’s the honorary fundraising patron for the O’Brien’s Farm Foundation. His 30 years in the business got a proper tribute in 2025.
Why organizations book Mark Critch
People know him. Between 22 Minutes and Son of a Critch, he’s a familiar face in a lot of Canadian living rooms, and that helps sell tickets.
The material is current. Political humor is his day job, so the jokes tend to come from this week’s news rather than a set he’s done for years.
He can run a whole program. Hosting the Halifax Comedy Festival specials has taught him how to keep a show moving between acts, not just do his own set.
Nobody rattles him. He’s spent more than 20 years finding the funny side of prime ministers and movie stars, so a room full of your executives won’t faze him.
Booking Mark Critch with MCP Talent Agency
- The booking request form is the place to start, with your date, the city and a rough headcount. If you’d rather talk, call 1-800-693-6665. Don’t wait too long, because his TV schedule can block out dates.
- Next, tell MCP Talent Agency what you need from him. Some events want a host for the night, others just want a headliner, and some want both. If your crowd would rather skip the politics, say so.
- When the contract’s signed, MCP Talent Agency handles travel and the run of show with Mark, and you can get back to planning everything else.
Travels from
He flies out of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and he’s done shows all over Canada, in the U.S. and as far away as Kandahar. If you’d like a few other names to compare, look through more Newfoundland talent, stand-up comedians and emcees.
Fee to book Mark Critch
MCP Talent Agency lists Mark in the $12,501 to $20,000 range, in Canadian dollars.
For most events, flights out of Newfoundland are part of the math. Set length matters as well, and so does whether he’s hosting the whole night. See other talent in this price range.
Checking Mark Critch’s availability
Give MCP Talent Agency a call at 1-800-693-6665, or send an email to info@mcptalent.com, and they’ll look at his calendar for you. The online request form works too.
