As actor/comedian Shaun Majumder prepares to launch his Hate (tour) upon the world, he chats with The Herald about life, love, job loss and how things are always different at ’ome
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Shaun Majumder got it made without the shade these days. The cast member turned castoff from This Hour Has 22 Minutes isn’t sitting around lickin’ his wounds, no siree Bob! At a time of the year when he’d usually be freezing something else potentially lickable off in Halifax with the 22 folks, Majumder is chillin’ in Los Angeles.
Sunshine Livin’
Besides the fact that he is an unapologetic name dropper (“just got off the phone with Howie Mandel…”) there’s other added bonuses of sunshine livin’. “Da wife just walked in in a bikini…” he says, momentarily distracted by the divine Shelby. All is forgiven – that is until, like the good bayman he is, Majumder starts talking about the weather.
“Yeah, it’s rough. I’m here in Los Angeles where it’s not blowing snow like it is there in Newfoundland. It’s a beautiful day here, though it is overcast so here, that’s inclement weather. When it’s a bit overcast, that’s what we like to call it – inclement weather.”
Note to self: never (ever) ask a comedian a serious question right out the gate. So, what really happened to get him canned after 15 years from the satirical news program ahead of this year’s season of 22 Minutes?
“People ask what happened; was he fired?!? Did he quit?!? Did Mark Critch’s racism push him out? Did he get Cathy Jones pregnant again … what are the salacious details?” Majumder taunts.
*(Editor’s note: any claims of love children or sketchy tolerance levels of former cast mates are totally said for silliness sake and are to be taken with many millions grains of salt, so chill.)
The truth, he says, is really none of the above (no kiddin’?) but if you want the facts, you’ll have to show up at one of Majumder’s Hate tour dates in 2019.
“I interview myself on Skype on stage, and I tell all to myself. So, if you ever wanted to know, you’ll find it all out,” he teases. Brilliant.
Blessing in Disguise
The Hate tour, which will be in this province in April, also stars another former This Hour cast member, Matt Wright.
“Matt got fired (from 22) too, that’s why we’re budding up – to unleash our hate with regard to 22 Minutes,” he jokes before (momentarily) turning serious. “It was a great run and I was thrilled to be on the show. I’m certainly not happy with how I was let go and all of that but there’s obviously no hard feelings.” In many ways, his being let go was a “blessing in disguise.” 
“It did become sort of a velvet noose for me as a creative person. You get stuck in one thing and you don’t want to leave it because it’s such a great experience and such a great show, any Canadian actor/comedian would just die to have a job like that.”
‘Came out of Nowhere’
The firing “came out of nowhere” so he’s less than happy with that aspect of things, and there’s certainly a drop in pay for a while, which also sucks, but he tries to look on the bright side.
“It stings a bit at first then you figure it out and you are like, oh my God, I’m so much happier now and I can do all these things that I’ve always wanted to try and do. You got to get up and go; OK, let’s git at ’er, you’ve got to try and claim more opportunities and more jobs and that’s all you can do.”
His “never have all your eggs in one basket approach” has served him well his entire career, he adds. “Here I am in Los Angeles talking to people like Howie Mandel about show ideas. I’ve got a great relationship with the CBC so I’ll pitch some show ideas to them. I have some writing ideas, film ideas are now blowing up in my head and business ideas in Newfoundland – it’s great, life is good. Life is super good.”
For our complete interview with Shaun Majumder pick up our Jan 20-26, 2019 issue here!