THUNDER BAY -- This year has been a good year for Bobby Knauff.
The Thunder Bay-born comedian and voice actor, who now lives in Toronto, is a familiar name to those in the local comedy scene – and is quickly becoming a familiar voice to many others.
Knauff already serves as the main voice for Taco Bell ads in Canada. He’s now bringing his talents to a different audience, voicing main character Luka in the new CBC Kids show, Kingdom Force. The action-packed animated program follows the adventures of five animal heroes.
It’s a change of pace from his usual work as a comedian. Knauff performs frequently in the Toronto area, as well as touring when he can. That has included opening for acts like Maria Bamford, Greg Proops, and Greg Behrendt, and appearances at Just for Laughs in Toronto and on MTV Canada and MuchMusic.
Earlier this month, he headlined the Yuk Yuks comedy club in Toronto, something of a career milestone. “That was a checkmark on my list of things I really wanted to accomplish when I came here,” he says.
The Thunder Bay of his youth was not exactly a hotbed of comedy. He got hooked on the art form as a kid, watching Just for Laughs specials and searching out comedy albums at HMV and used record stores. But there wasn’t much of a live scene to speak of: periodic comedy nights at the Finlandia “and not much else.”
His first show was at Daytona’s. “It was probably really bad,” he reflects, “but it felt great to just get laughs from strangers for something I’d done.”
Knauff’s parents didn’t love the idea of him pursuing comedy, preferring he attended college or university. He compromised by attending the Humber School of Comedy. Since then, it’s been a slow but steady climb in a tough industry.
“I just tried to do every open mic I could” while working a series of odd jobs, he says of his early years in Toronto. It’s nearly impossible to make a living as a stand-up comedian in Canada, Knauff says. Cracking into the voice-acting world has helped him financially support his first passion.
Voicing a children’s character is a far cry from his stand-up routines.
“It’s a lot harder than you’d think,” he says. Though he might be shown rough drawings beforehand to give him an idea of the scene he’ll be voicing, bringing a character to life from a sterile audio booth is a creative challenge – one Knauff has embraced. The program’s initial 26-episode season premiered on Dec. 7. Knauff says he’d look forward to working on it again if it’s picked up for future seasons.
The comedian has returned to his hometown frequently, participating several times in the Thunder Bay Comic Idol. The city is no longer the comedy desert it once was, he notes, saying there’s more opportunity now for aspiring comedians.
Kingdom Force airs on CBC Kids at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, and is available through the network’s Gem app.
