Carol Burnett is His Beacon
Winnipeg has a thing for spawning artists. Too bad Michael’s family
moved to Vancouver when he was only ten years old. Dad didn’t like
Winnipeg much – too many memories of his days as a boy during the
Depression. But Richmond, B.C., the Vancouver suburb in which the Cohens
transplanted, took some adjustment. It would be years before Michael could
appreciate the natural beauty of the region. In the mean time… No
relatives. No bagel shops. No Jews. Michael was starving on his diet of
rain, accordion lessons and tacky salad bars
Thank goodness for Carol Burnett. You know how some people just reach through the tv set and you feel a special, inexplicable connection? That's what young Michael had with Ms. B. She spoke to him in a language he understood, and it wasn't English. Her show became his creative beacon. It was funny. It was brilliant. It was a constant. Every week, same time, same place. He studied the show. He studied Carol. He studied Tim. He studied Harvey. He even studied Vicki.
Michael showed his talent for writing and acting at a young age. He won
a Young Playwright’s Contest at the age of 12 and his teleplay was
produced for television. He kept writing. He performed everywhere and anywhere
he could. People laughed. He wanted more.
Post High School Confusion
Having parents who are educators is wonderful. Usually. They share their
values for higher education and say things like “you can be whatever
you want, dear”. However, Michael got confused and got degrees
in cell biology and adult education. After graduating college, he was
still in denial. He got jobs behind the camera. He worked as a writer,
researcher, associate producer and assistant director on a variety of
shows at CBC, CTV, Global, Discovery Channel and Life Network before
awakening to his truer calling.
Doin’ His Thing
He moved to Toronto, studied more acting, and started working. He landed
his first voice job without an agent on the animated tv series Pippi
Longstockings. He has since had numerous roles in MOW’s and
on tv series including Queer As Folk, Doc, Moville Mysteries, Roboroach,
Jojo’s Circus and Henry’s World. He
has also voiced ads for Microsoft, BMW, Dell, Ikea, Rogers AT&T, Bell
Yellow Pages, Hyundai, among others.
Michael wrote, produced and starred in the short film Jew Jube Lives, co-starring Luba Goy and Bruce Hunter. The film was nominated for the prestigious Golden Sheaf Award for Comedy from Yorkton’s Film and Video Festival in 2005, and won the national Moc Docs award for Best Mockumentary. Ironically, his next film job was playing an ineffectual skinhead in the comedic short Skinheads, produced by NBCUniversal and Norm Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre.
It was a matter of time before Michael began directing (his M.Ed. research was on the role of the director as facilitator of creative process). In early 2006, he directed Second City alumnus Rob Hawke in his one man comedy F*ck You Cancer, based on Rob’s real life fight with thyroid cancer. Rob conceived the show, and the duo co-wrote. They also produced the show in November 2006 in Toronto at the award-winning Bad Dog Theatre. The show won the “Best Solo Show” award at the San Francisco Fringe in 2007.
And Now?
Michael recently guest starred on Disney Channel’s The
Wizards of Waverly Place and recurred on several episodes
of ABC’s Eastwick. He appears
in several national network and cable commercials including FedEx, Capital
One, Boston Market and Cox Communications, and appeared with Danny Glover
in My Name is Earl on NBC.
Michael is the voice of "Ty Archer", the lead character in the animated tv series based on the Sylvia Branzei books Grossology. The series airs daily in the U.S. on Discovery Kids Channel, and can be seen in Canada on YTV.
Michael starred in the Canadian Film Centre's Song of Sloman which screened at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Michael plays Rabbi Yosef Sloman, a Chasidic rabbi with a penchant for bacon and disco. Go to the 'demos' page of this site to see a two minute promo for this hilarious and poignant film. Since its Tribeca premiere, Sloman has also screened at the Montreal World Film Festival, AFI Dallas, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. The film has recently made it's way to festivals in Europe and Asia, and was nominated for the prestigious Golden Sheaf award for comedy at the Yorkton Short Film Festival.In an improvised comedy pilot directed by Lon Diamond (The Tick, One Tree Hill) Michael plays Dr. Jay, an ethically challenged psychiatrist.
Recent voice-over spots include Sandisk, Verizen, White Kastle, and Eisenberg Hotdogs.
Mixing his knowledge and skills of film/tv production, script writing and acting, Michael has been in demand as a script consultant. He has consulted for Alliance Atlantis, CBC and BC Film, as well as independent screenwriters and producers. He is Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund's Senior Reader for comedic screenplays.
Michael is also an acting teacher and coach. He teaches at the SAG Conservatory in Hollywood, and created the “Healing and Performance Mastery” seminar series for AFTRA. Check out the "Teaching/Coaching" page on this site for more info.Things that make his eyes glaze over with glee
(in no particular order):
High floors in skyscrapers.
Fancy ice creams.
Cedar.
Sports that use wind.
Motorcycles.
Sectional sofas.
Restaurant buffets (any ethnicity)
Army surplus.
And of course… Carol Burnett.