EP43: Canadian Restaurant Chains with Raina Douris
Welcome to Long Distance, Bit Weird, a podcast from international comedy couple Sooz Kempner and Michael Balazo. One of them lives in the UK, the other in the heart of Canada. This week we begin with a wry look at the U.S. midterm elections, in which neither Sooz nor Michael participated. CLICK HERE to watch Sooz perform Trump’s entire pre-midterms White House Reflecting Pool speech as Liza Minnelli. Then we welcome NPR World Cafe host Raina Douris to the show to talk about the bizarre and delicious world of Canadian restaurant chains. During our chat with Raina, we get to the bottom of questions like: - Is East Side Mario's Canada's fanciest restaurant? - Why did Tim Hortons sell Ryan Reynolds-branded scrambled eggs? - Who is Dippy? - Is New York Fries' epic origin story actually true? - Does a pervert ghost really haunt the Keg Mansion bathroom? - Why did A&W remove the Grandma Burger from the menu? Bon appetit PLUS: we present another edition of the hit segment "Actual Customer Letters to Wetherspoon News." Be sure to follow Raina on Instagram and listen to World Cafe on NPR. Subscribe to the Long Distance, Bit Weird Patreon for bonus audio and video episodes, including our terrifying Ghostwatch watch-along. *** ANNOUNCEMENTS ATTENTION: HUMOUR FANS. Michael Balazo's new, much-anticipated 3rd standup comedy album "Pizza Pals" is out NOW! Recorded in November of 2025, Pizza pals is full of funny jokes and silly ideas, and it's available on Bandcamp! SHOWS! Nov. 6th - Sooz does a Twitch stream @ 7.30pm GMT FREE ONLINE Nov. 21st - Sooz does standup at Chippenham Comedy TICKETS Nov. 22nd - Sooz does Sunday Cabaret @ Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London TICKETS
