Interview

Episode 408 – Definitely A Chat With Definitely The Real Alex Lifeson (AKA Tony Binns)

Mark Leslie Lefebvre

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Mark interviews Tony Binns, an award-winning stand-up comedian and screenwriter whose feature #ROXY was nominated for 3 Canadian screen awards, 3 Canadian Comedy Awards, and took home Best Feature at the Ampia awards as well as Best Feature for Teens at the Kidscreen awards. Tony is also the man behind the parody profile on Facebook called Definitely The Real Alex Lifeson where he pretends to be a guy pretending to be the real guitarist from Rush.

Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, which includes a few engagements he’ll be speaking at in person and virtually:

Mark then shares a word about this episode’s sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Toronto Indie Author Conference, taking place April 26 & 27, 2025 in Toronto, ON. The schedule appears below

Learn more about Toronto Indie Author Conference 2025 here.

In their chat, Mark and Tony talk about:

  • How Tony is a multi-faceted nerd who used to tape episodes of SCTV so he could play them back and memorize them
  • Being big into Monty Python and, of course, Rush
  • Always thinking that he was going to be an actor and his love of Shakespeare, but always getting the comedic parts
  • Being a good actor but not being so good at auditioning because he freezes when put in a pressure situation
  • Founding a comedy sketch troop called Obscene But Not Heard which was partially inspired by his love for Kids In The Hall
  • Evolving into doing stand-up despite being a shy person
  • Deciding to leave stand-up comedy around the time that Covid hit
  • The movie #ROXY (a modern tale based on Cyrano de Bergerac) that Tony wrote after he pitched it to some producers he had done some other work for
  • Having a strength for dialogue but a weakness when it comes to plot
  • Being brought in to help punch up an episodic YouTube series that was a campy horror flick and make it funnier (TRUCKSTOP BLOODSUCKERS)
  • Tony’s most recent script entitled SAVING MR. CHRISTMAS and how it evolved into a completely different movie than the one that he originally pitched
  • The “we love this, change everything” thing that happens with movies
  • Tony’s WAITING FOR WAITING FOR GODOT which is a show about two women waiting for a production of the play Waiting For Godot which never happens, and how that play was inspired by the way that days could blur together for people, particularly as we get older and “become that guy”
  • Being a Rush fan since he first heard “Spirit of Radio”
  • How Tony was inspired to create a fake Alex Lifeson account on Facebook after he’s seen a fake Geddy Lee account
  • The relation between ADHD and being “all in” on something — like Rush, Monty Python and Rush for Tony
  • How, during Covid Tony did a one-man reading of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Doing a Canadian overdub of Dragonball Z
  • Adapting a pilot from a Canadian novel called The Smeltdog Man by Frank Macdonald and leveraging the “Deadpool” style of breaking the fourth wall
  • Advice that Tony would give to the young nerdy Mark and Tony
  • How Tony used to write sketches even though he didn’t have an outlet for them
  • The Dungeons & Dragons podcast that Tony is a part of called The +2 Rodcast
  • And more . . . 

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things that came up in the discussion.

Links of Interest:

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Published by Mark Leslie Lefebvre

Writer, editor and bookseller who haunts Southern Ontario. Craft beer enthusiast. Author of thrillers and horror novels such as A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK, EVASION and I, DEATH. Also writes a series of stand-alone non-fiction titles exploring ghosts and the paranormal which include HAUNTED HAMILTON, SPOOKY SUDBURY, CREEPY CAPITAL, TOMES OF TERROR, HAUNTED HOSPITALS, and MACABRE MONTREAL. Editor of the anthologies CAMPUS CHILLS, TESSERACTS SIXTEEN, FICTION RIVER: EDITOR'S CHOICE and FICTION RIVER: FEEL THE FEAR.

2 thoughts on “Episode 408 – Definitely A Chat With Definitely The Real Alex Lifeson (AKA Tony Binns)”

  1. I am still chuckling over this. I have to confess that I’m not into Rush, but that probably has more to do with my age. Now, if we’re talking about Creedence, different story. (I am still pissed that they broke up.) And I relate so hard to the ADHD and going full-tilt into whatever you’re into. If I had been in school 20 or 30 years later than I was, I would 100 percent have been in one of the nerd communities. In my day, I was just the one helping with the film projector. The jocks quit beating me up when they found I could take decent photos of the football game for the newspaper.

    But the part that I scrolled back and listened to again? “It’s not like I’m going to touch a girl.” Like y’all (proper English where I grew up), I’m grateful to have found a girl that would let me touch her. And amen to “Thank God for poor taste.” That probably also explains some success of some authors, but that’s for another episode.

    In any case, thank God for the Mark Leslie Lefebvres and the Tony Binnses of the world. Pretty glad for the Mark Carneys, too, and most everybody else north of the 49th parallel, except for that one crazy aberration person.

    Reply

  2. Tony Binns ABSOLUTELY DID NOT adapt Frank MacDonald’s novel, The Smeltdog Man, into a television series or write the pilot, or anything even within the realm of those things. (Notice how he didn’t mention the team, or name anyone on the team at all for that matter, while talking about the project? There’s a reason for that.)

    What Tony DID do was send us (Patrick Doyle’s team -owner of the option- ACTUALLY adapting the novel) a sample of his writing. And I use the term “writing” very loosely as he, quite literally, copied and pasted large sections of Frank’s work DIRECTLY FROM THE NOVEL into his “script.” Tony wrote a few lines of action and dialogue to stitch the “borrowed” sections of Frank’s work together. That’s it. I read his work and immediately dismissed it as it was an exercise in plagiarism.

    The irony? Some of Tony’s actual ideas weren’t half bad. And, had he ACTUALLY written a proper spec, he could have potentially worked with us. Or at least earned a discussion about working with us at the time. Instead, he took a short cut. Or a bizarre attempt at a shortcut, and sent us not an example of his writing, but rather proof of his proficiency at copying and pasting.

    Frank MacDonald is a brilliant, original and stunning author who created a beautiful story, and unique characters, in The Smeltdog Man. (And if Tony thinks the story or characters are anything like The Trailer Park Boys, then he’s missed the mark ENTIRELY). To copy and paste Frank’s work into a “script”, and claim it as his own was 1) shameful and 2) stupid. A spec is like a Screenwriter’s resume, it shows the reader what you’re capable of and, if done correctly, positions you with a seat at the table. What Tony did was highlight his less-than-amateur comprehension of what screenwriting actually IS and simultaneously insulted the team working so hard to do Frank’s novel justice with a television adaptation.

    Lastly, to turn around and BOLD FACE LIE in an interview (AND name-drop Rick Mercer) is proof of poor character and —most importantly— non-existent integrity.

    The truth always finds a way to the surface. Remember that, Tony, next time you try to take credit for something you simply did not do.

    Reply

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