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LOTS OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK - Everyone enjoyed the show.....I think we could've sat there all day if you would've carried on......   I will probably have a copy of the video by the end of this week so I'll get that to you via courier - (same address???) and a letter too - saying how BRILLIANT you were....   Director, Customer Satisfaction Ford of Canada ” - Ford of Canada

— Testimonial

I just wanted to send you a quick email to tell you what a success our Birthday Party was...and you were certainly a huge part of that. The whole committee would like to thank you for all your hard work especially coming in to meet with us to gather information. That is the kind of special effort you don't see too often.   The improv was great! . Believe me when I say it was a lot of fun!! Anyhow, I just wanted to make sure you knew that the whole staff really enjoyed the performance...it was a great way to wrap up a fun day! Thanks again. Mari-K Kerr Teletoon ” - Teletoon Canada

— Personal Message

Greetings Fine People: First of all thanks to both of you for inviting Carol and I. It was a great evening of "good community" and fine entertainment. At the risk of getting a little mushy-there was a lot of love in the theatre on Saturday evening-The entertainers both of you work with are a caring group of people and they project it. Secondly the evening was inspirational to anyone who has faced adversity or dares to dream: Rick/Lorelei this is evident by the fact that you guys pulled this event off with such quality, further the performance by Ian Thomas-"Rise above it" and Ruben "Hurricane" Carters' short but effective talk, speak volumes. I look forward to working with the both of you in future and in particular look forward to "making a difference" with the synergies Eventure and Elevations can create. Way to go!! Yours In Love. Regards, Randy ” - Randy Stratton - Elevations Event Marketing

— Personal Message

TESTIMONIALS Thank you so much for your great help with emceeing at our Kick-off. You did an amazing job! I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we enjoyed having you. The feedback was great from everyone.  Thanks again!"Debbie Dixon, National Event & Marketing ManagerRide for Sight / Foundation Fighting Blindnesswww.rideforsight.com Just a much belated “ thank you” to you and yours for the tremendous job you did for Oirman Communications.  I know I can always count on you to deliver a fabulous show - and the process of working with you is always top notch.  That means a great deal to the corporate market.  Reliability and talent - great combo!" Sincerely, CAROL PRIEST ENTERTAINMENT, www.CarolPriest.ca Thank -YOU- Rick! The performance was fantastic and I got many kudos for hiring you guys! The whole troop was hilarious. Jon (the big boss that you met) almost cut out after dinner but said he was very glad he didn't - he especially enjoyed the "Gorgeous George" bit!"  Andrea Muzzi, brokerlink.ca Rick, Rick, Rick...Thanks again for a wonderful job...lots of great feedback on the game show and your performances in Ottawa and Toronto."  Ray Luke, Pizza Pizza, HEAD OFFICE  The event went very well. You and your team were great. We will be keeping in touch FOR SURE."  Wendy Dempsey ,Director, The Event Bureau, www.eventbureau.ca THANK YOU....you were a fabulous host and did a wonderful job keeping the show moving."  Debbie Slade, Brock Centre for the Performing Arts We have had the pleasure of working with Rick Wharton and his team of Improv Players. In fact, we have worked very closely on a large project with Rick. His Team exceeded our clients expectation. Rick took the time to do research on our client and determined the vision for the event and conveyed it perfectly to his team. The Improv Players went the "extra mile" by creating a comedy song, which enhanced their usual custom comedy performance."  Randy R Stratton, President, elevations experiential event marketing What a night at Casa Loma.  Everyone enjoyed the show and told me "the comedians were funny" which may seem obvious but it is a true compliment as we have all sat through comedians who are not funny.  YOU GUYS WERE FUNNY.  On behalf of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto I would like to thank you, Albert Howell, Terry Hart and Rob McClean for agreeing to perform at our annual Your performance and professionalism guaranteed this success, and working with you certainly made my job easier."  Jane Michel, Chair Fundraising Committee, Orpheus Choir of Toronto Gala Fundraiser. Thank You... your group made the evening."  Diane Baxter, SR VP Operations, Chubb Insurance Once again Rick you did a great job – given the really tight timeframe – everyone enjoyed! Again – bravo!"  Wendy Dempsey, Director, The Event Bureau www.eventbureau.ca (2006) I wanted to thank you and your 'team' for doing a great job on Thursdaynight. The performance was enjoyed by all!  The feedback I have received today was very positive. THANK YOU!"  Susan Anderson, Cardinal Meat Specialists Ltd. I just wanted to send you a quick email to tell you what a success our Teletoon 5th Birthday Party was...and you were certainly a huge part of that. The whole committee would like to thank you for all your hard work especially coming in to meet with us to gather information. That is the kind of special effort you don't see too often. The improv was great! Believe me when I say it was a lot of fun. Anyhow, I just wanted to make sure you knew that the whole staff really enjoyed the performance...it was a great way to wrap up a fun day! Thanks again."  Mari-K Kerr, Teletoon During my recent lecture series at the Ryerson School of TV & Radio Arts in Toronto, I had the pleasure of hosting Rick as a Guest Speaker. He was most eloquent and thoroughly engaged the class of mature students in the "art of the TV pitch" and the importance & role of publicity & promotions to support established shows/stars. Having known & worked with Rick for some 15 years, I was confident he would enlighten as well as entertain the somewhat jaded group of students, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hanging on his every word; this old dog learnt several new tricks that evening! Thanks, Rick, you were great and the students all commented very favourably on your breadth of knowledge and professional demeanour...as well as the jokes and insider comments. You definitely get an A+ for that effort."  Glenda Fordham and Associates, President Our sincere appreciation for the fantastic performance orchestrated by you and your colleagues. The celebration of our CEO's special birthday was enjoyed by all, even John, being the subject of the "roast." Many people dropped by to express their appreciation and admiration of the work done by you and your fellow comedians. I was completely amazed how you were able to take such bare bone facts and turn them into truly funny and memorable scenes."  Nancy Wood, MDS Inc. For the last celebration we booked a comedy show through Mr. Rick Wharton. All we asked of Rick was that it be entertaining and fun. The group consisted of 3 comic actors and 1 musician and the interaction with the employees was unbelievable. The actors had a way of making everyone feel comfortable and at ease. They had no problem getting people up to take part in the skits, in fact, a lot of people were hoping they would be asked to participate. The audience couldn't believe that it hadn't been rehearsed in advance. I felt the quality of the performers was well worth the price we paid and I would not hesitate to hire Rick and his comedy troupe in the future. Everything was taken care of. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the show."  Donna Trafford, Milltronics  We laughed, we cried, we got our money's worth! That's how we feel about the 2 occasions we've had to enjoy the fun and laughter of Rick Wharton. We wanted to liven up an event to mark our newly merged company. Having you act as our MC meant that we had someone on stage who could deal with the duties in a light and upbeat manner. You and your posse then entertained us with hilarious, appropriate, audience-involved comedy. People still talk about how much they enjoyed the humour. Both times you have found the right balance between having fun and making fun, and involving our employees including our vice-presidents and CEO. We appreciate the professional manner in which you have worked with us, incorporated our needs into the shows, and helped us to accomplish our goals."  Sara Taylor, AstraZeneca Canada We just wanted to take a minute to thank you again for a job well done at the Christmas Party. Your contribution was very well received and added a whole new dimension to the party."  Eric Pertsch, President, Universal Studios It was a great honor for our school to have yourself and your talented colleagues perform in support of the charity foundation. The professionalism, skillfulness and distinctly unique humour of your presentation were a pleasure to be a part of."  Andrew Yeung, AC Intramural Council Reps Thank you for being a part of our Annual Gala Dinner-Dance. Your comedy sketches were a pleasant diversion from the normal wining and dining and it was equally for us up-towners to enjoy the company of familiar TV. faces. Rick if I may, I would like to confess, that I had my doubts as to the attention span of people in a ballroom of that magnitude, but your kindly whisper to me of "it's gonna be fine, you'll see" prior to the show was so appropriate and it was proven that you certainly know how to work a room professionally, as evidenced by the eager audience participation."  Pat Smith, Executive Assistant, UNI-SELECT Inc. Our goal at the hockey championship was to improve the entire experience surrounding the tournament to relieve player stress during a tension filled week and explore the "fun side" of sport. The cast planned out a performance based on my audience's needs and desires, they were interactive and explosive on stage. They created an atmosphere of friendship for 300 coaches, athletes and parents. When I saw them on stage, making my athletes laugh and smile, I realized the true meaning of production. Each of them has a commanding control of humour, but their ability to motivate 16-20 year olds was outstanding. The cast takes pride in their work, they were very professional and this desire to achieve success is remarkable. We have had countless letters of praise for this one event. It is important to note that many people can do a production but Rick Wharton will make it come alive. They love what they do!"  John Curtis, OFSAA Convenor Rick was not only willing to be involved with the charity benefit, but also committed to provide and produce an entertaining evening. All I can say is that it went beyond the call of duty. The evening was nothing short of spectacular! Rick's improvisational talents included active audience participation which allowed many to be "actors" themselves. The show was hilarious and the feedback for the evening was very positive."  Ms. B. Bawks, Brother Andre Catholic High School Your improv act was a wonderful climax to the day's activities. You and your group were very successful in interacting with the audience in a meaningful way, maintaining a spontaneous repartee while providing humour that was appropriate to our firm. The feedback we received from the attendees rated the evening's entertainment tops."Valerie Vollenweider, Lucent Technologies  A crowd of actuaries, lawyers, and their spouses is probably not the ideal comedy audience, but you and the other comics quickly broke the ice and had everyone laughing hysterically. The high energy, warmth and improv talents of your comics and the research you did into our firm really showed in your professional, very funny show. Rick Wharton (aka) The Conspiracy Guy, was a particular favourite with our crowd, many of whom recognized him from t.v. Enthusiastic comments on your comedy night are still coming in - thanks again for a great event!"  Angela Finlay, Dion Durrell We've done a lot of sound for many corporate shows in the U.S. and in Canada. Wharton and his comedy troupe are always top notch, classy, entertaining, and have the audience on the edge of their seats laughing."  Martin Anderson, Midnight Hour Productions SOME OF OUR SELECTED CLIENTS Astra Zeneca AT & T  Azerty United Black and Decker Brokerlink Canadian Music Week  Casino Niagara Coldwell Banker Chubb Insurance Dion Durrell Ford Canada  Good Shepherd Ministries  Keg Restaurants Laidlaw MDS Metro Toronto Police Services Milltronics MuchMusic/City TV Ontario Athletic Committee Teletoon Canada The Comedy Network  Uni-Select  Universal Music and Television     ”

Various Corporate Testimonials

Planet of the freaks and geeks What's it take to work at sci-fi channel Space, MuchMusic's weird cousin, three years old today? A strange desire to be probed seems to help Rebecca Eckler National Post   Glenn Lowson, National Post Space hosts Jonathan Brynllyr, Dennis McGrath, Simon Evans, Rick Wharton and Natasha Eloi.   I have been pondering one of life's great mysteries -- a mystery to me, at least: SpaceNews videographer Natasha Eloi's mammoth hair. Surely this woman's do is the largest and most unusual hairstyle in Canada, if not the entire planet -- or, come to think of it, the known universe. I'm thinking the Conspiracy Guy would have something to say -- some weird-ass, demented theory -- about her hundreds of boingy curls, which frame her pretty face and take from four to eight hours to wash and style. But more on the Conspiracy Guy later. I often think I should hide a camera in my hair," Eloi says, "to capture people's expressions when they see me. I may look like a disco queen, but when people find out what I'm really about, they're like, 'No way!' What is Eloi really about? Well, since she was a little girl, the 28-year-old has prayed to be abducted by aliens. She's still waiting, of course. This is as far as she's got -- the headquarters of Space: The Imagination Station, on the fourth floor of the ChumCity building in Toronto. Her biggest fear in life, she says, is that she won't be taken to outer space one day to have life-altering experiments conducted on her. This girl is whacked, you can't help but think, but in such an awesome way. It's so perfect, in fact, for her job at Space. Celebrating its third birthday today, the science-fiction and fantasy channel is the top-ranked specialty network in Canada for both men and women aged 25-54. I was six years old and supposed to be going to Sunday school. But my aunt was going to see Star Wars. I had a little fit and ended up not praising God that day. I ended up seeing Star Wars instead and fell in love with Darth Vader," says Eloi, explaining her early draw to sci-fi. As a child, she also loved everything and anything to do with superheroes -- today, she has almost every superhero action figure on her desk -- and used to play action figures with her younger brother. Except when Eloi played, Luke Skywalker dated Barbie. I was known as a freak in high school. If I got a toy ring in my Crackerjack box, I'd walk around pretending it was my magic ring and I had super powers," she says. Now this makes sense to me -- not the addiction to sci-fi, but the freak stereotype associated with those who are. Which is why I've always wondered about the five on-air personalities on Space: Dennis McGrath, Jonathan Brynllyr, Simon Evans -- the hosts of Space Bar -- the Conspiracy Guy, a.k.a. Rick Wharton, and Eloi. Who are they and, more importantly in this instance, where did they come from? Most viewers enjoy Space because of the programming you can't see anywhere else -- six airings a day of Star Trek, Sliders, First Wave, Quantum Leap, Babylon 5 and The X-Files. But it's these personalities who put personality into the station and have garnered cult status among viewers: the Conspiracy Guy's weekly, bite-sized theories (and hyena laugh) on cuddle toys, student summer jobs and bank mergers; the Space Bar hosts' bits of trivia, along with robot Simon 090491's (handled by Evans) wicked jokes, during the Saturday night sci-fi movie; and Eloi's reporting on topics ranging from sheep cloning to UFOs. In person, all five are friendly, funny, smart and obviously tight-knit. They're like a family, connected not by common relatives but by their common affinity for sci-fi. And, in some ways, they are still the outcasts they may have felt they were in high school, what with sharing a building with MuchMusic and Citytv -- famous for its beautiful people in enviable jobs. We're pretty much a joke, I think, to the rest of them," laughs Evans. "It is like high school. We're the ones in the chess club or the yearbook committee. Says Brynllyr: "That is why Space is so great: Because it offers something for people who are not generally accepted in society and gives them something to feel acceptable in. It's like high school. These are not the people who were on the sports teams in high school. They read books. Sorry, but sci-fi fans tend to be more intellectual. But the channel's viewers are people you'd least expect. I know because I've asked around. Professionals of all sorts to teenagers are viewers of Space. Without a diehard audience, we'd be working at the 7-11," says McGrath. "Many of our viewers are stockbrokers who come home and the first thing they do is flip to Space. Our viewers are like soap opera fans. There are so many soap opera fans, but that doesn't mean they all go to soap opera conventions. Our viewers don't necessarily go to Star Trek conventions. But why is sci-fi so popular? I've never figured it out. The thing about sci-fi is, it's never about the future. It's about now, safely set in the future," says McGrath. "Sci-fi allows things to be talked about in North American culture that we aren't comfortable talking about. In the second series of Star Trek, for example, you could see two women holding hands. It showed there would be tolerance in the future. And the fans, no matter how freakish, do show their love for Space personalities. Especially for the Conspiracy Guy. He's received love letters and marriage proposals. His rants have been interrupted time and time again by passersby who want to talk about the JFK assassination, the death of Kurt Cobain, Princess Diana, or to talk about conspiracies against them. You start to be able to tell by their body language as they come up to you if they realize the Conspiracy Guy is just a character or not," says Wharton, a comedian in everyday life. Everybody," adds McGrath, who writes Conspiracy Guy's bits, "has their own conspiracy. Everyone thinks we're not being told things. But we try to stay away from real conspiracies. Does the staff believe in another world, in aliens? Do they go that far? Everyone always asks that. I don't know how to answer. It's like asking 'What's your religion?' I am a little suspicious that they're always farmers and housewives who are taken away by aliens. And the butt probe. I just can't believe that. That's just wrong," says McGrath. Eloi believes. Evans sort of believes. Rest assured, it's not as if these five can't see the humour in some sci-fi flicks. "Some movies are so bad. They're not even kitschy B-Bad. They're just so bad, they're not even worth making fun of," says Evans. And, rest assured, they can poke fun at themselves. "I used to make my own Star Wars props out of Lego as a child. I glued them together so they wouldn't fall apart and spray painted it all," says Brynllyr. OK, that's just plain weird," throws in McGrath. At the end of the day, says Eloi, "Sci-fi fans are not eyeglass-wearing, pimply, buckteeth people who drink prune juice and eat hard-boiled eggs. They are the most passionate people you'll ever meet. They are completely harmless.   ” - Rebecca Eckler

— National Post