Mike Bullard (comedian)

Mike Bullard
Bullard in 2012
Born	Michael John Bullard (1957-06-12)June 12, 1957 Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Died	October 11, 2024(2024-10-11) (aged 67) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Occupations	Broadcaster stand-up comic
Spouse	Debbie ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 2003)​
Relatives	Pat Bullard (brother), Chuck Jackson (half-brother) Shawn Bullard (brother)[1]

Michael John Bullard (June 12, 1957 – October 11, 2024) was a Canadian stand-up comic and broadcaster. He was the host of two late-night talk shows, Open Mike with Mike Bullard on CTV from 1997 to 2003 and The Mike Bullard Show on Global from 2003 to 2004. From 2010 to 2016, he hosted Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard weekdays at noon on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto.

Bullard was born on June 12, 1957, in Etobicoke, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. His father was in retail and his mother was a housewife.^[2] His younger brother is US-based comedian, television writer, host, and producer Pat Bullard and his older half-brother is Downchild Blues Band lead singer Chuck Jackson.^[2] When Bullard was six, his family moved from Don Mills, Ontario, to Galt (now Cambridge, Ontario), later moving to Mississauga,^[2] where he attended Erindale Secondary School.^[1]

A resident of Mississauga since he was 14 years old,^[2] Bullard worked briefly as a police officer with Peel Regional Police in his youth, but resigned when he was not permitted to moonlight in comedy clubs.^[3] He then returned to Bell Canada, where he had worked previously, and eventually was promoted to associate director of corporate investigation, while also working part-time as a stand-up comic.^[3] His promotion occurred after his manager saw him perform as an emcee at the Just for Laughs festival, leading him to conclude that if Bullard could handle a crowd he could also handle corporate investigations.^[2]

Bullard had a long-time association with the Yuk Yuk's chain of comedy clubs, as both an emcee and headliner, since first appearing at the Toronto club in July 1988. He started performing at the venue after being introduced to Yuk Yuk's founder, Mark Breslin, by his brother, writer and comedian Pat Bullard. Bullard asked Breslin for spots emceeing shows at Yuk Yuk's rather than as a headliner or a spot in the lineup in hopes of preparing himself to eventually become a talk show host.^[4]

He continued to perform at Yuk Yuk's shows across Ontario until the end of his life.^[2][5][6] Yuk Yuk's proprietor Mark Breslin, who knew Bullard for 35 years, said of him: "He was probably the best emcee and host in the country. Nobody did crowd work like Mike. That was his real super strength."^[4]

Bullard's stand-up career led him to television in 1993 with a regular spot on Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui, produced by Breslin, before becoming a late-night host in his own right as the host of Open Mike with Mike Bullard in 1997. The late-night talk variety show was considered the first successful Canadian attempt at the genre, following the previous failures of 90 Minutes Live and Friday Night!.^[7] The show aired nightly for six seasons on The Comedy Network and the CTV Television Network and won two Gemini Awards during its run.^[8]

At its peak, Open Mike had higher Canadian ratings than The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman.^[9] After leaving CTV when his contract expired in 2003, Bullard accused executives at his old network of not supporting the show and of being "dysfunctional"; in turn, they noted his "bitterness" after having "burned his bridges" with CTV and the Comedy Network.^[10]

In 2003, Bullard was hired away by Global with a multi-year deal to host The Mike Bullard Show in the same timeslot, with much of the same staff and sketches as Open Mike.^[11] The new show was cancelled on March 12, 2004, after 13 weeks, due to poor ratings against The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which CTV aired against it.^[10]

Following his television show's cancellation, Bullard resumed his career as a stand-up comic playing in comedy clubs such as Yuk Yuk's, released a comedy CD, did commercials for a weight loss clinic, and made a cameo appearance at the Gemini Awards taking part in a skit in which he played a corpse protesting "I'm not dead yet!" while paramedics removed him from the stage. In October 2006, Bullard launched an uncensored morning satellite radio show on XM Canada's Laugh Attack channel; the program was cancelled after five months.^[12]

Bullard returned to television to host HouseCapades, a reality series which aired 250 episodes from 2005 to 2007, featuring people showcasing their homes for sale.^[13][14] In August 2009, he became the host of The Mike Bullard Show on Talk820 (CHAM) in Hamilton, Ontario; his evening show was cancelled when CHAM switched to a country music format in July 2010.^[15]

He hosted Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard weekdays at noon on Newstalk 1010 (CFRB) in Toronto from 2010 until 2016 when he was terminated after being arrested for allegedly harassing his ex-girlfriend.^[16]

Bullard returned to broadcasting in October 2018 on Sauga 960 AM in Mississauga as host with Lawrence Morganstern of the afternoon drive time show, The Getaway. The show ceased production in late January 2019.^[17]

From 2019 to 2020, Bullard hosted a podcast, You Too with Mike Bullard.^[18]

In November 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bullard went to Ukraine to volunteer with humanitarian organizations and document the impact of the crisis on civilians, remaining there until February 2023.^[19][20]

Bullard said he was haunted by one incident in Dnipro that he witnessed shortly after arriving, where Russian military hit an apartment block with missiles. While workers were digging through the rubble, two search dogs pinpointed one spot. After he and rescuers kept digging, the bodies of two children were pulled out from underneath the pieces of building.^[20]

"They looked to be about maybe seven and five, and one of them had pyjamas on. They were both dead," Bullard told the Toronto Star. "I cried myself to sleep every night for a week."^[20]

In another incident, he helped clean out a house hit by ordnance that killed a man in his twenties. The pillow was bloodstained and had pieces of brain stuck to it. The man's widow and mother-in-law moved back in after they finished.^[20]

Bullard decided to return to Canada, due to the high cost of medical care in Ukraine, after surviving an accident in which a car he was riding in was hit by a bus.^[20]

Bell Media, which owns CFRB, severed ties with Bullard on October 5, 2016, after he was charged with criminal harassment of his ex-girlfriend, Cynthia Mulligan.^[3] In 2017 and 2018, he was charged with several counts of allegedly breaching bail conditions and additional charges of obstructing justice for allegedly trying to get Mulligan to have the initial charges dropped.^[21][22][23]

On October 30, 2018, the Toronto Star published a correction retracting an earlier report that Bullard had been spotted at Mulligan's home in violation of a court order that he stay away from her. The newspaper's correction stated "In fact,... the charges do not state that he was at her home and those allegations were not raised in any subsequent court proceedings. The criminal harassment charge against Bullard was dismissed at the preliminary inquiry on June 1, 2018."^[24]

On June 8, 2018, Bullard pleaded guilty to one count of harassing communication for making harassing phone calls to Mulligan and two counts of violating his bail conditions by contacting her through a third party.^[25] He was given a conditional discharge, put on six months of probation and was required to attend a domestic violence program.^[26] His criminal harassment and obstruction of justice charges had been dropped earlier in the month after the judge ruled there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.^[27]

Bullard launched a legal action for defamation in August 2018 against Chatelaine magazine, one of its writers, and its publisher, Rogers Media, asking for $6 million in damages after it published an interview with Cynthia Mulligan. The suit alleged the article incorrectly claimed that Bullard had been found guilty of "stalking / criminal harassment" and had resulted in Bullard being subjected "to ridicule, hatred, and contempt" and caused damage to his professional and personal reputations by implying that he is "unfit for employment and/or intimate relationships".^[28]

On May 20, 2020, Bullard's lawsuit was dismissed by the court following a motion by the defence that the lawsuit violated Ontario's anti-SLAPP legislation. Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael McKelvey ruled: "What is clear in this case is that the damage to Mr. Bullard's career and reputation occurred well prior to and independent of the publication of the Chatelaine article. What is also clear is that the comments of his victim are views one could honestly hold based on the proven facts, and form part of a public dialogue on a matter of significant public interest."^[29]

In 2022, Mitch Dubros, a private investigator who had been retained by Bullard's lawyer, was found guilty of obstruction of justice for trying to threaten and intimidate witnesses and Mulligan in person and over the phone in what Superior Court Justice Kenneth Campbell said was "a clear attempt to effectively blackmail Ms. Mulligan into staying silent in relation to the misconduct of Mr. Bullard." Dubros was sentenced to a jail term of 18 months. Bullard and Dubros both stated they didn't know each other and had never met.^[4][30]

According to a 2023 Toronto Star profile, Bullard was unrepentant when talking about the case, speaking in a tense and stern tone "sometimes drifting into anger", with Bullard asserting he was treated unfairly by the media, public and the prosecutors. Bullard said the case affected his career causing him to slide from public view, though he still worked regularly as a stand-up comic at Yuk Yuk's.^[20]

Bullard died in his sleep of a suspected heart attack on October 11, 2024, in Mississauga.^[1][31] He was 67.^[32] His body was found by a friend at the residence where he was staying.^[33]

Mike Bullard won two Gemini Awards for Open Mike With Mike Bullard,^[34] Best Talk Information Series in 1999 and Best Music Variety Program Series in 2001. The show also won the 2000 Hugo Award (Gold Medal) for Best Talk Show at the Chicago International Television Festival. Bullard was voted one of the top 10 Funniest Canadians in a nationwide poll by TV Guide in 2002.^[35]

In 2013, he received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his volunteer work,^[36] including supporting charities such as the Trillium Health Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and emceeing many charitable fundraisers.^[37]

• Mike Bullard at IMDb
• Mike Bullard discography at Discogs