Ajay Fry

Ajay Fry is a Canadian comedian, television personality and producer who grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, best known as host on the official Orphan Black after show After the Black on BBC America, and the Canadian daily entertainment talk show InnerSpace on Space (2008–2018).

Ajay Fry
Born	Ajay Jack Fry (1983-06-17) 17 June 1983 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Television host and personality
Years active	1990–present

Early life

Fry was born in Toronto, Ontario on June 17, 1983, to Pat Fry,[1] a voiceover artist (best known for his role as the titular character's father on the Canadian children's TV series Caillou) and former radio host, and Sharon Fry (née Hoff), a legal assistant. Fry grew up in Ottawa, Ontario where he regularly performed at The Institution while attending Colonel By Secondary School.

Career

Early career

At age 7, Fry took his first job as a host on a local community travel series in Ottawa called Rainbow Merry-Go-Round. He went on to make appearances on Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Big Wolf on Campus, and has voiced characters on animated series such as The Little Lulu Show and Arthur, among others.[2] At the age of 20, Fry moved to Toronto to attend Humber College[3]'s Comedy: Writing and Performance program, where he was nominated for the Phil Hartman Award. After graduating he attended Second City Conservatory training and launched his first web series, The Not Yet Show.[4]

Crunch

From September 2006 until August 2008, Fry hosted of Crunch, the Saturday morning block of cartoon programming on YTV. During this time he also appeared on-screen at the Rogers Centre to promote Jr. Jays weekend activities.

InnerSpace

In the summer of 2008, after two years on YTV, Fry[5] was hired as the new host of The Circuit, a weekly entertainment news program on Space Channel. In 2009, the show was re-branded to InnerSpace[6] a nightly "after show" style program following Space's prime time programming. After 2 seasons, InnerSpace changed formats once again, becoming an entertainment news talk show with co-hosts Teddy Wilson and Morgan Hoffman.

During his tenure at InnerSpace, Fry has interviewed a wide array of celebrities and artists, including actors Jeff Bridges, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Wahlberg, Sigourney Weaver, Jessica Alba, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo, Martin Sheen, Will Ferrell, Dave Bautista, Nathan Fillion, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy; Directors Joss Whedon, Zack Snyder, Guillermo del Toro; authors, Neil Gaiman, Robert Munsh, Robert J. Sawyer, Stan Lee; the casts of The Twilight Saga, The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Orphan Black, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and many others.

Fry has conducted set visits, interviews and covered video game industry events, across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, including a set visit for the Harry Potter film franchise, visits to Skywalker Ranch,[7] and has covered The Toronto International Film Festival, E3, San Diego Comic-Con,[8] Fan Expo Canada,[9] Calgary Expo,[10] and numerous other national and international events.

Fry's hosting duties also extend to a number of after shows and specials for some of Space Channel's more prominent series, including the Day of the Doctor,[11] After Bite (following Bitten),[12] and After the Black (following Orphan Black).[13]

In 2011, Fry won 'Outstanding Contribution to Film or TV' at the Canadian Science Fiction Awards for his work on InnerSpace along with co-host, Teddy Wilson.[14]

After the Black

On Saturday, March 26, 2016 it was announced that After the Black, the Orphan Black after show hosted by Fry and his co-hosts Teddy Wilson and Morgan Hoffman had been picked up by BBC America and would be broadcast following Orphan Black during the show's fourth season.[15]

YouTube

In 2015, Fry became a Much creator[16] and launched a YouTube series called 5 on Fry (a weekly look at five different topics), as well as a personal vlog.

Other work

Fry has made a number of appearances in other media, including appearing as himself in the commercial for a 2014 Nintendo Canada contest celebrating the launch of Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze,[17] and appearing in a supporting role as a fictionalized version of himself in the 2015 film Pure Pwnage: The Movie.[18] He has also appeared in the Captain Canuck web series as himself.[19]

Fry has hosted numerous media and industry events, including etalk Live On The Red Carpet At The Toronto International Film Festival (co-hosted with Jessi Cruickshank),[20] the Joe Shuster Awards (Canada's Comic Book Awards),[21] the Canadian Science Fiction Awards,[22] and the Toronto Independent Music Awards.[23]

Fry has contributed written work to Metro News and has appeared in The Toronto Star.[24] He makes regular appearances on Canada AM,[25] etalk, CTV News, The Marilyn Denis Show, CP24, and CHUM Radio, and has appeared on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.[26]

References

1. "Pat Fry". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
2. "Ajay Fry". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
3. "Class Notes" (PDF). Humber Dialogue. Winter 2011.
4. "Not Yet already a Web success.(convergence: where entertainment meets technology)(Brief Article) | HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". business.highbeam.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
5. "InnerSpace". Space.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
6. "SPACE Flagship Genre After-Show INNERSPACE Premieres Sept 16". Channel Canada TV Forums. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
7. "'InnerSPACE' co-host goes inside Skywalker Ranch". CTVNews. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
8. "Genre Fanatics Rejoice! SPACE Takes Viewers to San Diego Comic-Con During the Two-Part Original Special INNERSPACE: COMIC-CON, August 2 and 3". Channel Canada. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
9. "SPACE Takes Over Fan Expo Canada™ This Weekend, With Panels, Autograph Sessions, and INNERSPACE". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
10. "Look Out Calgary! Space Invades Alberta for The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, April 26–28 – Bell Media". www.bellmedia.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
11. "THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR Ex-ter-mi-nates the Record Books With 1.1 Million Viewers, Largest Ever on Space – Bell Media". www.bellmedia.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
12. "A Few Words from the Hosts of InnerSpace: After Bite". Space.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
13. "'Orphan Black' After-Show Coming to BBC America | BBC America". BBC America. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
14. "Space congratulates Innerspace co-hosts on winning feature prize at The Constellation Awards - Throng". Throng. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
15. "'Orphan Black' Gets Weekly Aftershow". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
16. "Much Digital Studios Announces Nine New Creators – Bell Media". www.bellmedia.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
17. Nintendo (2014-02-07), Canada's Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Banana Mania Contest, retrieved 2016-04-16
18. Lapaire, Geoff (2000-01-01), Pure Pwnage, retrieved 2016-04-16
19. "Ajay Fry plays himself in Captain Canuck- The Animated Web Series | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
20. "Bell Media Goes Beyond the Velvet Rope at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival®". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
21. Boyd, Kevin A. "Announcing the 2011 Joe Shuster Awards hosts: Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson!". THE JOE SHUSTER AWARDS. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
22. "The Constellation Awards - A Canadian Award for Excellence in Film & Television Science Fiction". constellations.tcon.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
23. "Toronto Independent Music Awards Festival And Gala Ceremony". Time Out Toronto. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
24. Robinson, Michael (2015-10-26). "At Lightsaber Battle Toronto 2015, an expert opines on the skill and style of Toronto's top Sith and Jedi warriors". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
25. "Video game reviews with Innerspace co-host Ajay Fry". canadaam.ctvnews.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
26. Strombo.com. "SOMETHING YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT CANADA: Trackball". George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. Retrieved 2016-04-16.

External links

• Ajay Fry on IMDb