"Number Two: More Short Tales from a Very Tall Man" by Jay Onrait

Everyone’s favourite Canadian (but left us for America) sportscaster is back with more hilarious stories from the worlds of sports, Canadian media, and now (because he left us for America) Hollywood.  

Number Two: More Short Tales from a Very Tall Man, by Jay Onrait, picks up where his first book, Anchorboy, left off and gives us more hilarious stories that will have you laughing out loud and completely grossed out, probably at the same time.

One has to wonder about Jay Onrait.  He is most certainly a hilarious guy, but how one earth is this his life?  Does he go out looking for crazy things to happen or do they just find him?  In this book Jay shares about hilarious circumstances in his life like trying to get a medical marijuana license, not giving up his table at a restaurant for Jay-Z even though it was Jay-Z’s table, getting bumped off of television appearances because of Rob Ford’s crack confession, and the madness that was the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  Oh, and the time they watched videos of people having sex in the Speakers Corner box at a CityTV holiday party.  That’s just the start of the wild stories that Jay shares from his life.

As I mentioned in my review of Anchorboy, I find Jay to be hilarious even without having watched much of him on television.  I spent a sleep-deprived two weeks watching him during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and ever since then, I’ve felt a connection to him.  I thought his first book was hilarious and was so happy to see that he had even more stories to share.  And this was a quick, funny read that I enjoyed very much.

However, Number Two is an appropriate title for this book as there is a lot of talk in this book about his need to use the bathroom.  Which honestly took this book from an absolutely hilarious must-read to a piece of juvenile writing.  I could have done without those stories, or at least much less detail.  The book would have been just as funny without those stories.  I could handle them in the first book but now it just seems a little crass.


That being said, Jay redeems himself for me when he acknowledges leaving us for America and tells Canadians not to worry, that he will be back.  It’s in print, so we’ll hold him to it.  Because watching the Olympic coverage at 5am just isn’t the same without him there to make me laugh.

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