While working on The Jon Dore Television Show, Dave Derewlany says he and his directing partner Adam Brodie were excited to learn that the series has ‘a decent-sized animal budget.’

‘We got to use a monkey,’ says Derewlany.

Known to fans simply as Adam and Dave, the two have been writing, directing and performing to comedic acclaim since meeting in film school at Ryerson University in Toronto. Their thesis film Heatscore screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002, and they’ve had four films at the fest since.

Derewlany and Brodie are also part of the Toronto-based sketch troupe Knock Knock (who’s there?) Comedy!, and met Dore on the comedy circuit. After one of their first forays into mainstream TV — they directed six episodes of The Morgan Waters Show for CBC — they helmed the webisodes for Dore’s program and, this season, have been brought back to do TV episodes.

‘It worked — or the blackmail did,’ says Brodie.

The show follows the misadventures of Dore, a standup comedian, as he tries to overcome challenges like being broke or being the victim of racism. It is produced by Insight Production Company, and has filmed this fall around Toronto in five-day blocks with a crew of between 15 to 20 people.

‘We’ve cut our teeth on small, lean and mean budgets,’ says Derewlany. ‘This has a good budget and a great crew.’

The show airs on The Comedy Network, where they are also in development on a project they hope to write, direct and perform.

‘We’re waiting at the stop light right now, it’s amber. It could go either way,’ says Brodie.

He doesn’t discount the duo branching out, but says comedy is their purpose.

‘How about a dramedy? Or a comeda? Our skills are better served in the comedy world, but I wouldn’t say we’d never make an amazing western,’ he says.