Mista Mo and a Sunshine Boy get buzzed

By Roman Zakaluzny

Have you ever watched celebrity interview shows like E-Now, and wished for the interviewers to probe their subjects deeper? Were the questions too superficial? Well, leave it to two guys from Canada to keep American celebs on the edge.

Torontonians Daryn Jones and Mista MO (Morgan Smith: "I don’t use the last name because it is part of slavery") promise to deliver the celebrity guerrilla interviews in their new show Buzz to premier Jan. 31 on the Comedy Network. Britney Spears, the artist formerly known as Ginger Spice and Matthew Good are a few of the stars accosted.

The hosts are a colourful duo with Jamaican-born MO, 28, being the son of a minister, while Jones, 21, was a former Sunshine Boy for Sun Media.

"MO does his thing, I do my thing," explains Jones. "It’s a nice balance too, cuz he’s a black guy and I’m a small white guy."

Buzz has run for three years on community cable in Ontario, and has amassed a cult following of sorts.

"There was quite a buzz in Toronto about it," says Jones. "It was kind of like an independent thing that people could really get into."

It was during these initial few years that Jones and MO earned their reputation for surprising the rich and the famous.

"We’d camp out at parties," explained Jones. "We’d try to pick out celebrities as they walked in. Then we’d corner them and fire off questions and goof around. We’d try to get a different angle than your typical interview."

In this age of South Park and The Tom Green Show, does anything shock your average university student anymore?

"It’s right in their alley," explains Mo. "There’s so many angles on shock. Shock still works."

Buzz producer Mike MacKinnon (The Tom Green Show)is now preparing to shock people with dialogue rather than actions.

"We like to explore the intelligent side [of shock], like getting into interesting topics," says Jones. "And it’s more to see if people can keep up."

Buzz will also have weekly stand-up routines, as well as a claymation short called "Stiffy," about a boy and his expired pet dog.

Some interviews turned out better than others.

"We had Matthew Good on, and we called him Tommy Lee through the whole interview," shares Jones. "Really, it’s a couple of young guys out there with a camera just having fun. That’s the essential thing. Get the whole dorm room around. Drink. Smoke. Watch out show."

Buzz can be seen Mondays at 9 p.m, on The Comedy Network.