Kliph Nesteroff

Kliph Nesteroff was born and raised in a Russian pacifist community in rural British Columbia. After being permanently expelled from high school for the content of a speech he delivered during a campaign for school president, he moved to Toronto and started performing stand-up comedy. Influenced by the Beat Generation, punk rock music, and his anti-war upbringing, Nesteroff primarily performed in underground bars, punk rock clubs, and alternative comedy venues. He quickly developed a cult following for the combative, insult-comic character Shecky Grey, which landed him on the cover of several Canadian free weeklies. After eight years of stand-up, Nesteroff quit in 2006 with the intention of writing full time. In order to make ends meet, he worked in Vancouver's downtown east side, providing clean syringes and pipes in the crack houses and shooting galleries along East Hastings Street as part of a harm reduction program. Nesteroff worked as an advocate for the homeless, the mentally il