Why is comic Andrew Barr running on a treadmill for 12 hours?

Stand-up comic Andrew Barr is getting ready to lap up some laughs — for a good cause.

On August 24 at Comedy Bar Danforth, he’s set to run on a treadmill for 12 straight hours — he’s aiming for 100 km, the equivalent of 2 1/3 full marathons — and then, right after, he plans to tape his first comedy special.

Tentatively titled The 13th Hour, referring to his hour-long live show performed after his marathon run (and a quick 10-minute break), the event is a fundraiser for the rehab centre that helped him kick drugs and alcohol just over two-and-a-half years ago.

We chatted via Zoom last week in between his training sessions for this possibly insane project.

Just for some background, how long have you been sober now? And does it get easier, or is it just as difficult as it was when you began?

Andrew Barr: 32 months, coming up on 33. It kind of ebbs and flows. It’s definitely overall easier now than it was at the beginning. But addiction is a crafty opponent. Sometimes it lies dormant for a while, and it’s just sort of working on a new little strategy behind the curtains, then all of a sudden it’ll pop up out of nowhere.

This time of year can be especially hard, because it’s close to my birthday. You can get vulnerable around your birthday. You get that, “Oh, what have I done with my life? Have I accomplished enough? Am I behind?” kind of feeling. So, yeah, this is the time of year where it’s a little bit more in attack mode, trying to make me feel bad about myself. But overall, yeah it’s not as hard as it used to be.

So how — and why — did you come up with this idea?

Barr: Now that I’ve been sober for a while, I wanted to try to do something to give back. I’m not so worried about myself anymore, so I figured I could use some of my time and energy to help others. And I thought it would be nice to raise some money for the rehab centre I went to, Renascent. I owe them so much. I wondered how I could raise money. And then I realized I’m pretty good at running. I’m one of those sober fitness guys who got super into the gym — I go almost every day and run long distances regularly. So I had this idea to run on a treadmill for 12 hours to raise money. I thought it’d be a cool thing to do, even though it also sounds horrible.

I looked into doing it at a public park, because I thought it’d be easier to gather crowds to donate and stuff. But it turns out there’s a lot of red tape involved; you can’t just set up an event in a park.

Then I thought of my friend Gary Rideout Jr., who’s the co-owner of Comedy Bar and a great guy. I thought he might let me do this onstage at Comedy Bar if we could find the right day. And then I thought, well, as long as I’m going to be there anyway, running 12 hours on a treadmill... I’ve been meaning to record a special. Why not record the special right after?

So what are the logistics? The show starts at 8 pm, which means you’ll be running from 8 am until 8 pm?

Barr: I’m going to start at 7:30 am to give myself half an hour of leeway for bathroom breaks and stuff like that. The goal is to make it 100 km in those 12 hours. It’s going to be brutal, but I think that I can do it.

How do you rehearse or prepare for something like this?

Barr: I’ve just been running. I go to the gym, I go on the treadmill, I abuse their equipment. I’ve been training since January. So far, the farthest I’ve run all at one time is 65 km, which I did in six hours. So on the day of the event, if I could repeat that, that would give me another six hours to complete 35 km in the back six.

Is there going to be a minimum speed, like for the bus in the movie Speed?

Barr: No, but I want to look good up there. I’m going to try to keep it fast. I’m in shape. I’m going to do my best and push my body as hard as I can. At one point I’ll have to slow down. I’m gonna keep it a steady pace for as long as I can. My goal is to run the 100k in 10- 11 hours and then be able to walk a little bit before taping the special just to recalibrate and shift into show mode. But if shit goes bad, then I might need the whole 12 hours to make the 100 km.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Nobody knows what’s gonna happen. No one’s done this before.

And that 12 hours is going to be live-streamed?

Barr: Yeah, we’re going to collect donations for the rehab centre I went to. I’m also raising money for a charity in the States called End Overdose, which does a lot of harm reduction.

We’ll be live streaming the whole run. Obviously, me running for 12 hours will be boring, and I’m not going to be super chatty during that time. So we’re putting a couch next to the treadmill, and I’m going to bring in two comedians per hour. They’re gonna sit there and kind of podcast next to me while I’m slowly disintegrating.

I’ve got a bunch of funny friends coming in, and they’ll help give the day some shape and keep whoever’s watching the stream engaged and laughing. So far I’ve confirmed Nigel Grinstead, Ryan Dillon, Allie Pearse, Jordan Foisy, Rebecca Reeds, Hannah Veldhoen. I think Adam Christie will be on. A bunch of super funny people.

It’ll be nice having people around. I’ve been running on the treadmill so much this year, obviously, and it’s been weird. Community is really important for sobriety. You need to be around people. But training for this has been a super isolating experience, because it’s just me running on a treadmill by myself for hours at a time.

I think back to when I ran that 65 km, which is like a marathon and a half. Most people will never do that in their lives, but typically, if someone did do that, it would be a big event, and their whole family would be there at the end congratulating them. I did it, and just walked home by myself and quietly ate dinner alone. It’s been a challenging year in that regard, so I’m jazzed that on the day of I’ll have some friends around.

Okay, some practical things. You mentioned having that half hour buffer to go to the washroom and stuff. You’ll be stepping off the treadmill, and the clock will stop? Will there be other breaks?

Barr: The set-up at Comedy Bar Danforth is fortunate because they have a bathroom just off the stage. It’s a really short walk, because the need might come out of nowhere, you know? Ideally, that’s the only time I’ll need to stop.

I bought a big digital clock that’s going to hang above my head and will be counting up to 12 hours. I can pause it with a remote.

What about eating and hydrating?

Barr: I’ll be refuelling constantly. I’ve got a bunch of these runner’s gels. I found a brand I like that works well with my stomach. How you eat when you’re doing these long runs is important. One time, before I knew how to fuel properly, I ran a marathon and I ate too much. The gels I was using had a lot of caffeine in them, and it messed up my stomach.

Once your organs betray you, you’re screwed. What I’ve found in my training runs is that I can pretty much ignore any pain in my legs and arms. Hurt feet is like a hollow threat. They can’t really do anything. But your organs can kill you. If they start acting up, you have to stop.

Basically every 15 minutes, I get to have half a gel and a sip of water, two gels per hour. A couple of weeks ago, I ran a 47 km one day, and the next day, I ran 45 km, so that was 92 km in two days, which I did in eight hours and 10 minutes total. I was using that fuelling technique, and I felt good.

Um. What about body odour and sweat?

Barr: [Laughing] There’s gonna be body odour. I’ll keep deodorant on the treadmill along with the water and gels. I use this product called Body Glide that’s good for chafing. I’ll probably have to reapply a few times during the day. I’m going to stink, but I’m hoping the room is big enough that it doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s a 150 seat theatre, and I’ve done really long runs at the gym in a similar sized room, and don’t feel like I’m stinking up the place too bad when I do them. I think that’s gonna be okay.

But I am not showering or anything before I finish and go out and do the show. I think it’ll be funny to look as bad and as distraught as possible. Typically, when people record a special, you know, they wear new clothes and shoes, their hair is done and they look like a million bucks. It’s going to be funny to look like hell out there. I’m gonna be so beat up. There’s no way I’m gonna be able to walk normally. I hope it makes for a really unique and fun experience.

Have you consulted a physician? Is there going to be a medical professional on site in case something happens?

Barr: Absolutely not. I don’t want to know what they have to say. I’m sure they would just tell me not to do it. I saw a video online of a guy who ran on a treadmill for 24 hours, and afterwards he fainted a lot. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that if I’m that tired, I could pass out. But that guy also did 24 hours; it might have been sleep deprivation. We’ll see. My plan is: if I faint once, I have to wear a helmet for the rest of the stand-up set.

Can you tell me about the material itself? How has your act changed over the past year and a half or so since we last talked?

Barr: I've got a lot of new stuff that I’m really excited about. I spent some time in Turkey this year getting a hair transplant, which is mercifully finally growing in. I’ve been told it doesn’t really take off until six months, and it’s only been four — so I’m excited. It was a fun trip. Now that I’ve been sober a little bit longer, not everything I write is about addiction. Sometimes when you talk about addiction all the time, you’re like, “Oh God, is this the only thing I’m gonna talk about now for the rest of my life?”

So it’s been nice to be writing jokes that are a little bit more general — not about addiction but sort of moving forward as someone who is sober but also has, like, other things going on.

I’ve also never done a special before. I’ve taped a couple of albums, but nothing for video. There are some older jokes I’m proud of that were never put on tape. So I’m probably going to do 40 minutes of new material and 20 of the hits.

Your decision to be open and public about your hair transplant: Was this part of the philosophy of sobriety, to be open and transparent?

Barr: I would really love to tell you that it’s something beautiful like that. But in reality, I got an influencer deal. I got the surgery for free, so I literally had to post about it. I would have made content about it anyways, because it is all funny, but yeah, I lucked out. And the company that I worked with was great. They liked my account, and in exchange for some content I got some free hair. I’m chalking that up to the gift of sobriety. They never would have brought me in when I was still doing drugs and booze all the time. So it was a pretty pretty good perk.

Istanbul is a wild city. I’m really happy that I was sober when I was there. I think if I had still been on drugs, that city would have killed me me. It looked like way too much fun.

In a way, the treadmill itself is a sort of metaphor for addiction, right?

Barr: Totally. You’re stuck in one place. You can’t move forward. You’re not really making any progress. And maybe at first you’re having a little bit of fun, but it’s just moment by moment. Slowly this thing will break you down until at a certain point you have to admit you can’t beat this machine. You just have to get off it.

The audience is going to be arriving at about 11 1/2 hours roughly into my run. To me, that’s like the intervention. People who care about you are showing up. They’re there for you, not for the weird thing you’ve been doing. They’re there to see you.

And then when I finally hit stop and get off the treadmill, and walk towards the audience, that’s like a return to community. It’s me putting the pain behind me, and getting back to the things that I do. Yeah, that’s the story I want to tell.

When I tell people about the event, they think I’m kind of a masochist. For me, it’s important the day is not about the pain but about showing what people are capable of once they’ve put their pain behind them. I think that if I can run 100 km, if I can spend 12 hours on a treadmill, and I can walk away from that and still give people a good show... I think that says a lot about what people are capable of when they're when they’re on their shit and doing well. I want to show people what I can do, but I also want to show people what they can do.

So I have to ask. This challenge, this fitness obsession... has one addiction simply replaced another? I know this is a healthier one, but still... 

Barr: Yeah, probably. That’s the nature of addicts. We like to do the same stuff all the time. I think it’s just about applying it in a positive manner, if you can. Certainly what I’m doing right now is extreme, and I know it. You could probably characterize some of it as self abuse. But I do check in with myself about that. Once the event is done, I am planning on not running so much, and I’m really looking forward to it. I do like running, but normally for an hour or so.

For addicts, when you’re doing something a lot, it’s good to just check in with it, and make sure it’s not having a negative impact on your life. But yeah, I’m feeling okay about the exercise thing. I don’t think I’m too far gone. For me, what I need to address, addiction-wise, is my phone.

Can we talk about that? Before I interviewed you back in January 2024, I think your Instagram followers had grown in a few months from a few thousand to 55,000. Now you’ve more than doubled that number.

Barr: Social media has become such a big part of our industry in the last five, six years. It’s a big shift from when I started. When I began, I didn’t even have a Twitter account. I didn’t know what a hashtag was. Now, it’s something we all kind of have to be doing.

But it’s a difficult thing to navigate because, well, social media is really addictive and not great for your mental health if you’re using it a lot. It can be tough for addicts in the industry, because the industry forces you to engage with this thing that is ultimately bad for your mental health.

I try on social media to be positive at least, and I think I’ve achieved that. It seems to resonate with people, which is good. I deal with a lot of addicts on various platforms, and even manage to help the occasional person. Having them to engage with helps me quite a bit. So I’m happy about that.

I get the occasional death threat, someone wishing I died. People tell I’m annoying and was probably more fun when I was doing drugs — things like that. I try not to take it personally.

Anytime someone leaves a really horrible comment on anything on the internet, instead of just simply scrolling by it, it means that they’re not doing well. I try to remember that it’s probably a sick and sad person that I’m dealing with. There’s no reason to ever leave a horrible comment on anything — not that I have never done that myself, like when I’m having a bad day. We’re all, at some point in our lives, guilty of that.

But anytime I’ve ever left an angry little comment on something later I’ve thought, Oh, I don’t think I’m doing very well. So I try not to take it personally when it does happen to me. The thing is, it’s not bad for engagement when people say horrible shit to you, and then other people jump in to defend you. Sometimes people will argue for days in the comments. It’s good for your algorithm, but I try not to let it all get to me.

So yeah, I’m probably too addicted to my phone now. I’ll need to address that at some point. So far I’m happy that I’ve managed to engage with social media in a way that is positive and authentic.

So it’s about two weeks before the big day. What’s going through your mind now?

Barr: At this point, the running is the thing that I’m the least worried about. It’s all the logistical stuff. I’m worried about making sure that we sell the tickets and that we have all the right camera angles. That stuff.

How many cameras will you have?

Barr: I’m thinking four filming me and two for audience reactions. I also want to get footage of me during the day, with one camera doing a time-lapse shot, perhaps sped-up for the intro to the special. Just me, stuck in one place the whole day, but people will be moving around me and setting things up and stuff. I think that could look cool.

Basically, when the 12 hours is up, I’m going to welcome everybody, tell them about the day. My buddy Nigel [Grinstead] is going to do an opening set, while I give myself 10 minutes to recover.

I’m also going to have a camera person backstage while I change. Trying to take off clothes and put on other clothes is going to be something. Whatever it looks like when I come through the curtain after being on a treadmill for 12 hours, with only 10 minutes to recover... I think that footage is gonna be funny, so I wanna make sure we capture that.

Andrew Barr tapes his tentatively titled comedy special The 13th Hour at Comedy Bar Danforth (2800 Danforth) on August 24, at 8 pm. Get info here. Closer to the event, you’ll find streaming and donation details on his Instagram page @andrewbarrcomedy.

Coming up: Reviews of Old Times at Soulpepper and Heratio at Guild Festival Theatre; three shows at SummerWorks