JARED KEESO: FROM LISTOWEL TO STRATHROY TO KINCARDINE TO LETTERKENNY

By: Colton Phibbs, OHA Media
(Originally published in the 2017-18 OHA Annual Report)

“There are 5,000 people in Letterkenny. These are their problems.” That’s the line (or some small variation of it) that starts off every episode of the CraveTV hit show, Letterkenny. The show is based on the small town of Listowel in southwestern Ontario, where Jared Keeso, a star and co-creator of Letterkenny and the subject of this grad profile, was born and raised.

Jared grew up working at his family’s sawmill in Listowel for his dad, Richard. The company started back in 1872, and although it moved around a few times during its first 40 years or so, it made Listowel its home in 1921, and their facility now stands just north of the town along Highway 23. When asked about the time he spent working there, Jared said “this is the most valuable work experience of my life because if you know you can do labour you can do just about anything.”

In high school Keeso was a great hockey player, and earned himself a spot on the local Jr. B Listowel Cyclones for the start of the 2000-01 season. He played part of that season and the next with the Strathroy Rockets, and after those two years of Junior B he joined the Junior C Kincardine Bulldogs. For Keeso, finding statistics from his time in hockey is no easy task, considering he’s a star actor rather than an athlete, but in the 2002-03 season with the Bulldogs, Jared had eight goals and seven assists in 24 games, along with 65 penalty minutes.

While historical statistics are not as available as they are today, stories of his playing days from Keeso himself are an even better way to look back at his time as a junior hockey player. One story that stood out to Jared was while he was playing with the Bulldogs. It was Jared’s final year in junior and the Bulldogs matched up with the Hanover Barons in the playoffs. In the best-of-five series, the Barons took a 2 games to 0 lead and had Kincardine “on the ropes” according to Jared. He thought back to a playoff series he had played against Petrolia when he played for Strathroy and said that “it was their bone-heads that beat us mentally from warm-up in game 1”. So, Keeso, like his character Wayne in Letterkenny, rolled up his sleeves and tried being a “bone-head” himself. 

“I fought more in that series than I did in my previous four years in junior, but while I sat in the box or in the stands, our team tucked enough goals to claw back and take the series.” Keeso said. He went on to add that “Nothing beats playoffs. Anything to win.” Jared still keeps in contact with some of those coaches and teammates too. He attended the Kincardine Bulldogs’ year-end banquet last year and ran into some of them. “We picked up right where we left off. I still follow the WOAA Senior league to keep track of old teammates and guys I played against.”

While playing junior hockey and going to school, Jared found a passion for acting to go along with his love of hockey. Acting wasn’t an easy industry to get into in a small town in Canada, but Keeso also said that he realized he wasn’t going to be able to go pro with hockey: “not a big enough points guy” as a W5 feature said. The change to acting didn’t take him away from the game though, in fact, Jared played the one and only Don Cherry in two made for TV movies: Keep Your Head Up, Kid and Wrath of Grapes, from The Don Cherry Story. He also landed a starring role on the Canadian show 19-2 and won both a Canadian Screen Award and a Leo Award for his work on the show. With all of this going on, Keeso didn’t lose track of his roots. While his acting career progressed, he performed comedy sketches on YouTube about hockey and his favourite team, the Calgary Flames. Also, on Twitter, he and a friend started the profile “Listowel Problems” (@Listy_Problems). This evolved into the YouTube series “Letterkenny Problems” and ultimately, Letterkenny.

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Hockey teaches many lessons as players grow up in the game, and for Jared that’s no exception. There are many things that the game can teach someone that can be applied to life far beyond the sport itself. For Keeso, a lesson hockey taught him was to always be humble: “Hockey is unique from other sports because we are taught that it is never about “I”. You never heard Crosby, Doughty, or Toews say “I” when winning multiple Cups unless they were criticizing their own play. This is what makes hockey players stand out as human beings. We are humble.” said Keeso. 

Another thing he said that has stuck with him since playing hockey, specifically in the playoffs, was “don’t get too high, don’t get too low.” Jared went on to add: “Handle your victories with grace and treat your losses as a lesson/learning experience.” Keeso is a perfect example of this as well, as he has persevered through some hard times in Hollywood but remains humble in these high times with the success of Letterkenny. Jared also noted that “Pat (Whitey) Stapleton insisted as a team we stand entirely still during our national anthem in Strathroy. Don’t even breathe. I still do that today. I think it’s as punk rock as it is appropriate.”

The show Letterkenny follows the “problems” of the residents of the fictional town of Letterkenny, Ontario. Keeso’s character, Wayne, and his friends, are referred to as hicks, while the other groups represented in the show are the skids, and of course, the hockey players. Jonesy and Reilly are the two hockey players the show focuses on, but Jared says that the pair are “on an unparalleled level” when asked if he related to their characters in anyway. Jared did, however, mention that there are antics on the show that he actually witnessed during his time in junior hockey: “there is a character on the show named Shoresy (voiced by Keeso), who has an interesting way of showering after games and that was inspired by a teammate from Junior B in Listowel.” He went on to say “if, by chance, he’s reading this, it’s still the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” For those of the readers that have seen the show, Keeso brought up another crazy personality from Letterkenny: “I think every hockey player reading this has played for a guy like our character, Coach.” For those who haven’t seen the show, Coach is loud, short-tempered, and demands the absolute best from his team.

To conclude, Jared had some great comments on his transition from hockey to acting, and for young players pursuing their own dreams. “Being a teenager is tough in general. I wasn’t in a big hurry to grow up (I’m still not), so being ushered towards “maturity” when I wasn’t done being a kid was a bit of a pain in the bum. I’ve made up for it since by finding a career where I can be as silly as I want.” For the young hockey players reading, Keeso had this to say: “Don’t be soft on yourself. Whatever you’re after, in hockey or in life, get up and get after it.”

BIO: JARED KEESO
Birthday: July 1, 1984
Hometown: Listowel, ON
Position: Forward/Actor/Writer/Producer
Height: 6’  Weight: 185 pounds

Click here to view Jared Keeso’s profile on EliteProspects.com

Click here to view Jared Keeso’s profile on IMDB.com