by J. Bruce Parker
Jason Rip is very much aware that his name will also be his epitaph. Mention this to him, and his eyes narrow slightly, accompanied by a nefarious smile. This is understandable as the poet, author, actor, director, comedian, and cartoonist has incorporated a sense of the macabre into much of his work.
With all these titles before his name, I ask, “Who is Jason Rip”?
He diffuses it down to “I’m a storyteller.”
I met up with Jason at one of his favorite haunts, the Landon Library in South London. He was deep into Charles Dickens’ heavy-handed tome, Bleak House, and also researching the Boer War for an upcoming book.
Jason’s stories, many evolving into plays, exactly 100 of them with 74 being produced, also tell the story of Jason Rip in some way or another. Two of his plays were written about London luminaries, Marc Emery and Roy MacDonald.
With the finality of his theatrical work ending at 100, he adds, “I stopped writing plays after my 100th as I felt no one needs to write more than 100 plays”. His notion of practicality certainly hasn’t diminished his restless creative spirit.
Jason Rip was born in Guelph, migrated to Indiana due to his father’s work as a biochemist, and ended up in London when he was six.
He was formally educated at the University of Western Ontario and, as a teacher, taught in Tillsonburg as well as at South Secondary School in London.
At six foot six, Jason Rip is an imposing figure.
“A lot of people have told me that I am intimidating when they first meet me. I can’t help being six foot six.”
His love of theatre inspired him to seek out roles, but in his own words, “If you are the dimensions that I am, there are limits on roles that you will get.”
In a 2018 documentary, directed by Matthew Downs and produced by Faith Clark, appropriately titled A Tombstone Epitaph, Jason is described as “a big man with strong opinions.”
In the film, Jason tells us, “I didn’t really choose theatre, it chose me, but I know I am passionate about it to the exclusion of almost everything else; relationships, jobs, money, or whether I eat or not. I do what I want. I don’t think I am influenced by whether it is going to sell or if anybody is going to want to see it. I am doomed to a low budget, but I do what I want. In terms of a guy who writes in this town, I am the last man standing”.
He slyly adds, “I have never written anything that shouldn’t be burned in a fire.”
As an aspiring actor, Jason began writing plays to create parts for himself. “The playwriting came as I wasn’t satisfied with the parts I was getting.”
Reflecting on his own life, he took to writing plays about the downcast, the vulnerable, the destitute, and marginalized; those who are swept aside or misunderstood by society.
This could be defined in a work he co-created with Rachel Ganz and performed at Manor Park Theatre in 2024. Man Up is a definitive and somewhat uncomfortable look at the issue of male suicide. All five performances were sold out. He expressed on his Facebook page that the play was for “the precious few who prefer their theatre to be hard-hitting social commentary instead of song and dance, and for all who have lost loved ones to the ‘unspeakable’ but everyday tragedy.” Jason cast seven local actors to perform the eighteen scenes/vignettes.
The play demonstrated the role of masculinity in our society; the perceived image of what a man is about and the myths of machismo. To make it timely, consider the highest point of office in the U.S. by an individual who has proven himself as an example of the worst kind of toxic masculinity.
His previous theatrical works explored the lives of artist Andy Warhol, poets Arthur Rimbaud and Edgar Allen Poe, and jazz musician Chet Baker; all highly creative but troubled souls.
Jason tells me, “I started out my life feeling like an outcast, and in some ways, I still feel like one, with what separates me from others is quite extreme, but it is also a source of strength. I write about the poor and destitute because I can’t stand the problems of the rich. I work with people who don’t have anything, and that is where my sympathy lies.”
And Jason would know, as he recently retired from a ten-year career working the night shift at Unity, a homeless shelter which he proudly states has no religious affiliation.
He defines himself as ‘nocturnal’ and, despite working the night shift, which he admits “makes me a little crazy”, he continues to write.
“I can knock off a short story in one fevered session or a page in a day,” adding, “I write obliquely about everyday stuff, always turning a bit of a twist to the story. I like my little niche.”
Thirty years of writing have evolved into Jason’s most recent works. My Gehenna, published in 2024, was quickly followed up by The Goblin and Other Tales, released in 2025. Both volumes delve into the world of horror. He introduces the reader to the dark side of humanity; to those misfits who live beyond the fringes of scruples and sanity. The troubled and invective characters he creates transport the reader along a journey of both humor and horror. There are those defined with a “fondness for acts of indecency,” and Mr. Rip boils it all down to “people being nasty to each other.”
My Gehenna and The Goblin and Other Tales can be purchased through Amazon.
A copy of his first book was given to a homeless man who dubbed Jason Rip as “the Dostoevsky of Goof Town”, a title which he relishes.
The stuff of Jason Rip comes from both the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare, whose entire theatrical work Jason has read. And there is American author Norman Mailer, whom Jason decrees is America’s Tolstoy.
Musically, in his writing, there is an inspiration from both the likes of musicians Tom Waits and Warren Zevon, who documented his terminal diagnosis of cancer over three albums. It is this dark and unexploited channel of human life that seems to propel his desire to continue writing.
(Pictured: Anne Moniz, Jason Rip, and Daniel Oniszecko.)
His life’s work, which he decrees, “One of the happiest things of my life is that I feel that I have written everything that I need to write,” has also recognized by our community. Jason was awarded the 2018 Chris Doty Lifetime Achievement award, as well as being recognized as a “Distinguished Londoner”. He is grateful for both accolades.
You can often find Jason Rip at the Landon Library in Wortley Village, possibly inspired by the solace and solitude that a library offers.
Leaving the theatre behind, trust that something dark, sinister, but highly compelling will come out of London’s premier storyteller.
This April 15 to 19, AlvegoRoot Theatre is producing a brand new version of Jason Rip’s darkly hilarious play Luce. Mark the date in your Calendar now.
by J. Bruce Parker
The Beat Magazine 2025 