Sound

Jay McCarrol

Born August 9, 1983 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada (age 43)

Jay McCarrol is a Canadian musician, writer and actor, most noted as co-creator and co-star with Matt Johnson of Nirvanna the Band the Show. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in Comedy at the 14th Canadian Screen Awards in 2026, for his work on the film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, which also netted him a win in the Best Original Song category for co-writing and …

Known For

Tony

MovieDramaComedy

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

BlackBerry

BlackBerry · 2023

MovieComedyDrama

Two mismatched entrepreneurs – egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie – joined forces in an endeavour that was to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie · 2026

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

MovieComedyScience Fiction

When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.

Hell of a Summer

Hell of a Summer · 2025

Hell of a Summer

MovieHorrorComedy

When 24-year-old Jason Hochberg arrives for counsellor weekend at his beloved Camp Pineway, his biggest problem is feeling out of touch with his teenage co-workers. Little does he know; a masked killer has murdered camp owners John and Kathy and is preparing to strike again.

The Kid Detective

The Kid Detective · 2020

The Kid Detective

MovieComedyDrama

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

Journalism 101

MovieDramaCrime

A Vice editor allegedly recruits drug mules for an international cocaine trafficking operation, some of it tied to activity out of the media company’s offices.

Operation Avalanche

Operation Avalanche · 2016

Operation Avalanche

MovieThrillerMystery

In 1967, four undercover CIA agents were sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew. What they discovered led to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.

The Dirties

The Dirties · 2013

MovieComedyDrama

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.

Filmography

Sort

Tony

MovieDramaComedy

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Original Music Composer

BlackBerry

BlackBerry · 2023

MovieComedyDrama

Two mismatched entrepreneurs – egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie – joined forces in an endeavour that was to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.

Original Music Composer

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie · 2026

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

MovieComedyScience Fiction

When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.

Original Music Composer

Hell of a Summer

Hell of a Summer · 2025

Hell of a Summer

MovieHorrorComedy

When 24-year-old Jason Hochberg arrives for counsellor weekend at his beloved Camp Pineway, his biggest problem is feeling out of touch with his teenage co-workers. Little does he know; a masked killer has murdered camp owners John and Kathy and is preparing to strike again.

Original Music Composer

The Kid Detective

The Kid Detective · 2020

The Kid Detective

MovieComedyDrama

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

Original Music Composer

Journalism 101

MovieDramaCrime

A Vice editor allegedly recruits drug mules for an international cocaine trafficking operation, some of it tied to activity out of the media company’s offices.

Original Music Composer

Operation Avalanche

Operation Avalanche · 2016

Operation Avalanche

MovieThrillerMystery

In 1967, four undercover CIA agents were sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew. What they discovered led to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.

Original Music Composer

The Dirties

The Dirties · 2013

MovieComedyDrama

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.

Music

Crash Land

Crash Land · 2026

Lance, Clay, and Darby have spent their childhoods drinking, wreaking havoc, and filming crude stunts in their small town. Everyone hates them. Wanting to finally prove their lives have meaning, the boys set out to make a “real movie” and in the process are forced to confront emotions and experiences they’ve never considered: love, loss, and ultimately, what it means to grow up.

Thanks

The Apostles

The Apostles · 2010

Jesus and the 12 apostles deal with the mundane, surprise and treachery of splitting the bill after the last supper.

Matthew

I, Martin Short, Goes Home

I, Martin Short, Goes Home · 2012

I, Martin Short, Goes Home

A journey through the life and mind of Martin Short. And some of it is even true. “I, Martin Short, Goes Home” is a Canadian television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Martin Short, which aired on CBC Television in 2012.

Original Music Composer

Operation Avalanche

Operation Avalanche · 2016

Operation Avalanche

MovieActionThriller

Achieving viral success after being snuck into the Sundance Film Festival, this short film features the powerful story of a young high school boy seeking revenge against the teacher that sexually assaulted him. Inspired by a series of real rapes.

Director

Loose Ends

Loose Ends · 2020

MovieDramaComedy

A woman in the midst of a devastating breakup is invited to her ex-boyfriend's apartment to return his keys. However upon arriving, she discovers she has been stood up. Left to her own devices in his empty apartment, she decides to revel in the nostalgic trappings of a place that once felt like home. In an unexpected turn of events, she is forced to confront her present when someone suddenly returns home and finds her in a compromising state.

Music

Rudy the Red-Faced Bachelor

Rudy the Red-Faced Bachelor · 2012

Rudy the Red-Faced Bachelor

MovieComedyDrama

A character study of an outdated misfit bachelor struggling to connect with others.

Sean

Shubadak

Shubadak · 2009

Two American soldiers hunting for buried treasure in Iraq meet a stranger in the dunes.

Bleaks

Nirvana the Band the Show the Adventures

Nirvana the Band the Show the Adventures · 2010

Nirvana the Band the Show the Adventures

Musicians Matt and Jay step away from their quest for the Rivoli to conquer various Toronto landmarks and seasonal traditions through a series of misguided, high-energy excursions and chaotic improvisations.

Jay

Nirvana the Band the Show: Live @ the Rivoli

Nirvana the Band the Show: Live @ the Rivoli · 2009

Nirvana the Band the Show: Live @ the Rivoli

MovieMusicComedy

Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol play live at the Rivoli to wrap up their web series in 2009.

Jay

Swink

In a small town, suburb to no city-- Eddie Swink has a problem. He has one day to find a killer hired to take out his boss, and all he has to go on is a murdered waiter, a pen, a plant, and some lasagna. With only a year of professional criminality under his belt, Eddie is caught between his duties and his instincts, and must decide who he can trust, and who he must stop. He needs answers, and he needs them now!

Music

A Song for Torah Jane

A Song for Torah Jane · 2013

A Song for Torah Jane

A young dad sings his daughter to sleep with a tale of animals in the zoo. She doesn't want to nod off and he drifts into a reverie of nostalgia of his own.

Writer

Captain Coulier (Space Explorer)

Captain Coulier (Space Explorer) · 2009

Captain Coulier (Space Explorer)

MovieScience Fiction

A space captain struggles with his robot crew during an intergalactic mission.

Original Music Composer

Nirvanna the Band the Show

Nirvanna the Band the Show · 2017

Nirvanna the Band the Show

Two lifelong best friends and roommates are planning the greatest musical act in the history of the modern world.

Executive Producer

Nirvana the Band the Show

Nirvana the Band the Show · 2007

Nirvana the Band the Show

Musicians Matt and Jay attempt to achieve their dream of playing at a small Toronto venue, the Rivoli, through a series of various schemes and publicity stunts.

Writer

Matt & Bird Break Loose

Matt & Bird Break Loose · 2021

Matt & Bird Break Loose

SeriesAnimationComedy

Monkey and bird best friends, Matt and Bird, have been studying humans very closely from their shared cage in the zoo. But everything they know about being human is based on what they've seen on TV. In each episode, Matt and Bird cleverly break out of the zoo in disguise in order to chase their dreams and fame...and quickly discover it's not so easy being human.

Executive Producer

BlackBerry: The Limited Series

BlackBerry: The Limited Series · 2023

BlackBerry: The Limited Series

A limited series, including new and extended scenes, that chronicles the rise and fall of BlackBerry - the world's first smartphone. A whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds.

Music

Matt & Bird Break Loose

Matt & Bird Break Loose · 2021

Matt & Bird Break Loose

SeriesAnimationComedy

Fueled by delusions of grandeur, Matt and Bird disguise themselves as humans and break out of the zoo to chase their dreams, only to learn that it's not so easy being human.

Producer