Todd Shapiro

Last updated
Shapiro promoting his Red Light Holland magic truffle business in 2020 Todd Shapiro on InvestorCoffee.jpg
Shapiro promoting his Red Light Holland magic truffle business in 2020

Todd Michael Shapiro is the CEO and Directer of Red Light Holland. Red Light Holland is a publicly traded company that Shapiro Co-Founded and took public in May of 2020. Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTCQB: TRUFF) is a company engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands.

Contents

Shapiro is a former Canadian broadcaster, radio host, and media personality who hosted The Todd Shapiro Show on SiriusXM Canada's Canada Laughs Channel. Shapiro was also a regular fill on TSN 1050 Radio.

Early life

Shapiro was born to a civil servant father and teacher mother in Toronto, Ontario. During his podcast, Shapiro states that his parents provided him with a wonderful upbringing, but taught him little about business which is why he ended up in the arts. He graduated with a sociology diploma from York University followed by working at an air conditioning and heating (HVAC) business. [1] At age 26, Shapiro went back to school, enrolling in Seneca College's radio and television program. [1]

Career

Shapiro's first experience in the entertainment business came as a reality contestant on Blind Date (hosted by Roger Lodge) in 1999 when the American show had come up to Toronto to film 5 episodes, choosing their "daters" via CityTV's "Speaker's Corner" booths. Over 10,000 people auditioned for spots, but 27-year-old Shapiro, a student at Seneca College's radio/TV program, stood out enough for the show's producers to call him back shortly after he recorded his video. [2]

When the Blind Date footage, that had been shot in July 1999, was to air on CityTV in November 1999, Shapiro was invited to discuss his Blind Date experience on Humble & Fred , a morning show on 102.1 The Edge radio station that had a commercial tie-in with CityTV via having the Toronto Blind Date couples as guests on the morning of their respective episodes' scheduled air dates. [1] Shapiro came alone on the Humble & Fred show since his date had moved to Ottawa in the meantime. [1] After his first ever in-studio, on air experience, Shapiro approached "Humble" Howard Glassman and asked to be his intern to help him get experience and fulfill the 100 hours he needed in order to graduate from his college program. Humble reportedly replied, "Come back tomorrow". [2]

102.1 The Edge

Interning at Humble & Fred, Shapiro was part of various promotional stunts, occasionally contributing with written material. He stayed with the show until his last day of school 20 April 2001; coincidentally at the same time, the show got reassigned to Mojo 640, an AM Toronto station also owned by Corus Entertainment that functioned as 102.1 The Edge's sister entity.

Upon completing his Humble & Fred internship, Shapiro continued working at The Edge in their promotions department where he met Dean Blundell, 102.1 The Edge's new acquisition from the Windsor market, brought in to host his own The Dean Blundell Show — station's morning zoo replacement for Humble & Fred. Telling Blundell about his desire to get on air, Shapiro would soon get that opportunity. [2]

The Dean Blundell Show

Performing alongside Jason Barr (another holdover from the Humble & Fred show where he had worked as producer after also starting out as intern, performing promotional stunts in fake Scottish accent under the Danger Boy pseudonym), Shapiro became one of Blundell's two sidekicks. The station also had Sandra Plagakis periodically coming on throughout the morning to read news and traffic reports [3] and the three show hosts would occasionally engage her in a conversation. Shapiro's primary role on the show entailed coming up with daily content mostly through puerile and occasionally outrageous behaviour; often referred to as ReTodd on the air, his signature segment 'Todd on the Street' involved talking to homeless people on the streets of Toronto in a manner many found to be malicious, offensive, and exploitative. [2] His other notable moments from the show had him visiting his grandmother in her old-age home live on air for a round of juvenile questions about her sex life, walking around Union Station wearing only an adult diaper, and sneaking into Toronto hotels to pound on rival hockey players' doors at 6 a.m. before games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. [2]

In August 2010, after Barr got released via not having his contract renewed, [4] Shapiro assumed a bigger role on the show with expanded hosting duties while Derek Welsman a.k.a. Blind Derek (who had previously during mid 2000s been involved with the show, gaining some notoriety as Derek the Blind Movie Reviewer) got added as replacement for Barr.

Shapiro worked at 102.1 The Edge from 1999 until 2013. On 24 July 2013, Blundell announced that Shapiro would no longer be with the show without any further explanation to the sudden and unexpected news. [5] After the announcement, 102.1 The Edge's Twitter and Facebook accounts were blasted by angry fans who wanted to know what happened with Shapiro's position at the radio station and demanded his return. An official explanation was never given but within months of Todd Shapiro departure from the Dean Blundell Show, 102.1 The Edge announced the show's cancellation in early January 2014, after having put the show on hiatus in mid-December 2013. [6]

SiriusXM The Todd Shapiro Show

In January 2014 Humble Howard and Fred Patterson announced during their show on SiriusXM Canada's Canada Laughs channel that Todd Shapiro would be getting his own one hour 9 AM show following Humble & Fred's two-hour slot in the morning. [7] [8]

Shapiro's show, entitled The Todd Shapiro Show, launched on 3 March 2014. One of his first bits on the new show was a discussion with a parody of Apple's Siri which asked him questions about his sudden departure from 102.1 The Edge. During the discussion about the situation, Shapiro did not go into many details and kept it all as polite and general as possible. [9]

In June 2014 it was announced by SiriusXM Canada's program director Joe Thistel that due to its early success, The Todd Shapiro Show would have its running time expanded to 2 hours along with a move to the "drive home" 4–6 p.m. time slot on weekdays.[ citation needed ]

Scott Weiland interview

Shapiro interviewed Scott Weiland in late November 2015 live over the phone on The Todd Shapiro Show. [10] This interview turned out to be Weiland's last live on-air interview. TMZ, Billboard , BlabberMouth.net, Radar Online, Entertainment Tonight Canada , CP24, and CTV National News all featured Shapiro's interview with Weiland as this was the last time the public would hear from Weiland before his death on 3 December 2015.

Yuk Yuk's

In October 2017 Shapiro premiered his new Comedy Show called Comedy Virgins at Yuk Yuk's in downtown Toronto. The premise is to allow a first timer to get on a stage to break their "Comedy Virginity". [11]

Dart Guy and Todd Shapiro

Later in 2017, Shapiro announced his collaboration with "Dart Guy," a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, for a TSN1050 radio show. [12]

Red Light Holland Corp

Shapiro is a very charismatic and engaging CEO of Red Light Holland Corp, Toronto, Ontario--(CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTC Pink: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of a premium brand of magic truffles. Shapiro's passion is to help make positive change in the world. While his company can't make medical claims, Shapiro is an advocate for legal psilocybin via microdosing which he hopes can prove out to show positive impacts for a Mental Health crisis. [13]

Red Light Holland which has raised over 30 million dollars owns a farm in The Netherlands, a distribution company called SR-Wholesale in The Netherlands, A technology company called Radix Motion in Silicon Valley and a Mushroom farm called Happy Caps in Halifax, Nova Scotia has their iMicrodose product in 30 different stores for legal purchase and hope to expand to other markets like Brazil, Canada, Caribbean and United States (Oregon via Measure 109) as more regulatory bodies take a hard look at legalizing psychedelic substances. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Red Light Holland supports their sales with an app to learn behaviours and data (collected consensually) from their end consumers, VR and AR and as well has telecounseling support available. [22]

Red Light Holland has a cult following where #REDLIGHTARMY supporters will invest, support and share in Shapiro's message of providing legal access now to responsible adults. [23]


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mushroom</span> Spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psilocybin</span> Chemical compound found in some species of mushrooms

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of genus Psilocybe, such as P. azurescens, P. semilanceata, and P. cyanescens, but psilocybin has also been isolated from about a dozen other genera. Psilocybin is itself biologically inactive but is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). In general, the effects include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, distorted sense of time, and perceived spiritual experiences. It can also cause adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychedelic drug</span> Hallucinogenic class of psychoactive drug

Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states and an apparent expansion of consciousness. Also referred to as classic hallucinogens or serotonergic hallucinogens, the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various types of hallucinogens, such as those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia like salvia and MDMA, respectively.

<i>Psilocybe cubensis</i> Species of fungus

Psilocybe cubensis, commonly known as the magic mushroom, shroom, golden halo, cube, or gold cap, is a species of psilocybin mushroom of moderate potency whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. It belongs to the fungus family Hymenogastraceae and was previously known as Stropharia cubensis. It is the best-known psilocybin mushroom due to its wide distribution and ease of cultivation. This mushroom being optimal for home cultivation specifically, as was suggested in the 1970s, is primarily what led to P. cubensis being the psilocybin mushroom species most common on the black market as a street drug.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFNY-FM</span> Radio station in Brampton-Toronto, Ontario

CFNY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown Toronto at Corus Quay on Toronto's Harbourfront, and its transmitter is located atop the CN Tower. The Edge is simulcast by satellite on Bell Satellite TV channel 955, and on Shaw Direct channel 866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirius Satellite Radio</span> Satellite radio service owned by Sirius XM

Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings.

Dean Blundell is a former Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime "shock jock" morning host on CFNY-FM in Toronto, Ontario, in 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL. His show on Sportsnet was cancelled in February 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Verge (XM)</span> Canadian radio station

The Verge is a Sirius XM Canada channel featuring new and emerging rock bands from Canada. The channel is produced in Toronto, Ontario for the entire SiriusXM platform. The channel's former names included Unsigned, and (un)Signed, which indicated that the channel played a combination of signed and unsigned bands. A few American songs, such as Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder are played on the channel. In August 2015, The Verge was added to the Sirius channel lineup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox News Radio</span> American radio network

Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Hughes</span> American radio personality and podcast host

Gregg Hughes better known by his air name Opie, is an American radio personality and podcast host best known as the former co-host of the Opie and Anthony radio show that aired from 1995 to 2014 with Anthony Cumia and comedian Jim Norton. From 2014 to 2016, Hughes and Norton stayed at SiriusXM as co-hosts of Opie with Jim Norton. In October 2016, Hughes became the host of his own show, The Opie Radio Show, which lasted until his firing, for filming an employee as he used the toilet, on July 7, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Tracks</span> Radio station

Deep Tracks is a Sirius XM Radio channel featuring lesser-known classic rock music selections such as album tracks, one-hit wonders, concert recordings, "forgotten 45s" and "B-side" tracks.

Howard Allen Glassman, commonly known as Humble Howard, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as co-host with Fred Patterson of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.

Humble & Fred is a Toronto-based Canadian podcast, featuring co-hosts "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson.

SiriusXM Comedy Club is a Sirius XM Radio channel featuring uncensored comedy from Canada. It was created in November 2005 as a result of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) regulations for Canadian content on the XM Radio Canada platform, originally as Laugh Attack until 2013 and then as Canada Laughs from 2013 to 2019.

Fred Richard Patterson, commonly known as Freddie P, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as co-host with Howard Glassman of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.

The legal status of unauthorised actions with psilocybin mushrooms varies worldwide. Psilocybin and psilocin are listed as Schedule I drugs under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no recognized medical uses. However, psilocybin mushrooms have had numerous medicinal and religious uses in dozens of cultures throughout history and have a significantly lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I drugs.

Stuck On Planet Earth is a Canadian three piece alternative rock band from Vaughan, Ontario, consisting of Adam Bianchi, Al Capo and Andrew Testa (drums).

Opie with Jim Norton was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Jim Norton that aired from July 2014 to September 2016. The show was broadcast from New York City and aired weekdays from 7:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM, the subscription-based satellite radio service, airing on Opie Radio, which could be found on XM Channel 103 and Sirius channel 206. The show was also made available on-demand through the SiriusXM app and Audible.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psilocybin decriminalization in the United States</span> Movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States

The movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States began in 2019 with Denver, Colorado, becoming the first city to decriminalize psilocybin in May of that year. The cities of Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, decriminalized psilocybin in June 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Washington, D.C., followed suit in November 2020, as did Somerville, Massachusetts, in January 2021, and then the neighboring Cambridge and Northampton in February 2021 and March 2021, respectively. Seattle, Washington, became the largest U.S. city on the growing list in October 2021. Detroit, Michigan, followed in November 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Boon, Mike (6 February 2014). "Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 67: Todd Shapiro". TorontoMike.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Eckler, Rebecca (2015-01-28). "Todd Shapiro, formerly known for his often offensive antics on The Dean Blundell Show, now promises a "positive vibe for listeners." What happened?". The Toronto Star. ISSN   0319-0781 . Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  3. Sandra Plagakis
  4. Toronto Mike (24 August 2010). "Jason Barr Fired from Edge 102". TorontoMike.com. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  5. Reserved., . All Rights. "Dean Blundell loses longtime sidekick after latest shock jock wrist-slap". canada.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  6. "Corus Radio cancels Dean Blundell show after controversial on-air remarks". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  7. "Psychic Nikki / Todd Shapiro / Dr. Odiatu - PODCASTS". www.humbleandfredradio.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  8. "Fan-celebrated morning host launches satellite radio show with SiriusXM Canada -- TORONTO, Feb. 25, 2014". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  9. Boon, Mike. "Todd Shapiro Spills More Details on Split from 102.1 the Edge | Toronto Mike's Blog". www.torontomike.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  10. ToddShapiroShow (2015-11-28), Scott Weiland On ISIS, Trump (*Sadly this is his Last Live Interview. RIP Scott) , retrieved 2016-02-26
  11. "Comedy Virgins". nowtoronto.com. December 28, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  12. "Dart Guy and Todd Shapiro break down their upcoming TSN 1050 radio show". bardown.com. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  13. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Psychedelics: The Next Cannabis" Red Light Holland (CSE: TRIP) (OTC: TRUFF) w/ Bruce Linton. YouTube .
  14. "Red Light Holland Announces Updated Cash Position of Approximately $30 Million".
  15. "Red Light Holland Sells Approximately 350,000 Grams of Magic Truffles and Increases Points of Sale for iMicrodose Packs to Six More Smart Shops".
  16. "Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of 80% of Happy Caps Mushroom Farm - Specializing in Grow-At-Home Mushroom Kits".
  17. "Red Light Holland iMicro Digital Care App and Telecounseling Goes Live".
  18. "Red Light Holland and Halo Collective Create Red Light Oregon, Inc. - Forwarding Intentions to Enter Oregon Medicinal Psychedelic Market".
  19. "Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of SR Wholesale Becoming a Leader in Distribution of Psychedelics".
  20. "Red Light Holland iMicrodose Pack Receives Authorization for the First Legal Import and Sale of Psilocybin Truffles to Brazil".
  21. "Red Light Holland and Headland West Indies Lead #SVGStrong, a Relief Effort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines".
  22. "Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of Cutting Edge Silicon Valley Applied Sciences Company Radix Motion, Becoming a Leader in Psychedelic Technology".
  23. "Red Light Army". 29 January 2021.