On March 25th 1985, in the remote area of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the circumstances that were placed before Dan Shaba were nothing less than sub par. There were immediate financial struggles, broken family relationships that provided anything but the love one would expect for a child his age, and a childhood of being transferred throughout group/foster homes that quickly created a life of feeling unwanted.
It was due to these times that he quickly realised the only person he could truly depend on was himself. So he escaped to the one place that was safe. He escaped into his mind and tapped into what nobody could ever take away from him, his ability to make music. This is where everything began, and while the mental and physical struggles posed upon him provided a seemingly hopeless future, it was this environment that gave him what he is most thankful for today, the strength and perseverance to never give up.
Countless hours were devoted to his music, and every ounce of his time and money was dedicated to demos, advertisements and making himself known. But it wasn’t until 2003 when a very important event changed the course of his life, he met John Nonny. They immediately connected, not only through their talent but on a personal level as well. Never had he met someone who had the same degree of creative aptitude as himself, nor the ability to relate to him on so many levels.
It wasn’t long before John was a great business partner and an even better friend. Whatever John and Dan were doing, be it music, funny skits, videos, house parties, business meetings – etc. One thing they always did was entertain.
This was the day-to-day for years but after hitting a wall and feeling stagnant, John and Dan agreed to give the music a break and tend to their personal lives. John had moved back out west to look for other opportunities and years had passed before they decided to give it another go. The two began making music and videos again from separate cities.
Fast forward to an ordinary day while picking up groceries, John and Dan decided to turn the camera on and film themselves making puns out of supermarket products and brands like they’d done numerous times before. With no expectation they uploaded “Supermarket Puns” to Facebook. Within 24 hours this video had reached 1 Million views. People demanded more.
Shortly after that, they released “Supermarket Puns 2” which now sits at nearly 20M views. Next came “Spontaneous Puns” (an “off the top” improv game the two play between each other) which now sits at a whopping 34M views.
It became evident in a hurry that people were drawn in by the chemistry and rapport that had been their strength all along. The Pun Guys have gathered 150 million personal views combined (before other page shares) and just over 1 million followers across their social media platforms, in 3 months time.
It is Dan’s firm belief and what he stands for daily that “Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” Let him be proof that life should be nothing less than shooting for the stars.
In Dan’s latest instalment he puns 40 rappers which you can see right here.
