"I enjoy misleading the public," says Jon Dore, whose approach to his unique role on Canadian Idol involves being serious about not being serious.

Charged with bringing out the lighter side of an often nerve-wracking experience, the comedic correspondent has made it his mandate to subvert expectations, by letting people anticipate a sincere moment and then wrecking it.

"There's something really beautiful about a moment where you know your audience thinks you're gonna be really sweet and nice and then you pull out a knife and slice a puppy's throat, although I would never talk about that or do that," Dore tells Eye on Idol.

He's speaking metaphorically, of course. The Ottawa-native isn't about offending people. In fact, he says, he has a hard time doing it.

Jon on dealing with offensive jokes Giant pencils and the Pope 'Thanks Britain'

"My style of comedy, I don't really jump into a lot of things that are offensive. I admire people who can talk about sensitive issues like Terry Schiavo and the Pope. I would have a hard time because I always feel like people would be sensitive to those issues."

Though there's not much room on Canadian Idol to tackle such edgy topics, Dore does enjoy relieving the tension at auditions with his off-the-wall humour. While Idol hopefuls are urged by almost everyone -- from parents and friends to judges and producers -- to reach for the top and perform their best, Dore advises competitors to just shoot for the middle.

"By all means, whatever you do today, strive for mediocrity," Dore tells a group of competitors. "If you shoot for the top and you fail, it's going to hurt a lot more than when you shoot for the middle and fail."

He adds, "So my message for you today is just give your most satisfactory performance ever and pretend you're a C-student when you get in that room because it's going to hurt a lot less."

And that seems to be the comic's forte -- his deadpan delivery of entirely unexpected and almost inappropriate musings, with laughter as his bottom line.

"I choose to joke around a lot and I like to make tense situations humorous, which gets me in trouble sometimes. But sometimes, it kind of lightens the mood," he says.

While part of Dore's involvement in the show includes hanging out with the Idol kids and going out on field trips, such as a pilgrimage to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a private screening of Spiderman 2, the roving reporter says his favourite moments are those that don't seem to belong in the show.

"I like when we wrote 'Everything I'd Like to Thank Britain for' on our Britpop show. We were able to write up a list of things that we thought would be funny to thank Britain for -- some nonsensical, some random," Dore says. "And there's no reason for that to be on the show at all. At all. And you know that critics are gonna look at it and hate it and I love that. It's hilarious. I love being random."

"Thanks Britain -- for the werewolves, gonorrhea and Mr. Belvedere."

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He says it's important to understand the source of criticism and determine its validity, but he's also aware that Canadian Idol -- a favourite target of many music and television cynics -- brings out a wide array of comments and comparisons.

"My role is not on the American Idol show so, first of all, why do we have this dork on television doing his little skit every week? Well, the producers and myself, the writers and other people, viewers of the show, we like what we do. There are some people that of course, hate the aspect of me being on the show and that's totally fine."

According to Dore, every element of the show is susceptible to subjective criticism -- from loving or hating judge Zack Werner and host Ben Mulroney to picking out and voting for your favourite performer.

"You can love/hate every single aspect of our television show. But essentially, when it comes to critics and people that are just maliciously out there to say, 'You suck. You're horrible,' well, #@%!*$#. Sorry, this is what we do. This is our job."

A regular on the comedy club circuit, Dore is used to subjecting himself to public opinion. He also admits to having bombed on stage before, though he says, "there was never really one horrible experience that sent me to the bathroom crying."

"Yeah, I've had shows where they haven't gone the way I wanted them to. But, it's always been my mistake, you know. I've misread the audience. I've decided to try something new and it hasn't worked. Yeah, I've been really disappointed in myself after leaving the stand-up comedy stage. You feel absolutely horrible."

Nevertheless, this former talk-show host tries to learn from all of his experiences, whether it's performing before a drunken audience at a club or entertaining millions of viewers every week on Canadian Idol.

"If I get on stage and I'm not happy with the show and I feel like I didn't connect with the audience, you revisit the joke and you think about it. You talk to your friends about it and you try and figure it out. Is this ever going to be funny? But then again, if you love what you're doing and you think it's funny, you keep doing it."

According to Dore, it's important to be able to laugh at yourself and your own jokes.

"When I'm hanging out with my friends and being an idiot and we're all laughing at each other, that's the best. You have to find what you're doing funny…or else you wouldn't do it."

So what does this jokester find funny?

"Big things are funny. Giant pencils. I think George Bush is funny. I think he's hilarious. The Pope -- funny. That's pretty much it. The Pope, George Bush and giant pencils, those are hilarious things."

Dore's foray into the funny business began early when, as a kid, he would tune in to watch the sketch comedy SCTV and imitate Martin Short's famous character, Ed Grimley, complete with spiked hair, and run around the house. But he says it wasn't until he was in college that he really entertained the possibility of doing comedy for a living.

"I guess I always knew in a way I'd be a comedian but I never thought I'd be a paid stand-up comic. I always thought those people were untouchable, like Steve Martin, Billy Crystal," says Dore who admits to having a period of shyness growing up.

"How do you become a comedian? You don't become one. You just are one. And I thought no, that's impossible. I could never do that. Then you get up on stage and then you realize, wow, this is possible."

But after several years of doing stand-up, Dore admits he still gets nervous before taking to the stage.

"I don't really like to eat before the show. I just try to be as relaxed as possible."

Feigning the seriousness of a public service announcement, he says, "I don't really have a ritual, just a few beers is good. Always. Always drink."

For someone who's never held a 9-to-5 office job (he's tree planted and worked in restaurants), Dore has worked hard to advance his career. Just barely out of college, the aspiring comedian pitched a talk show idea to Rogers Cable community television in Ottawa. Though it wasn't accepted, Dore got a call to try for a co-host position for the talk show, Daytime. His stint lasted for nearly three years before he headed down to Toronto and joined the cast of Canadian Idol.

And he continues to work hard at his craft, whether it's writing his own material or coming up with creative ways to engage competitors on Canadian Idol, which he admits can have its limitations.

"First of all, it's a family-friendly prime time television show, so you have the confines there. You have to relate to a music show. So I'm not writing for myself or performing for myself. You're writing for an audience. It's fun. It's just a different challenge," Dore says.

"What I do on Canadian Idol can be, at times, more challenging than what I do with stand-up comedy. But they're good challenges because the restrictions that are put on me make me work harder."

So what's the best part of working on Canadian Idol? Without hesitation, Dore responds: "The crew."

"The best part is the family that you get to hang out with, have a good time with and share the experience with. Taking nothing and making it into something. I love the process. The best part about Canadian Idol -- making television with your friends."

That includes working with Ben Mulroney, the other half of Idol's dynamic duo, the Dean Martin to Dore's Jerry Lewis.

"I love working with Ben. He's great. He's fun, he's kind and he's smart. He's awesome. It's fun working with Ben."

Despite Dore's increasing popularity, the comic appears to enjoy keeping his low-profile status. While he says he's getting used to being recognized on the street, he says "it's not necessary."

"It's part of the job. You're on television so you're recognizable. I wouldn't do this job if it was horrible. You want to be appreciated and you want people to say, 'Hey, good job.' But like anything else, sometimes you just want to go get a coffee."

However, when it comes to the Idol phenomenon of the screaming girls, he just finds it all "weird", insisting that he's never the intended recipient of the hysteria.

"Girls scream for the competitors, you know. And if you're a face on that show, you're associated with the competitors. Screaming girls aren't screaming at me. They're screaming at the competitors and I'm screaming at the girls. It's a weird circle."

Eye on Idol