When former Niagara Falls resident Chris Zimmerman set out to do a comedic travel show, he wanted one extra twist to set it apart - he'd interview the siblings of famous Canadians along the way.

It's something the younger brother of iconic EDM star Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman) knows all about.

"We've got that common bond, which is part of the reason I thought it'd be fun to do," says Zimmerman, 35.

"I've seen Joel when he was a high school kid - he didn't have any money, trying to get by - and all of a sudden he was Mr. Globetrotter, world famous dude."

Over the next few weeks, Zimmerman has interviews with the siblings of Wayne Gretzky, Phil Hartman, Jim Carrey and Russell Peters set up for his series The Other Brother. He has already spoken to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's half-brother Kyle Kemper, and this weekend will meet up with Terry Fox's brother Darrell in British Columbia for his annual Terry Fox 360 mountain bike ride.

For every interview, Zimmerman wants to avoid two people sitting across from each other in chairs. He wants to join them as they do their own thing in the massive shadow of a more famous sibling.

"It really is a travel show first and foremost, but that's just kind of an interesting dynamic," he says. "It's meant to be a comedy-based travel show."

A freelance video editor and Uber driver in Toronto, Zimmerman says it was "surreal" watching his brother go from a tech-savvy Niagara Falls teen to global superstar.

"I was in France when he had gotten on the cover of Rolling Stone, and I was seeing the issue in the stands everywhere," he says. "By the point he'd been big for awhile so it wasn't totally unexpected, but that was the point where I was like, 'Okay, (he's) doing really well.'"

Chris also has an older sister Jennifer, the Canadian marketing lead for Tesla Motors. Their mother Nancy is an artist, and grandfather Don Johnson is a longtime Niagara Falls banjo player and community advocate.

He hopes to have 10 episodes of the show edited and ready for viewing by early 2019, and is currently seeking interested platforms. If a TV deal doesn't pan out, he'll make it web-exclusive.

He has invested $12,000 of his own money into the project so far. He estimates it will cost $90,000 to do a full season and hopes sponsors can foot the bill.

"It's surprising how quickly it's adding up," he says. "At first I was like, 'I just want to do something. I'll spend $5,000, whatever.' Then I started hiring people. I've got an audio guy, two camera guys, I have to book locations, feed everybody ."

John.Law@niagaradailies.com

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