Was notorious at Second City for improvising midway through a sketch
that would catch the performer off guard, making it difficult for them
to improvise given what he had ad libbed.
He was raised in Pittsburgh, and did not come to Toronto until the early
70s for the Second City theatre.
In 2021, Joe Flaherty - "Count Floyd" from "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre", was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame".
Accepted the role of Donald the Heckler in Happy Gilmore (1996) after Gilbert Gottfried declined to take it. When Gottfried realized that Flaherty was quoted as saying "jackass" in the film by fans and it's subsequent success he later said he regretted turning it down.