Royal Canadian Air Farce
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Royal Canadian Air Farce is a Canadian radio and television show, broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The show, a weekly topical sketch comedy series, focuses on political and cultural satire, and is one of the most popular shows on Canadian television. It is so firmly established as a Canadian institution that no-one can claim to be a major political figure in Canada until they have been parodied by the Air Farce.
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Cast
- Roger Abbott
- Don Ferguson
- Luba Goy
- Jessica Holmes (2003-present)
- Craig Lauzon (2004-present)
- Alan Park (2004-present)
Former cast members
- John Morgan (1973-2001), retired in 2001, died at the age of 74 on November 15, 2004
- Dave Broadfoot (1973-1993, occasional guest star on the television series)
History
The group started in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 as an improvisational theatre revue called "The Jest Society", a play on then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's famous goal of making Canada a "Just Society".
After a number of personnel changes, the group became "The Royal Canadian Air Farce" in 1973 with a lineup that consisted of Abbott, Ferguson, Goy, Morgan, Broadfoot and non-performing writers Gord Holtam and Rick Olson. They debuted on CBC Radio that year, and quickly became one of the network's most popular programs. They travelled throughout the country to record their weekly radio broadcasts, which featured a mixture of political and cultural satire.
Recurring characters included addle-brained hockey player Bobby Clobber (Broadfoot), Sgt. Renfrew of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Broadfoot), Mike from Canmore (Morgan), and socialite Amy De La Pompa (Morgan), along with political figures such as Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark and Pierre Trudeau. Additional characters included Prof. Hieronymus Wombat of the National Research Council, funeral director Hector Baggley.
Some popular sketches in the late 1980s and early 1990s included "joint broadcasts" by CTV and CBC, overlaying opening theme music. When "The Journal" debuted on CBC in 1982, Air Farce spoofed the program's repeated use of the "sounder", and the use of satellite to connect people to talk to one another, as well as the seeming similarity between original hosts Barbara Frum and Mary Lou Finlay.
They recorded a one-hour television special in 1980, which evolved into a ten-week series and two sequel specials in addition to their regular radio series.
In the early 1980s, Air Farce's summer hiatus periods were filled by another comedy troupe, The Frantics, who later moved on to their own TV series, Four on the Floor. Later summer hiatus periods, however, were filled by Ferguson and Abbott playing classic comedy recordings.
In 1992, Air Farce took a second plunge into television with 1992: Year of the Farce, a satirical New Year's Eve special. A ratings smash, the special led the troupe to produce another weekly television series, which debuted in 1993. However, this time the move to television was permanent, and the radio series was discontinued. Broadfoot retired from the troupe when they moved to TV, although he continued to make occasional guest appearances. The practice of having a show on New Year's Eve continues to this day, and such episodes are typically titled "Year of the Farce". In recent years, Air Farce has also had the honour of counting down the seconds before the New Year on CBC.
Recurring characters on the TV series included commentators Mike from Canmore (Morgan) and Jock McBile (Morgan), movie critic Gilbert Smythe Bite-Me (Abbott), bingo player Brenda (Goy), and political and cultural figures such as Jean Chrétien (Abbott), Preston Manning (Ferguson), Sheila Copps (Goy), Lucien Bouchard (Ferguson) and Paul Martin (Ferguson).
However, Colonel "Teresa" Stacy (Ferguson) quickly emerged as the show's most popular character -- each time he appeared, Stacy would load up the Chicken Cannon and fire rubber chickens and other assorted projectiles at whomever he deemed the most annoying public figure of the week (or year).
Morgan retired from Air Farce in 2001, and the remaining three members carried on with a rotating stable of guest stars until Holmes joined the show in 2003. Holmes added celebrity figures such as Paris Hilton and Liza Minnelli, and Canadian politicians such as Belinda Stronach, to the troupe's roster of characters.
While the show is held up as de facto Canadian tradition, some critics have felt that that the television show's quality has diminished over the past few seasons. However, it still continues to draw solid ratings each week.
Sketches
Some of the recurring sketches on Air Farce include:
- "A Canadian Moment", featuring the entire cast as regulars in a coffee shop. The sketch always ends with the donut shop saying their characters' catch phrases ("You got that right" for Ferguson, "You betcha" for Morgan, "Tell me about it" for Goy, "Oh yeah, oh yeah" for Abbott as he pours sugar into his coffee, and "Totally" for Holmes, typically in that order).
- "B.S. 2000", where the cast of Air Farce portray various particular Canadian newspeople as they put their spin on the 2000 federal election. At the end of a sketch, they would "poll" the public (another cast member playing an anonymous Canadian) and give its results, the gag being that only one person was polled in the survey (and thus one leader would get 100% of the votes, but on one occasion they had the one person abstain).
- "Chicken Cannon". Although originally a sketch in the early parts of Air Farce on TV meant to satirize the Canadian military (in it, the Canadian military consists of only two people, Colonel "Teresa" Stacy and his assistant, played by Ferguson and Morgan), but as the popularity of the sketch grew, it became an integral part of Air Farce, spawning its own newsroom sketch titled "Chicken Cannon News". Studio audience members or viewers at home nominate or vote for their favourite target along with their choice of ammunition (not necessarily a chicken). The cast picks a winner and fires the Chicken Cannon as the fan suggested at the end of the sketch. The fan also wins some form of merchandise for having their choice be a Chicken Cannon target. In the "Year of the Farce" episodes, a special version of the Chicken Cannon has the top five targets of the year, with the first four being fired upon by a rubber chicken while the top target being fired as before. Past targets included:
- Canadian party leaders Jean Chrétien, Stockwell Day, Alexa McDonough, Gilles Duceppe, and Joe Clark, for the 2000 election
- Olympic figure skating judges, for their part in the scandal that had surrounded Jamie Salé and David Pelletier in the 2002 Winter Olympics
- George W. Bush and Al Gore, for the scandal that surrounded the 2000 US Presidential Election
- Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow, for the furor that resulted from the 2004 NHL lockout
- Osama bin Laden, for his involvement with the September 11 attacks.
- "Critic At Large", where Gilbert Smythe Bite-Me (Abbott), an entertainment critic, gives negative reviews, and occasionally take potshots at the Women's Television Network, where three of his ex-wives work.
- "Dave the Cabbie, where Dave (Ferguson), a cab driver, takes on a fare and proceeds to converse with them on various current events. Dave demands that the fare pay in cash and not with the Visa credit card (often with the line "You pay cash, not Visa. You pay Visa I kill you"), and often takes the fare to a place other than the one where the fare wants to go, and charge an outrageous price at it.
- "English as a Second Language News", hosted by Heigey Flergenpootz (Abbott) and Svetlana (Goy). The sketch is a typical newsroom sketch, often peppered with mistakes that typical ESL learners make. In later years, they typically said "Goodbye" at the beginning of the sketch and "Hello" at the end.
- "Get Stuffed", where Jock McBile (Morgan), a Scottish-Canadian, puts his spin on current events.
- "I Love that Word Refoooorm", in which Preston Manning (Ferguson, although Manning himself has appeared in the sketch playing Ferguson's role) promotes his party, with comical results. Manning was frequently accompanied by various guests (most often Morgan as Deborah Grey, although Grey herself has been a guest) who criticize Manning on his speech. Manning ended the sketch with the phrase "I love that word reform", with "reform" being drawn out for comedic effect.
- "Knob of the Week", a sketch in the style of the Chicken Cannon "honouring" various acts of stupidity by various groups. It was introduced partially to replace the Chicken Cannon, which was specially reserved for the Year of the Farce show and possibly the season opener (both of which were one-hour shows compared to the regular 30-minute shows).
- "Man's World" with Buck McSweeney (Ferguson). Typically, Ferguson is joined by a special guest star (most often an athlete) playing as themselves. Buck proceeds to do a typical sports interview while letting his obsession with synchronized swimming be known.
- "Member of Kicking Horse Pass", in which a fictional Member of Parliament (Dave Broadfoot) performs a solo comedy sketch.
- "News From Away" with Jimmy and Seamus O'Toole (Abbott and Ferguson). Another newsroom sketch where Abbott and Ferguson play newscasters from Newfoundland. There are a number of sketches-within-a-sketch interspersed throughout, common ones being:
- "52 Weeks in 52 Seconds", in which Jimmy and Seamus rapid fire various one-liners based on events that occurred in the past year. It is typically a part of every Year of the Farce show.
- "Point-Counterpoint", in which Jimmy and Seamus try to debate an issue from different points of view. However, one starts the argument and the other agrees on the spot.
- "Not the Official Story", where a newspaper editor (Alan Park) comments on current events.
- "Off the Record", a sketch that itself parodies TSN's Off the Record sports talk show, with Ferguson playing the role of host Michael Landsberg.
- "Sermon from the Mount", where a prophet (Morgan) proceeds to recall current events in the style of a sermon or lines from the Bible.
- "Speedvision News", a newsroom sketch (purportedly on the Speedvision television channel) where two anchors (Abbott and Ferguson) speak quickly while recalling current events. Similar sketches also lampoon Rogers Sportsnet's and The Score's news programmes (Sportsnetnews and Score Tonight), where Holmes and Ferguson play the roles of the anchors (Holmes plays either Jody Vance or Martine Gaillard, while it is unclear which sportscaster Ferguson is playing).
Guests
Air Farce has its share of guests, including those who portray themselves.
- Jann Arden - Arden was a guest who largely disliked her appearance on Air Farce. She was repeatedly interrupted when she was about to sing by Colonel Stacy, in the midst of preparing to fire the "Chicken Cannon". Although she got to fire the cannon, her experience on Air Farce, as she described it, was not a pleasant one.
- Brent Butt
- Jean Chrétien - Chrétien had one appearance on Air Farce, in which he claimed that Abbot's impersonation sounded more like Preston Manning.
- Deborah Grey - Grey appeared in one sketch on Air Farce, in which she was a guest on Ferguson's "I Love That Word Refooooorm" sketch. In the final moments of the sketch, she, along with Ferguson (as Preston Manning), sing Auld Lang Syne, forgetting most of the lyrics partway through.
- Paul Gross - the star of Due South reprises his role in a "lost episode" in which he falls for Rita McNeil (Goy).
- Ron MacLean - the host of Hockey Night in Canada has appeared on Air Farce in several sketches, most notably one in which he portrays himself alongside Goy (as the Queen who is impersonating Don Cherry). He was also involved in a sketch where an airline passenger Onex CEO Gerry Schwartz is mistaken for him. Later in the sketch, Schwartz and MacLean (both guest stars portraying themselves), switch seats, and the passenger mistakes MacLean for Schwartz.
- John Manley - Manley appeared in a "Man's World" sketch (a rarity since he is a politician and not an athlete) shortly after his remarks on how Canada should abandon the monarchy. Most memorable in this sketch was Buck McSweeney's reaction to Manley's indifference towards synchronized swimming: "... and you call yourself Manley!"
- Preston Manning - largely considered to be the first guest star on Air Farce, Manning has appeared in many sketches, including a Blair Witch Project parody. In some appearances, he also pronounced "Reform" in the same manner as Ferguson, who normally portrayed him in sketches.
- Peter Mansbridge - Mansbridge has appeared on several Air Farce sketches, most notably a Man to Mansbridge sketch in which he is interviewed by Abbot (also as Mansbridge). In another memorable show, there was a running gag was where Mansbridge, in his role as anchor for The National, finds himself appointed as the head of CBC while announcing a new series of appointments by the prime minister.
- Patrick McKenna - McKenna has appeared in various Air Farce sketches, most notably one in which he appears as his character from The Red Green Show.
- Rick Mercer - Mercer appeared on Air Farce in a sketch where Ferguson, as Seamus O'Toole, parodied his trademark "Screener" sketch from This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Mercer would first confront O'Toole, then later show him how it's done.
- Colin Mochrie - Mochrie has appeared in various Air Farce sketches, most notably as an associate to Colonel Stacy on the "Chicken Cannon".
- Ben Mulroney
- Lloyd Robertson - Robertson, who had once stated that it was an honor to appear on Air Farceto parody himself, appeared in several Air Farce sketches, most notably in one where he, as the CTV news anchor, asks a correspondent, "Do you think I'm as handsome as Peter Mansbridge?"
- Trish Stratus - Status appeared in one Air Farce show, although she was a part of several sketches, most notably one where she portrayed a stripper in a sketch lampooning the Judy Sgro "strippergate" scandal.
- David Suzuki - Suzuki's appearance on Air Farce is memorable, as he appeared nude in the sketch (although the nudity was covered by a briefcase and later a desk). In his sketch, he is interviewed, where the interviewer (Goy), aware of his nudity, is taken aback by Suzuki's apparent use of double entendres, and later faints when Suzuki asks her if she wanted to see his "genetically altered banana". Suzuki, clueless to the ordeal, then produces a slightly larger-than-normal banana.
- The Canadian Tire Couple
- Pamela Wallin - Wallin has made several appearances on Air Farce, including one in which Goy portrays herself as the Canadian host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? while Wallin, as Catherine Zeta-Jones, appears as a celebrity contestant.
- Brian Williams - the CBC Sports anchor has made several appearances on Air Farce, most memorably in which he portrays himself locked in his studio at the conclusion of the 2000 Olympic Games.
Awards
The Air Farce has received many awards including
- the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1998)
- a star on Canada's Walk of Fame (2000)
- a Juno Award for comedy album of the year
- Maclean's Honour Roll of Canadians Who Make a Difference
- The Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievment in Canadian Television
See also
External links
- Official Website, with free episodes from recent seasons, and all of Air Farce's records from their radio days (http://www.airfarce.com)
- CBC Website (http://www.cbc.ca/airfarce)
- Air Farce Photo Gallery (http://www3.cbc.ca/imagegallery/television/comedy/farce/farce.html)fr:Royal Canadian Air Farce